while the Indian Ocean population usually completely 

 lacks even rudimentary dorsal fin spines. 



Fragments of premaxillaries and fused dentaries with 

 small rounded teeth incorporated into the matrix of the 

 biting edge, found as early as the Eocene of Europe (see 

 Material Examined), have been assigned to the Triodon- 

 tidae as Triodon antiquus Leriche (1905, 1906, 1919, 

 1920), entirely on the rationale that the jaws are in three 

 major pieces rather than the two of diodontids or four of 

 tetraodontids. 



Tetraodontids would be eliminated from considera- 

 tion for the antiquus jaw fragments because in antiquus 

 the individual dental units are small and rounded as in 

 triodontids and diodontids rather than long rods as in 

 tetraodontids. Diodontids can be eliminated from con- 

 sideration only because the premaxillaries in antiquus 

 remain separate from their opposite members, while they 



