618 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



tubes on upper part of head and on sides of body very conspic- 

 uous. Lower side of tail with a fold. Species reaching a rather 

 large size, chiefly tropical, one of them, L. lagocephalus 

 L., reaching the coasts of southern Europe. Vertebrae in 

 increased number (about 8+13=21). The increased number of 

 vertebrae and of rays in the vertical fins mark a transition 

 toward the allied family, Chonerhinidae, in which there 

 are about 29 vertebrae, the dorsal rays about 35, the anal 30. 



299 Lagocephalus laevigatus (Linnaeus) 

 Smooth Puffer; RabUtfish 



Tetrodon laevigatus LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat. ed. XII, 411, 1766, Charleston, 



S. C.; MITCHILL, Rep. Fish. N. Y. 28, 1814; GUNTHER, Cat. Fish. Brit. 



Mus. VIII, 274, 1870. 

 Tetraodon laevigatus DE KAY, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 329, pi. 56, fig. 182, 



1842. 

 Tetrodon curvus MITCHILL, Trans. Lit. & Phil. Soc. N. Y. I, 474, 1815; 



New York; young. 

 Tetrodon matliematicus MITCHILL, Trans. Lit. & Phil. Soc. N. Y. I, 474, 



pi. VI, fig. 6, 1815. 

 LagocepJialus laevigatus JORDAN & GILBERT, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus. 800, 



1883; BEAN, Bull. U. S. F. C. VII, 133, 1888; Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. 



Hist. IX, 369, 1897; H. M. SMITH, Bull. U. S. F. C. 1897, 104, 1898; 



JORDAN & EVERMANN, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus. 1728, 1898, pi. 



CCLXIII, fig. 642, 1900; SHERWOOD & EDWARDS, Bull. U. S. F. C. 



1901, 30, 1901. 



Body elongate, stout, its depth about one fourth or two ninths 

 of total length without the caudal. Caudal peduncle rather 

 slender, tapering, its least depth about equal to diameter of eye. 

 Head short, very obtuse in front, its length two sevenths of 

 total without the caudal. Mouth very small, terminal. Nostrils 

 midway between eye and tip of snout. Snout twice as long as 

 the eye, which is one fourth as long as the head, and two thirds 

 of width of interorbital space. Dorsal and anal fins opposite, 

 about midway between eye and origin of middle caudal rays; 

 each fin on a fleshy base. Base of dorsal two sevenths as long 

 as the head; longest dorsal ray about one half as long as the 

 head. Anal equal in size to dorsal. Caudal fin lunate, the 

 middle rays as long as the snout; fold of skin on side of tail 

 very distinct. Back and sides smooth; belly prickly, the spinous 

 region extending backward from the throat nearly to the vent 



