130. ORTHAGORISCID^ — ^MOLA. 865 



a. SkiQ thin, armed with stout spines; vertical .fins not confluent; body deeper thaa 



long (Molacanthinw) Molacanthus, 485, 



aa. Skin thick, granular or tessellated ; vertical fins falcate, condncut behind. {Or- 

 thagoriseinw. ) 

 i. Body not twice as long as deep; skin without hexagonaj plates.... ..Mola, 486. 



485.— MOtACANTHUS Swaiuson. 



(Pallasia Nardo: Acanlhosoma Dekay.) 



(Swaiuson, Class. Fish. etc. ii, 329, 1839: type Diodon viola Fallas^ Molacanthus pallad 

 Sw. =^ Diodon numviularis Walb. ) 



Body suborbicular, uiuch compressed, deeper than long, covered by 

 a thin silvery skin on which are many strong spines. Dorsal and anal 

 fins high and short, not conflnent, the space on the tail between them 

 ocQnpied by a row of small spines; pectorals moderate. These small 

 fishes have been generally considered as the yonng of Mola. The fact 

 that they are not so was flrst conclusively shown by Prof. Pntnam (Am. 

 Nat. Dec. 1870). The species inhabit the open seas. (Mola; axdvda, 

 spine.) 



1338. M. mimmularis (Walb.) Gill. 



Olive-brown above; sides and below iridescent silvery. Body verti- 

 cally oval, higlier than long; spines on body scattered, striated on sides. 

 Head more than half length, which is little more than f depth. D. 25. 

 (Dekay.) Atlantic Ocean; rare on onr coast. L. about 2 inches. 



{Diodon nummHlaris "Walbanm, Artedi, Pise. 1792, G(X): Acauthosomu cariiiatiim De- 

 kay, New York Fauua, Fish. 330: Molacanthus pallasi Putnam, 1. c.) 



486.— MOI.A Cuvier. 



(OrthagofiscHs Bloch & Schneider.) 



(Cnvier, Legons d'Auat. Comp. 1800 (fide Gill): type OrtJiagonscus mola Bloch A, 

 Schneider = Mola rotunda Cuvier.) 



Body ovate, strongly compressed, covered with a thick, rough, leath- 

 ery, elastic; skin, which is without bony plates. Profile forming a jiro- 

 Jecting fleshy nose above the month. Dorsal fin beginning not far be- 

 liind pectorals, sliort and high, falcate, confluent with the anal, around 

 the tail; no large spines on the body. Clumsy fishes, found, in most 

 warm seas, reaching a great size. (Latin mola, a millstone.) 



1339. ITI. rotunda Cuv.—Suu-fish; JTcad-fish; Mola. 



Dark gray ; sides grayish brown, with silvery reflections;; belly dusky;, 

 a broad blackish bar running along the bases of the <lorsaJ^. caudal, and. 

 Bull. Nat. Mu8. No. IG 55 



