5. CniLOMYCTERUS. 309 



4. Diodon maculifer. 



? Diodon liystrix, Bl. taf. 120 (not L.). 



? holocanthus, Lacep. ii. p. 11 (after Block). 



Diodon maculifer, Kaup, Wieym. Arch. 1855, p. 229. 



Spines rather short, stronj^, remarkably flattened, and compressed 

 transversely. Upper part of the tail without ossifications; hut a 

 ]iair of spines lie alongside, their root being on the side of the dorsal 

 fin. The roots of the spines are strong and long. There are about 

 fifteen transverse scries of sjnnes between the snout and dorsal fin. 

 The upper part of the head and body with round black spots, each 

 of about the size of the pupil of the eye. Sometimes the spots above 

 or near to the pectoral are confluent into a blotch. Fins and ab- 

 domen immaculate. 



Cape of Good Hope ; Cuba. 



a-c. Adult (10 inches) and half-grown : stuffed. Cape. Presented 



by Sir A. Smith. 

 d. Half-grown. Cuba. From the Collection of the Zoological 



Society. 

 e-h. Adult and half-grown : stufl'cd. 



Bloch's figui'e agrees well with this sjjccies, but he represents the 

 fins as spotted. 



5. CHILOMYCTERUS. 



Ostracion, sp., Artedi. 



Diodon, sp., L., Cuv. 



Diodon, sp., et Chilomycterus, Bih-on, Revue Zool. 1846, p. 140. 



Cyclichthys, Chilomycterus et Cyauichthys, Kaup. 



Diodon et Chiloniyclerus, Bleeker. 



Jaws without median suture. Body covered with dermal ossifi- 

 cations, all or most of which consist of three horizontal roots and a 

 stift', erect, immoveable spine. Nasal tentacle simple, with a pair 

 of lateral openings *. 



Two groups may be distinguished in this genus : — ■ 



a. The foremost spines with two roots only and erectile, p. 309. 



^. All the spines three-rooted and immoveable, p. 310. 



a. The foremost spines with two roots only and erectile. 



1. Chilomycterus calorii. 



Diodon calori, Biancmti, Mcv). Ac. Sc. List. Bonon. vi. 1855, p. 145. 

 reticulatus, GUnth. in Fish. Zanz. p. 130 (not synon.tj. 



* In some of the species the nasal tentacle is exactly as in the true Diodon ; 

 but in others {Ch. tiyrhuts. reticidafns, (fee.) it is more adpresscd, and the bridge 

 between the openings (bin and easily torn, and tlien tbe organ may be described 

 thus: — " Narines non closes au sonimet, mais cbacune ayant rapparcnco de 

 deux levros ou fornite de deux tentaeules reunis a la base." 



t The synonymy given in the work quoted, and taken from Bleeker's ' Atlas,' 

 p. 54, is entirely erroneous. 



