Batrachidæ.

Habitus cottoid; skin naked or with small scales; the system of muciferous channels well developed. Teeth conical, small, or of moderate size. The spinous dorsal very short, the soft and the anal long. Ventrals jugular, with two soft rays; pectorals not pediculated. Gill-opening a more or less vertical slit before the pectoral, rather narrow. Gills, three; pseudobranchiæ absent; an air-bladder.

Carnivorous fishes, living on the bottom of the coasts of the tropical regions, several species advancing into the temperate seas.

Batrachus diemensis. Coasts of Australia,

——dubius. Coasts of Australia,