420 



Series Plectognathi 



transition to typical Spheroides. Spheroides maculatus is com- 

 mon on our Atlantic coast, the puffer, or swell-toad of the 



FIG. 357. Puffer, inflated, Spheroides spengleri (Bloch). Wood's Hole, Mass. 



coastwise boys who tease it to cause it to swell. Spheroides 

 spengleri and S. testudineus abound in the West Indies. 

 Spheroides politus on the west coast of Mexico. 



FIG. 358. Puffer, Spheroides maculatus (Schneider). Noank, Conn. 



In Tetraodon the nasal tentacle is without distinct opening, 

 its tip being merely spongy. The species of this genus are 

 even more inflatable and are often strikingly colored, the young 

 sometimes having the belly marked by concentric stripes of 

 black which disappear with age. Tetraodon hispidus abounds 

 in estuaries and shallow bays from Hawaii to India. In 

 Hawaii, it is regarded as the most poisonous of all fishes 

 (muki-muki) and it is said that its gall was once used to 



