THE ANGLER FAMILY. 155 



The next stage met with during many years' observations 

 measures 5^ inches, and was tossed on shore after a storm in 

 March. Unfortunately it had been considerably injured by 

 gulls, and also partially dried. The head at this stage appeared 

 to be more elongated than in the adult, and the spinous 

 processes were more conspicuous. The three long anterior 

 spines of the first dorsal were well developed. The teeth were 

 long and sharp as in the adult and similarly arranged, while the 

 mucous membrane of the tongue and that within the lower jaw 

 was tinted brownish. The tip of the lower jaw seemed to be 

 somewhat more acute than in the adult. Both pectorals and 

 ventrals had at the free edge a series of long white elastic 

 processes (the tips of the rays), which were all the more 

 conspicuous in the pectorals from the deep brown colour of the 

 adjoining region dorsally and the blackish belt ventrally ; 

 whereas in the ventral fins it was the outer aspect which was 

 blackish, the inner being whitish. The long fin-rays of the 

 younger stages had thus been considerably modified to suit life 

 on the bottom, the elastic nature of the tips of the rays and 

 the tough integument intervening being adapted in a most 

 efficient manner for locomotion on soft sand. From the colour 

 of shreds of skin which here and there remained the frog-fish 

 of this size is a brilliantly tinted form. Such an example is 

 probably about 9 or 10 months old. 



A young specimen 7^ inches long was trawled on the I7th 

 February, and another GJ inches in length occurred in May ; 

 both they and the preceding probably belong to the previous 

 year's brood, but this is conjectural. 



The adult is found as long as 4 or 5 feet, but data with 

 regard to its rate of growth are not to hand. 



This much with regard to the habitat we can say with 

 certainty, namely, that the eggs are pelagic and that the early 

 larval forms are also pelagic and descend to the bottom-water 

 during the post-larval period. The adult.s are, as a whole, 

 both shallow-water shore dwellers, and inhabitants of the 

 deeper areas beyond — lurking in the sand or mud where there 

 are abundance of large and small fishes to be lured into the 

 gaping jaws. 



