5. CniLOMYCTERUS. 309^ 



4. Diodon maculifer. 



? Diodon liystrix, Bl. taf. 1'20 (not L). 



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



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



Spines rather short, strong, remarkably flattened, and compressed 

 transvei'scly. Upper part of the tail without ossifications ; but a 

 pair 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 series of spines 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. 



rt-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 : stuffed. 



Bloch's figure agrees well with this species, but he represents the 

 fins as spotted. 



5. CHILOMYCTERUS. 



Ostraciou, sp., Artedi. 



Diodon, sp., Z., Cuv. 



Diodon, sp., ct Chilomycterus, Bibron, Revue Zool. 1840, p. 140. 



Cycliclithys, Chilomycterus ct Cyauicbtliys, Kaiq). 



Diodon ct Chilomycterus, Bhclcer. 



Jaws without median suture. 13ody covered with dermal ossifi- 

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

 stiff, 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. 509. 

 /?. All t\\p spines three-rooted and iuunoveable, p. 310. 



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



1. Chilomycterus calorii. 



Diodon calori, Bianconi, Mem. Ac. Sc. Inst. Bonon. vi, 1855, p. 145. 

 reticulatus, Giinth. in Fish. Zanz. p. 130 (not synon.f). 



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

 but in others {Ch. tiyrinus, rdicuJafxts, <tc.) it is more adpressed, and the bridge 

 between the 0]ienings tliin and easily torn, and then the organ may be described 

 thus: — " Nariner non closes au sonimet, mais chacune ayant I'apparence de 

 deux 16vros ou formee de deux tentacules reunis a la base." 



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

 p. 54, is entirely cri'oiicous. 



