REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. SI 



136. Spheroides testudineus (Linnseus) . 

 Geog. Dist.: West Indies north to Newport. 



Season in R. I.: Has been taken at Newport. (Cope, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. 

 Phila., 1870, 120.) 



137. Spheroides trichocephalus (Cope). 



This species is known only from Cope's description of a small specimen 4 

 inches long taken by Samuel Powell in the Gulf Stream off Newport. 

 Possibly the young of Spheroides pachygaster. (Cope, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. 

 Phila., 1870, 120.) 



DIODONTID^. The Porcupine-Fishes. 



138. Chilomycterus sehoepfl (Walbaum). Swell-toad; Puffer; Porcupine-fish. 



Geog. Dist.: Cape Cod to Florida, abundant south in shallow water. 



Season in R. I. : Two specimens from Rhode Island are in the U. S. National 

 Museum; one was taken at Newport, (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1880, 75); the 

 other was taken at Watch Hill by the U. S. Fish Commission, September 

 18, 1874. (Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1879, 24.) In 1903 Mr. Fowler, of 

 Wickford, took a specimen in a dredge in Narragansett Bay opposite 

 Hamilton. 



Food: Crustacea, molluscs. 



Size: Six to 10 inches. 



MOLID.E. The Head-Fishes. 



139. Mola mola (Linnjeus). Siwfish. 



Geog. Dlst. : Tropical seas, north to San Francisco, Cape Cod, and England. 



Season in R. I. : Occasionally taken at Block Island in late summer. 



H.'^.bitat: Surface of the open Avater. 



Reproduction: Nothing is known about its breeding habits, but the young 

 are sometimes taken in mid-ocean. 



Food: Fishes, Crustacea, ctenophores, jelly-fishes. 



Size: Largest on record was taken at California, 8 feet, 2 inches long, weigh- 

 ing 1,800 pounds. 



