FAMILY OSTRACIONTIDAE — WOODS 119 



late; in adults, back smoothly rounded, lateral and pelvic ridges 

 smooth; adults with deep groove anteriorly and ventrally outlining 

 cheek, ventral groove especially evident in males. 



Color in alcohol. — Males. Ground color brown to dark bluish grey ; 

 back spotted with evenly spaced small white dots, smaller than pupil ; 

 an irregular white line across forehead; snout dark brown to greyish 

 brown ; cheeks pale, yellowish or greyish white, sometimes with indis- 

 tinct large brown spots; sides of body with white spots almost as 

 large as pupil, often elongate; breast and belly dark brown to dark 

 greyish brown, breast usually darker than belly; under surface without 

 spots except for tlu"ee or four white dots near sides just behind posi- 

 tion of pectorals and from anus posteriorly to end of armor; caudal 

 peduncle and base of caudal fin dark with large white spots, the 

 uppermost usually elongate, often forming a wavy white lengthwise 

 line ; bases of dorsal, anal, and pectoral fins dark brown to black, rays 

 of these fins dusky, the membranes pale; dorsal fin sometimes with 

 indistinct small dark dots; caudal fin dark brown basally, distal half 

 with broad crescentic area white or hyaline. Colors and patterns of 

 males quite variable, the white spots sometimes entirely absent from 

 sides, breast, belly, lower part of caudal peduncle, and base of caudal. 



Females. Ground color dark, bluish grey. Head, back, sides, 

 belly, caudal peduncle, and base of caudal fin evenly spotted with 

 small white spots, smaller than pupil; white spots indistinct on cheeks 

 and anterior portion of ventral side of armor ; spots on sides and belly 

 slightly larger than those on back often running together to form 

 nan'ow, short, wavy lines; white spots on caudal peduncle round, not 

 elongate; bases of pectoral, anal, and dorsal dark, sometimes dotted 

 with white, rays dusky, membranes pale; basal two-thirds of caudal 

 fin dark bluish grey with white spots, distal one-third white. 



Genus LACTORIA Jordan and Fowler 



Lactoria Jordan and Fowler, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., vol. 25, p. 278, 1903 (type 

 species, Ostracion cornutus Linnaeus). 



LACTORIA FORNASINA (Bianconi) 



Plate 141, B 



Ostracion fornasini Bianconi, Nuovi Ann. Sci. Nat. Bologna, ser. 2, vol. 5, p. 115, 



1846 (type locality, Mozambique; ref. copied). 

 Ostracion (Acanthostracion) fornasini Bleeker, Atlas ichthyologique . . ., vol. 5, 



pi. 203, fig. 4, 1865 (Amboina). 

 Lactoria galeodon Jenkins, Bull. U.S. Fish Comm., vol. 22 (1902), p. 487, fig. 34, 



1903 (Honolulu; holotype USNM 50717). 



SPECIMEN STUDIED 



Bikini Atoll: Bikini lagoon, 2 miles inside Enyu Channel, picked up dead, 

 floating, July 27, 1946, Welander, 1 specimen, 86 mm. 



