Fishing-Frog. Parsons. Act. Angl. 1764. n. 53. p. 170. if. 13- 
Angler. Brit. Sool. 3. p. 93. 95. n. 1 . 2. t. 94. 
The Lophius PIscatorius is a fish of uncommon aspect and defor- 
mity, bearing a remote resemblance to the figure of the common frog 
in the tadpole state. Pliny and other Latin writers among the 
ancients call it rana and rana marina, in allusion to this similitude. 
The French, for the same reason, call it Grenouille de mer : the English 
fishermen the Fishing Frog, and Frog-fish ; and the inhabitants of 
various other countries by names equally significant of its general 
resemblance to the tadpole of the common frog *. The English 
name of Angler is of modern origin, and not familiar to our fisher- 
men : it is a name assigned to it by Mr. Pennant, in his British 
Zoology, and is sufficiently expressive of the very singular arts em- 
ployed by this curious fish in the capture of its prey. 
t | 
The head, which constitutes the greater part of the whole animal; 
is perfectly characteristic of the fish: this is of a roundish figure; 
somewhat convex above, and flat beneath : the body, which is of a 
size comparatively small, tapers gradually from behind the pectoral 
fins to the tail. The mouth is preposterously large ; the lower 
is advanced beyond the upper, and is furnished with a vast number of 
long, roundish and acute teeth, disposed in two or more rows, 
the posterior ones are moveable ; in the upper jaw are three rows of 
* Belon says they further resemble the frog, affirming, that the pectoral fins 
Pishing Frog serve the animal for the purposes of feet, and that with those it 
he bottom of the sea as the frogs do iu the bogs and marshes. 
of 
at 
