338 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
289. Ogcocephalus vespertilio (Linnaeus). Bat-fish; Diablo; Murcielago de Mar. 
Head, from tip of upper jaw to gill-opening, nearly one-half the length; depth 5 in length from 
upper jaw to base of caudal; width 1.8; D. 4; A. 4; rostral process from 6 to 10 (9 in our specimens 
from Havana); pectoral 4.5; ventral 6; caudal 4.25. Body stoutish, much depressed, rostral process 
longer than in other species, variable in length; mouth small, maxillary reaching nearly to posterior 
margin of eye; villiform teeth in bands, on jaws, vomer, and palatines; interorbital flatfish, its width 
less at anterior end of eyes than at posterior; rostral groove longer than broad; body covered with bony 
protuberances, variable in size, and not very definite in position, lower parts with a shagreen-like 
covering; posterior edge of pectorals much behind middle of body; ventrals long, reaching outward to 
edge of the disk-like anterior part of body; origin of dorsal over posterior edge of pectoral; anal under 
vertical of tips of dorsal rays, and reaching nearly to base of caudal. Pale grayish-brown above, reddish 
below; back with round black spots, conspicuous in life, but growing fainter and sometimes disappearing 
in spirits; belly in life a ''nppery-red; pectoral nearly plain dusky. 
West Indies, north to the Florida Keys; common in shallow water. Length 12 inches. 
Recorded from Porto Rico by Professor Poey and Dr. Stahl. Here described from a specimen 
from Havana, Cuba, about 10 inches in length. The length of snout is subject to great variation, but 
it is never short and button-like, as in 0. radiatus. 
Lophius vespertilio Linnseus, Syst. Nat., ed. X, 1, 236, 1758, American Seas; after Lophiusfronti imicorni of Artedi. 
Malthesea longirostris Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., XII, 452, 1837, Bahia. 
Malthe vespertilio , Poey, Fauna Puerto-Riquefia, 311, 1881; Stahl. 1. c., 79 and 165, 18S3. 
Ogcocephalus vespertilio, Jordan & Evermann, 1. c., 2737, 1898. 
Genus 165. HALIEUTICHTHYS Poey. 
Disk, subcircular, anteriorly cordiform, head merging into body, very large and much depressed; 
cranial portion not elevated; interorbital space low and narrow; eyes partly superior; mouth terminal, 
horizontal, jaws subequal, the lower jaw nearly semicircular; teeth fine, on jaws and palate. Gills 2.5; 
no gillrakers; gill-openings anterior to pectoral; rostral tentacle very small, rectractile; dorsal and anal 
few-rayed; pectoral large; carpus slender; caudal rounded; skin above sparsely armed with stellate 
tubercles; lower surface smooth. 
a. Surface of body covered with brownish reticulations aculeatus, 290 
aa. Surface of body blackish, not reticulate; pectoral with a broad black bar. 
b. Eye 4; interorbital 2 in eye; nostrils comparatively remote smithii 291 
bb. Eye smaller; interorbital narrower; nostrils nearer together caribbseus 
290. Halieutichthys aculeatus (Mitehill). 
Head 1.8; depth 6; eye 5; interorbital 1.8 in eye, 8 or 9 in body; D. 5; A. 4; pectoral of 17 rays, 
1.5 in head; caudal of 9 rays, 1.6 in head. Disk about as broad as long, its breadth equal to distance 
from tip of snout to base of last dorsal ray; body above with many conical spines with stellular bases, 
those at edge of disk usually 3-pointed, divergent; body smooth below; snout very short, obtuse, 
bridge over rostral cavity with a 3-pointed spine in front, a simple smaller one on each side; simple 
spines upon each supraorbital margin, and a row of about 5 on lower margin of eyeball, attached by a 
fleshy flexible membrane; many slender filaments on edge of disk and sides of trunk; supraoral cavity 
with a club-shaped tentacle. 
Color in spirits: Body white below, darker above with obscure brownish markings; pectoral and 
caudal with 3 dark bars, outer widest and darkest, the 2 inner of the pectoral obscure in our specimen. 
West Indies, Gulf of Mexico, and Gulf Stream, in water of moderate depth. One specimen, 2.75 
inches long, taken by beam trawl in 75 fathoms at Fish Hawk station 6063, off Mayaguez, January 20. 
Lophius aculeatus Mitehill, Amer. Month. Mag., II, 1818, 325, Straits of Bahama. 
Halieutichthys aculeatus, Jordan & Evermaim, 1. c. t 2739, 1898. 
