226 CLAPP. [Vol. XV. 



of oviposition each egg is securely glued to the rock by means 

 of a secretion on the egg membrane at the pole of the egg 

 opposite the micropyle. 



After hatching, the embryo fishes still remain attached to 

 the rock by the adhesion of the yolk sac to the inside of the 

 egg membrane over the disc area, until the yolk material 

 has been entirely absorbed — a period of three or four 

 weeks. 



The largest toadfish seldom reaches a length of more than 

 twelve inches. 



Dr. Goode (5) gives the following facts about the toadfish : 

 " In general appearance it resembles a sculpin. It possesses 

 the power of changing its color to lighter or darker shades 

 when exposed to light in shallow vessels with dark or light 

 colored bottoms. It probably becomes torpid in winter in the 

 more northern regions, is very hardy, and utters a loud croaking 

 sound when handled." 



In Storer's description of Batrachus tau one finds certain 

 statements which are hardly correct. For example, he speaks 

 of the eggs as being "not larger than very small shot," as 

 " increasing in size " after deposition, also as adhering by a 

 "disc acting as a sucker," and finally he says of the fish which 

 remains to guard the eggs, that " it is in all cases the mother 

 of the young ones." 



Topography of the Lateral Line System. 



I. Lnfraorbital line. — The first six organs of this line are 

 found on a semicircular fold of the skin, anterior to the nasal 

 tube (PI. XVII, Fig. 2). These organs constitute the antorbital 

 portion of the infraorbital line. They are free organs pro- 

 tected by a pair of flaps of the skin, representing in their posi- 

 tion the sides of a canal. Each organ occupies a depression in 

 the skin, and on opposite sides are developed the pointed flaps 

 which arch over this depression, the tips of the flaps almost 

 meeting over the center of the organ (Fig. i). 



There is no anterior commissure between the infraorbital 

 lines of the two sides of the head as seen in Amia. 



