EUROPEAN TOAD-FISH. 
135 
p. 42, tab. VII, fig. 5; Lillj., Sv., Norrj. Fisk., vol. I, 
p. 749. 
Batrachus borealis , Nilss., Prodr. Iohth. ticand., p. 99; Kr0Y., 
Damn. Fiske, I, 473 et 603; Nilss., Skand. Fn. Fisk., 
p. 254; In., Ofvers. Vet.-Akad. Forh. 1863, p. 502. 
Batrachus punctntus , Agass., Cdv. (in Spix, Pise. Brasil., p. 
133, tab. LXXIV); Bate, conspicillum, B. punctulaius , B. 
barbatus, Cuv., Val., Hist. Nat. Poiss. XII, pp. 495 — 498; 
Batr. planif rons et B. algeriensis, Guich., E.vpl. Scient. 
Alger., Poiss., p. 81, tab. 5; — vide Gthr et Steind. (1. c.). 
The numerous names which this species has borne 
are a sufficient proof how greatly its appearance may 
vary. This is true first of the colouring, which varies 
considerably according to age. The ground colour is 
brown, shading into black, on the lower part of the 
sides becoming paler or changing into white between 
the large brown or blackish spots which occur even in 
the form of oblique bands on the unpaired tins, while 
the spots of the pectoral fins are smaller. Young spe- 
cimens, according to Steindachner, have black, trans- 
verse bands on the top of the head, and one black 
band on the sides of the head, starting from the inferior 
orbital margin downwards in a forward direction, and 
another in a backward direction. These bands, like 
the boundaries of the spots on the body, become in- 
distinct or even vanish with age, while the skin grows 
thicker and the scales of the body also become in- 
distinct. 
With regard to the changes of growth in the form 
of the body Steindachner, who had examined speci- 
mens from about 100 to 260 mm. in length, states 
that the diameter of the eyes changes from Vs t° V 7 
of the length of the head to the tip of the uppermost 
opercular spine, and that in young specimens the length 
of the snout is less than the diameter of the eye, in 
old ones more. The length of the head varies between 
°/ 16 and a little more than Vs of the length of the 
body; its breadth increases with age“. The dental 
equipment of the jaws and of the palate also increases 
with age: in young specimens there are two rows of 
teeth in the front of the lower jaw, in older ones three 
or four; in the former 3 rows in the front of the in- 
termaxillary bones, in the latter 5; in the former one 
row on the head of the vomer, in the latter two 
transverse rows; and though the palatine teeth are set- 
in one roAV, in the oldest specimens we find two rows 
in the front part of the palatine bones. 
Of the numerous peculiarities described by Gun- 
ther (1. c.) in the osteology of the Toad-Fish, we shall 
call attention only to the singular bones which serve 
as a connecting link between the coalescent first and 
second neural spines (to which the supraoccipital bone 
is also united by a process) and the upper part of the 
clavicular bones, which articulate with these two bones, 
as is also shown in Steindaciiner’s figure. These bones 
correspond to the first pair of ribs; and in Batr. paci- 
fici at least, we find distinct ribs attached just below 
the hind part of the connexion between the neural 
spines mentioned. The posttemporal bone in this species, 
as in Lophius, is united to the mastoid bone ( epioticum ). 
The top of the supraclavicular bone articulates with 
the lower side of the mastoid process thus formed. 
According to Steindachner Batrachus didactylus 
is common near Cadiz and Gibraltar. Guichenot, through 
Deshayes, obtained a specimen from Oran. Near Lis- 
bon too, the species is known; and Blocii (Schneider) 
had specimens of it from Guinea. The Mediterranean 
and the neighbouring parts of the Atlantic thus seem 
to be its true home; but north of Portugal it has been 
found, to the best of our knowledge, on only one single 
occasion, and that too, at a considerable distance from 
its ordinary habitat. This find is one of the treasures 
in the Museum of Lund University, and is a specimen 
2 dm. in length, which, about the year 1820, was 
procured by Baron Gyllenstjerna from some fishermen 
belonging to the fishing- village of Molle near Kullen, 
and presented by him to Nilsson, who has described 
it (1. c.). In its stomach were found a whelk ( Bucci - 
mini reticulatum), a crab ( Cancer depur ator) and a 
fragment of an Ophiura. 
Of the way of life of the European Toad-Fish we 
have no other detailed information; but of a species 
very closely related to it, the North American Batra- 
chus tau ( The common toadfish ) Storer 6 has given a 
very noteworthy description. This fish, as well as, 
in all probability, the European species, generally lives 
in shallow water near shore. It prefers shallow inlets 
with a sandy or muddy bottom, where it can hide 
among the weeds ( Zostera marina ), or takes refuge 
under stones among the rocks. Where the water is 
only a few r inches deep at low tide, one may often see 
the sand scratched away at the side of a stone so as 
0 Bloch says that his specimen 1 ft. in length was 4 in. broad. 
b Mein. Amer. Acad. Arts. Sc., n. ser., vol. V (1855), p. 272. 
