LOPHIOIDS. 
145 
some of them have a hard skin, strengthened even by 
spines, those which are now of special interest to us, 
have a soft, loose skin, in extreme cases with scattered, 
soft, granular papilke, and here and there, as in Lophius , 
furnished with dermal fringes, which even Osbeck" 
supposed to be intended to give the fish a resemblance 
to the weeds, as a protection against fishes of prey. 
On account of this looseness of the skin, and on account 
of their power of distending themselves by tilling their 
stomach with air or cramming it with food, the form 
of these fishes, which is always irregular, and renders 
the definition of the species difficult, becomes variable 
to a high degree. The colouring is especially gorgeous, 
and in this respect some members of this genus rival 
the most beautiful of fishes; but here, too, is a source 
of difficulty in the definition of the species, for these 
colours are as variable and irregular as they are hand- 
some. The genus Antennarius really belongs to the 
tropic seas; and, in spite of the uncertainty in the de- 
finition of the species, it may be assumed to include 
from about 20 to 30: Bleeker assigns 24 species to 
the East Indian Archipelago alone. As a wandering 
stranger, one of these species may be included in the 
Scandinavian fauna- 
ANTENNARIUS HISTKIO. 
Plate X, fig. 3, and fig. 41. 
Skin naked, covered ivith soft papilla , ivitli scattered fringes on the sides and more numerous ones on the belly, 
the lower jaiv ( with the corners of the mouth) and the thick, free rays of the dorsal fin. Second dorsal fin so 
long that its posterior rays, when laid down, extend farther back than the base of the caudal fin. Length of 
the ventral fins equal to that of the rays of the pectoral fins. Coloration yellowish or reddish, marbled with white 
spots and patches and irregular, broad , brown stripes, which form a network , and three or four of which radiate 
from the eye, while some cross the second, dorsal and the anal fins obliquely, and others the caudal fin transversely . 
Fig. 41. 
Antennarius histrio, from Fininark. Natural size. After V. Duben and Koben. 
R. hr. 6; D. 1 + 1 + 1/12 = 9 + 3 1. 10 + 2*; A. 7 c ; P. 10 A 
V. e V 5 ; C.f 9 = 1 + 7 + 1. 
Syn. Lophius tumidus, Lin., Mus. Ad. Fr ., I, p. 56; Osb., Ostind. 
Resa, p. 305. 
Lophius {Histrio), Odhelius, Chinensia Lagerstromiana, Disp. 
Ups. 1754 (Lin., Amcen. Acad., vol. IV, p. 246). 
Lophius histrio , p.p., Lin., Syst. Nat., ed. X, tom. I, p. 237 ; 
Gill ( Pterophryne ), Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., voi. I (1878), p. 
222; Joed., Gilb., Syn. Fish. N. Amer., Bull. U. S. Nat. 
Mus., No. 16, p. 845; Lillj. ( Antennarius ), Sv., Norg. 
Fisk., vol. I, p. 775. 
Chironectes Icevigatus, Cuv., Mem. Mus. D’Hist. Nat., tome III, 
p. 423, tab. XVI et XVIII. 
® “Providentia fortassis hisce fulcris vestivit, ut a rapacibus piscibus confundatur cum Fuco, ne plane destruatur” : Osb., Ost. Resa, 
1750—1752, p. 305. 
6 Out of 17 specimens from St. Bartholomew I find one specimen with 3 undivided rays at the beginning of the second dorsal fin, 
then 1 branched (the 4th ray), next 4 undivided (the 5th — 8th rays) and last 4 branched; most of the other specimens have 9 undivided 
and 3 branched (9 + 3) or 10 + 2, others 11 + 1 or 8 + 4 or 8 + 3 or 7+3. 
c Bleeker gives A. 7 or 8, only the last 5 or 6 branched. In one specimen from St. Bartholomew all these rays are divided, in 
the others Bleekeb’s formula holds good. 
d All simple. According to Bleeker: P. 10 1. 11. Three of the specimens mentioned above have 9 rays in the pectoral fins and 
three 11, all the others have 10. 
e All simple. According to Bleeker: V. 5. 
f According to Bleeker: C. 1 + 7 + 1 or 1 + 5 + 3. In two of the specimens from St. Bartholomew C. 8 + 1, i. e. all the rays 
except the lowest are branched: in the others C. 1+7 + 1. 
Scandinavian Fishes. 
19 
