768 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

 Family TETRODONTIDJE. 



Puffers. 



Body broad ; belly capable of great inflation ; skin prickly (without 

 scales); teeth confluent, to form sort of beak in each jaw; lips full ; 

 no spines in fins ; no ventrals. 



LAGOCBPHALUS, Swains. 



(Gastrophysus.) 

 L. laevigatus, L. (Tetrodon.) Tambor. Smooth Puffer. 



Olive green ; silvery white below ; tail slender ; belly prickly, 

 with spines well separated and equal ; sides of tail with folds of 

 skin. Dorsal rays, 14; anal rays, 12. Tropics to Cape Cod. 



" Only a straggler occasionally of this species is met with in 

 our waters." 



TETRODON, L. 



T. turgidus, Mitch. Puffer. Swell-toad. Blower. 



Olivaceous above, marbled with black ; sides with black bars ; 

 a blotch below pectorals ; fins plain ; profile depressed in front 

 of eyes ; skin with three-rooted spines, longest on back and belly ; 

 eyes small ; no fold on tail ; only one nasal tube on each side, but 

 with two openings ; dorsal and anal short. Dorsal rays, 7 ; anal 

 rays, 6; length, 12 inches. 



"Specimens of this fish are always to be met with in our 

 coast- waters during the summer. At Atlantic City, in 1864, 

 they were very abundant, and were readily taken with a hook." 



TRIOHODIODON, Bleek. 



T. pilosus, Mitch. (Diodon.) Balloon-fish. Hairy Boxfish. 



Brownish above, ashy below ; spines golden ; dark oblong 

 spots on sides and above ; body cuboid ; skin spiny or bristly. 

 Dorsal rays, 12; anal rays, 14. North Atlantic. Rare. Per- 

 haps following refers rather to next (or its young, var. 

 fuliginosus] : 



" Diodon pilosus. Balloon-fish. 



" This little fish is occasionally met with along our coast, most 

 frequently, however, at the mouth of the Hudson." 



