25 



Good Hope, and Charleston, S. 0. Its occurrence in the Indian Arch- 

 ipelago is extremely doubtful, as Bleeker himself admits. This spe- 

 cies is extremely variable, in length, breadth, and height of body, 

 length of tail, and length of caudal, and these variations seem to be 

 individual as well as related to age. HoUard's Ostraclon maculatus * 

 and the various species dubia of Poey t will probably prove to be forms 

 of this species. 



Thepresence of plates upon the caudal peduncle is apparently accidental. 

 They may possibly have some relation to sex, but certainly none to age. 

 Out of fourteen specimens examined, five had plates above and below, 

 one had two above, and six had none. In none of the specimens can I 

 distinguish traces of the spine in the middle of the dorsal ridge men- 

 tioned by Dr. Giiuther. The color of youug specimens is well described 

 by GUnther; the bands on the cheek are, however, of a bright blue. 

 Adult specimens are colored in a rich bright blue, which quickly van- 

 ishes after death. In some individuals, the color is worn from the ridges 

 of the carapace, leaving patches of light brown. The largest specimens 

 are twenty-one inches long. 



The Cow-fish is, I was told, much esteemed for food, and is frequently 

 baked whole in its shell. The popular name, like the Cuban " ioro " and 

 the Jamaican " cuckold," refers to the two horn-like supra-orbital spines. 



BALISTID^. 



BALISTES CAPRISCUS, Gmelin. 



TURBOT. 



Balistcs capriscus, Gmelin, Liund, Syst. Nat. 1, 1788, 1471. — Schneider, Blocb, Syst 



Icbth. 1801, 47G.— LACliPilDE, Hist. Nat. Poiss. 1798, 1, 372, pi. xiii, f. 3.— 

 ■ SiiAW, Gen. Zool. v, 1804, 411— Risso, Ichtli. Nice, 1810, 51.— Yarrell, Brit 



Fish, ii, 1841, 472.— Hoelard, Anu. Sci. Nat. 1854, 309.— Gunther, Cat. Fish. 



Brit. Mus. viii, 1870, 217. — Gill, iii Baird's Eep. on Sea Fisheries of Southern 



New England, 1873, 793. 

 Baliistes fuIiginosHS, DeKay, New York Fauna, Fishes, 1842, 339, pi. Ivii, f. 183. — Storeu 



Syu. Fish. N. Am. 1846, 243. 

 Capriscus fiiUginosus, Gill, Cat. Fish. E. Coast N. Am. 1861, 56. 



Common. Very erratic in its distribution, having been observed in the 

 Pacific at Panama, at Madeira, in the Mediterranean, and on the coast of 

 Great Britain. DeKay figures a specimen taken in New York Harbor,- the 



'Annales des Sciences Naturelles, vii, p. 148. 



tEcpertorio Fisico-Natural de la Isla de Cuba, ii, pp. 439-440. 



