FISHES OF NEW YORK 619 



and on the sides as high as the base of the pectoral; spines 

 rather large, three-rooted, well separated, and with no smaller 

 ones intermixed. Pectoral short and deep, its longest rays 

 nearly one half as long as the head. 

 D. 14; A. 12; P. 15. 



Upper parts greenish, sides and lower parts silvery white; no 

 distinct markings. 



The smooth puffer is a common resident of tropical seas, on 

 our coast ranging from Cape Cod to Brazil. It reaches a length 

 of 2 feet. According to Parra its flesh is poisonous. No recent 

 observations have been recorded, however, on this subject. 



In the waters of Cape Cod the species is not common though 

 a few specimens are taken annually in traps in Buzzards bay 

 and Vineyard sound, chiefly in September and October. The 

 young are not found at all, the individuals observed being 11 

 or 12 inches long. During 1900 several specimens were taken 

 in the vicinity of Woods Hole Mass. The Rhode Island Fish Com- 

 mission secured three specimens in Narragansett bay, the larg- 

 est weighing 10 pounds. 



Occasionally taken in the fall in Gravesend bay. Five young 

 were obtained in October 1897, but all of them died in November, 

 notwithstanding that they had been taking food readily. The 

 temperature could not be endured. 



Though this fish was unknown to the fishermen met in Great 

 Egg Harbor bay in 1887, it was moderately common there, 13 

 examples having been taken from August 27 to September 18. 

 It has the same habit as the swellfish of inflating its abdomen. 



Genus SPHEROIDES Lace"pede 



Body oblong, not elongate; skin variously prickly or smooth, 

 sometimes with cirri. A single, short, simple nasal tube on 

 each side, with two rather large openings near its tip. Dorsal 

 and anal fins short, little falcate, of six to eight rays each; 

 caudal truncate or rounded, rarely slightly concave. Vertebrae 

 8 + 10 = 18. Frontal bones expanded sidewise and forming the 

 lateral roof of the orbit, the postfrontals limited to the pos- 

 terior portions. Species numerous, in warm seas; largely 



