862 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 



rather small. Head 2f ; depth 3. D. 7; A. 6; 0. 7, slightly rounded. 

 L. 12 inches. Atlantic coast. Massachusetts to Texas ; very abundant. 



(Tetrodon turgidus Mitchill, Trans. Lit. & Phil. Soc. i, 473, 1815: Teirodon turgidus 

 Dekay, New York Fauna, Finlies, 327: Tetrodon tiirgidm Giinther, viii, 285.) 



1333. T. tricliocephaliis Cope. 



Brownish above, faintly vermiculated with lighter; sides yellowish, 

 becoming white below; fins uniform light yellow; a brown spot at base 

 of pectoral. Profile suddenly descending from prefrontal region to pre- 

 maxillary, arched from the former point backward ; belly spinous to near 

 vent; dorsal region from a little behind the nares to above the ends of 

 the pectoral fins spinous ; spines on the head long, close-set, like seal 

 bristles ; caudal tin truncate, with prominent points. Head 3^ in total 

 length ; eye 3^ in length of head. D. 8;A. 7. {Cope.) Newport, Ehode 

 Island. 



{Tetraodon triclioceplialus Coj)e, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1870, 120.) 



482.— TRICHOI>IO»0.\ Bleeker. 

 Hairy Box-fishes. 



(Bleeker, AM. IcL. Gymnodontes, 49: type Diodon pilosns Mitch.) 



Body oblong, little depressed ; nasal tentacle present; dermal ossifica- 

 tions very small, each with a jmir of lateral roots, and each terminating 

 ill a fine flexible, bristle-like spine, {rpr/io'^, hair; dL3'Jw>^ Diodon.) 



1334. T. pilosns (Mitch.) Bleeker. 



Brownish above, ashj^ below; spines of a metallic golden color; sides 



and back with a few oblong blackish-brown spots. Body oblong, cuboid ; 



the skin entirely spinous, except a small space around the mouth and 



eyes and another on caudal peduncle. 1). 12; A. 14. (Del-ay.) North 



Atlantic; rare; said to reach a large size. 



{Diodon pilosus Mitch. Trans. Lib. & Phil. Soc. N. Y. i, 471, 1815: Diodon pilosns De- 

 kay, New York Fauna, Fishes, 326; Giinther, viii, 316.) 



483,— DIODON Linnoeus. 

 Porcupine- fishes. 



(Linnteus, Syst. Nat. 1758: type Diodon Injsfrix L.) 



Body robust, the belly moderately inflatable. Dermal spines strong, 

 stiff, most of them two-rooted and erectile, a few three-rooted and there- 

 fore immovable; both jaws entire; nasal tube simple, with two lateral 

 openings. Pectorals broad, their margin undulate, the upper lobe 

 longest; vertical fins rounded. Warm seas. {Stc, two; oowv, tooth.) 



