FAMILY, XXIII— BATRACHID2E. 269 



Family, XXIII— BATUACBIDM, Sivainson. 



Pediculati, pt., Cuv. 



Branchiostegals six : pseudobranchise present. Body low and more or less elongated :. head large : the 

 muciferous system well developed. Gills three. The gill-openings narrow, in the form of a slit before the 

 pectoral fin. Opercles armed. Teeth conical, and of moderate size or small. First dorsal with few spines: the 

 second and the anal with many rays: ventral with two rays, jugular : pectorals not pediculated. Scales, 

 when present, small. Air-vessel present. 



Swainson. formed the Family Bateachidj; (Fishes, ii, p. 282), or " Blenny Bullheads," as he termed them, 

 in 1839. 



Geographical distribution. — 'Coasts of tropical and temperate regions. 



These carnivorous fishes apparently delight in mud and dirty water, they frequent the shores ascending 

 tidal rivers and estuaries. Dr. Cantor observes that at Pinang " the natives attribute poisonous qualities to 

 these fishes, and reject them even as manure," Catal. p. 206. They are, however, eaten at Bombay by the 

 poorer classes. Dr. GKinther observes in the Zool. Record (1864, p. 155). " Dr. Giinther has described a second 

 species of this Genus (Thalassophryne belonging to this family) Th. reticulatus from the Pacific coast of Panama 

 (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, p. 150). On exami n ing this fish, he discovered a most singular apparatus which 

 structurally is as perfect a poison-organ as that of the venomous serpents. Each operculum terminates in a long 

 spine similar to the two dorsal spines : each spine is perforated at the extremity and at the base, and has a canal 

 in its interior. The canal leads to a sac at the base of each spine, in which a considerable quantity of the 

 poisonous substance was found : on the slightest pressure it flowed freely from the opening of the spine. The 

 sacs are not the secretory organs, but merely the reservoirs in which the fluid secreted accumulates. The author 

 believes he has found evidence that the real organ of secretion is the system of mnciferous channels, or at least 

 some portion of it." Captain Dow remarks (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1865, p. 667), " The natives seemed quite familiar 

 with the existence of the spines, and of the emission from them of a poison, which, when introduced into a wound, 

 caused fever ; but in no case was a wound caused by one of them known to result seriously. The slightest 

 pressure of the finger at the base of the spine caused the poison to jet a foot or more from the opening of the 

 spine." 



SYNOPSIS OF INDIVIDUAL GENUS. 

 1. Batrachus, as defined. 



Genus, 1 — Batkachus, Bl. Schi. 



Branchiostegals six. Body anteriorly somewhat cylindrical, and posteriorly compressed : head broad, depressed. 

 Gill-openings narrow. Eyes lateral. Gape of mouth wide. Gill covers with several spines. Teeth on jaw, vomer, 

 and palate. No distinct canines. First dorsal ivith three strong spines. Scales, if present, very minute. Air-vessel 

 divided into two lateral parts. Pyloric appendages absent. Vertebra} t^-It- 



Cantor observes that these fishes live some period after removal from the water. 



SYNOPSIS OF SPECIES. 



1. Batrachus grunniens, D. 3 | 20-22, A. 15-18. Four, occasionally only three, opercular spines. A 

 foramen in the axilla. Brown, marbled. Seas of India to the Malay Archipelago. 



2. Batrachus Gangene, D. 3 | 20-22, A. 16-18. Four opercular spines. No foramen in axilla. Reddish- 

 brown, marbled. Estuaries of the Ganges and large Burmese rivers. 



1. Batrachus grunniens, Plate LLX, fig. 1. 



Cottus grunniens, Var. B. Linn. Mus. Ad. Fr. ii, p. 65, and Syst. p. 1209. 



Cottus grwmiens, Bloch, t. 179 ; Lacep. iii, p. 232 ; Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 256. 



Batrachus grunniens, Bl. Sclrn. p. 43 ; Cuv. Reg. Anim. ; Cuv. and Val. xii, p. 466 ; Cantor, Catal. p. 205 ; 

 Bleeker, Riouw. p. 487 ; Peters, Monats. Ak. Wiss. Berlin, 1868, p. 270 ; Steind. Ak. Wien, ix, 1870, p. 564. 



Batrachus trispinosus, Giinther, Catal. iii, p. 169 ; Day, Fish. Malabar, p. 120 ; Kner, Novara Fische, 

 p. 189. 



Batrachus Dussumieri, Jerdon, M. J. L. and Sc. 1851, p. 144 ; ? Cuv. and Val. xii, p. 474, pi. 367. 



B. vi, D. 3 | 20-22, P. 21, V. 1/2, A. 15-18, C. 15. 



Length of head 3|, of caudal 5|-, height of body 5 in the total length. Eyes — diameter 1/5 of length 

 of head, nearly 1 diameter from end of snout, and If apart. Head depressed, its greatest width equals 



