PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 281 



OSTRACION QUADRICORNIS, LINN., subsp. notacanthus, (Bleekeu.) 



Ostracion notacanthus, Bleeker, Poiss. Giiiu6e, 1863, p. *21 (St. Helena); Ned. Tyds. 

 Dierk., ii, p. 298, et alibi. 



This form, whose relations to 0. quadricornis are discussed above, p. 

 267, p. 270, and p. 280, is recorded only from St. Helena. It will only 

 be entitled to snbspeciflc rank if in future it be shown that the dorsal 

 median spine, sometimes observed in the young, remains persistent in 

 the adult. 



OSTRACION TURRITUS, Forskaol. 



r Ostracion gibbos us, Linnjeus, Syst. Nat. ed. x, 1758, p. 331; ed. xii, 176G, p. 409. (No 

 description.) 



Ostracion turritiis, Forskal, Desc. Anim. Av. Amj)liib. Piscium. cet. quae in itinereOri- 

 entali observavit, 1775, p. 75, No. 113. — Bloch, "Ausl. Fische i, p. 113, pi. 

 cxxxvi." — Iclith. p. 117, pi. cxxxvi. — Gmelln, Linn. Syst. Nat. 1788, p. 1442. — 

 Walbaum, Artedi, Gen. Pise. 1V92, p. 476.— Lacep^de, Hist. Nat. Poiss. ed. i, 

 1, 1798, p. 470.— Schneider, Blocb Syst. Ichth. 1801, p. .500.— Bonkaterre, 

 Encyc. Method, IcMli., 1788, p. 22.— Cuvier, Regne Anim. ed. i, 1817, ii, p. 154. 

 note; ed. ii, 1829, ii, p. 376, note ; "ed. iii, Poiss. p. 346." — Ruppell, "Reis. F. 

 R. M. p. 5."— SWAINSON, Nat. Hist. Fish. Amphib. Rept. 1839, ii, p. 323.— HOL- 

 LARD, Ann. Sci. Nat. vii, 1856, p. 156. — Bleeker, "V. Bat. Gen. xxiv, Bal. Ostr. 

 p. 31 ; Act. Soc. Sc. Ind. N. vii, Zesde bijds. vischf. Jap. p. 13." 



Ostracion ( Tetrosomus) turritus, Bleeker, Atl. Ichth. v, 1865, p. 31, y}]. cciii, fig. 3. 



Lactophrys camelinus, Dekay, Zool. N. Y. Fish, 1842, j). 341, ]). Iviii, fig, 190. 



Ostracion gibbosus, Kaup, Arch, fiir Naturg. Berlin, 1855, p. 218. — GtJNTHER, Cat. Fish 

 Brit. Mus. viii, 1870, p. 258. 



" Ostracion prior (or alter), Aldrovandus, De Piscibixs, etc. (1638), iv, p. 561" (''copied 

 by JONSTON, tab. xxv, fig. 6"). 



" Ostracion alter gibbosus, Ray, Synopsis, 1713, ii. 44." 



Ostracion alter gibbosus aldrovandi, Willughby. Hist, Pise. 1686, tab. J, 9^ fig. 1. 



"Cragracion triangularis gibbosus, Klein, Miss. Pise, iii, p. 20, No, 17," 



Ostracion oblongo-quadrangulus gibbosus, Artedi, Gen. Pise, 1738, p, 55, 



Ostracion oblongus quadrangulus gibbosus, Artedi, Syu, Pise, 1738, p. 83. 



L'Ostracion dromadairc, Lacep^de, op, cit, ; ed, ii, 1819, p. 344. 



distribution, 



Indian Ocean and Archipelago (Giiuther). 



I cannot follow Dr. G-iinther in accepting for this species the Liunaean 

 name Ostracion gibbosus, since no description of this species was pub- 

 lished by Linnaeus. The first intelligible description was that by 

 Foskaol, and although the indirect references to the figures published 

 by Johnston, Willughby, and others, render it probable that this was 

 the fish referred to by Linnteus, still there is no way of definitely ascer- 

 taining the meaning. 



"Je crois reconnaitre," wrote Bleeker,* "I'espece actuelle dans les 

 figures citees de Jonstou, de Willughby, do Valentyn et de Eenard. 

 Celles de Jonston et de Willughby, copiecs sur le meme module, ne 

 montrent ni P^pine frontale, ni celles de la carene ventrale, mais la 

 grande 6pine dorsale y est assez bien rendus. Celles de Valentyn et 

 de Kenard, quoique grossi5res, ne laissent aucun doute par rapport d, 



* Atlas Ichthyologiqvie, v, p. 32. 



