2G4 PEOCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



tiiid none." Uleeker admits three genera, Ostracion, Aracana, and Ccn- 

 tauntii, the latter founded on a grotesque form known to ichthyologists 

 only from a drawing of a very young individual made by Dr. Hooker. 

 Ostracion is divided by Bleeker into subgenera as follows : 



Ostntcian, Art. = Tctwsoiiim, Swds. = RhuicfiOinaSj Swiis. ^= Latophrys, Swns. 

 :=^ Vibotloii, Kp. 



Pyxis posticc iutogni basin pimuL- dorsalis et analis includeus, medio iufome plana 

 uou carinata. Piuua dorsalis. Piuna caudalis radiis 10 (1 | 8 | 1). Spec. typ. Ostra- 

 cion 1efra(jonus, L. 

 Subgenus Osiradon, Art. Pyxis tetragona, trigona vel peutagoua, auacautlia. Spec. 



typ. Ostracion tetragonns, L. 

 Subgcuns Laitophrtjs, Swus. Pyxis trigoua vel peutagoua, utroque latere carina ven- 



trali postice spina anuata. Sp. typ. Ostracion trigonm, L. 

 Subgenus Tetrosomus, Swns. Pyxis trigoua vel pentagoua orbitis, crista dorsali me- 



diana carinisqxic veutralibus acantliopliora, spinis orbitalibus sursum nee antrorsum 



directis, veutralibus pluribus. Spec. typ. Ostracion turriius, Forsk. 

 Subgenus Jcaiithostracion, Blkr. Pyxis trigona, pentagoua, vel tetragona orbita ca- 



rinaque ventrali postice acantlioi)laora, spinis orbitalibus antrorsum* directis. Spec. 



typ. Ostracion quadricornis, L.* 



These divisions correspond very closely to those of Lacepede already 

 referred to; Ostracion heing equivalent to section 1, La'tophrys to section 

 3, while section 4 is about equally divided between Tetrosomus and 

 Acanthostracion. 



Dr. Giinther,! like Hollard and Bleeker, considers the typical Ostra- 

 cions to be embraced within the limits of one natural genus, and even 

 includes those with carapace open behind the anal tin. Such, at least, is 

 his course in the generic diagnosis of Ostracion, though he actually 

 adopts the name Aracana as if it represented a true genus, and enumer- 

 ates the species under a separate series of numbers. 



In arranging the species of Ostracion he adheres rather to the method 

 of Swainson than of Lacepede, considering the shape of the carapace to 

 be the most convenient basis of classification. His divisions are as fol- 

 lows : 



I. Carapace tliree ridged. 

 II. Carapace four or five ridged, without spines. 

 III. Carapace four ridged witli spines. 



The third division corresponds exactly to Swainson's Tetrosomus, if 

 his diagnosis be accepted without change, the second division to Swain- 

 son's Ostracion and Kaup's Oihotion, the first division to the three last 

 subgenera (?) of Swainson, which he probably meant to subordinate to 

 a third genus which he neglected to name. 



The usage of American authors has been various. Storer, although 

 he described his Holmes' Hole specimen under the name Ostracion Yalei, 

 accepted in his "Synopsis" the names Ehincsomus triqueter and Lacto- 

 ])hrys sexcornis. 



* Atlas ichtbyologique, v, 1805, pp. 27-28. 



t Catalogue of the Fishes in the British Museum, viii, 1870, p. 25G. 



