FISHES. 



265 



There are many fishes which are known under the name of toad-fishes; but along 

 the American coasfi the one so designated is the representative of a family known as 

 the Bateachid^e, this name embodying the same idea (likeness to the toad) that the 

 popular one does. All the species of the family have a body which is highest at 

 the shoulders, and which quite regularly decreases in height and width backwards to the 

 tail.. The head is somewhat cuboid, and flattened above, and the eyes at the edge of 

 the flattened head, so tliat they generally look upwards. The mouth has a very oblique 

 cleft. The first dorsal fin has two or three very strong pungent spines. The second 

 dorsal and anal are longish. The pectorals have a wide base, decurrent forwards ; and 

 the ventral fins are considerably in advance of the pectoral. 



The common toad-fish of the American coast {liatrachus tau) has a flabby body, 

 without a lateral line, and three dorsal spines. The teeth on the jaws as well as on 

 the vomer and palatines are mostly in a single row, and blunt. The jaws are very 

 powerful, and a bite from the fish creates an imjjression far from pleasant. The fish 

 holds on with the pertinacity of a bulldog to what he has taken hold of. It is apt to 

 lurk in oyster beds, and the young are quite frequently found in the empty shells ; 



^. > 





Fig. 144. — Batrachus tau, toad-tish. 



hence one of the names given to the species is oyster-fish. The specific name, tau, is 

 in allusion to the impression resulting from the ridges on the surface of the crani- 

 um, which resemble a T or the Greek letter tau. 



Truly venomous fishes belong to this family of Batrachidse. They constitute the 

 genus Thalassophryne, of which two species are known, one living on the Atlantic, 

 and the other on the Pacific coast of North America. The poison is secured in sacs 

 at the base of the spinous dorsal fin, as well as of each of the opercular spines, which 

 are hollowed out to serve as ducts for the poison secreted by the glands. 



Most of the Batrachids are of small size, rarely exceeding a foot in length ; but in 

 the sea about the Seychelles islands, there is a gigantic species (Fhrynotitan ffic/as, 

 oi-iginally called Batrachus gigas)., whose head is over two feet wide. It is covered 

 with small scales, acute teeth are in bands on the jaws, vomei-, and palatine bones, and 

 the spinous head armature is very weak. ' 



We may next consider several families of fishes which have been united under a 

 superfamily named GOBIOIDEA. Their parentage was probably in common with 

 the preceding families. 



The family of Gobiid^ contains by far the largest number of species, about four 



