NO. 1254. G YMNODONT FISHES OF J A PA N—JORDA N A NT) SN 3 'DFJl. 231 
on side of bodj^ at base of ventral sac and between pectoral and anal, 
(Bleeker.) 
East Indies, not common; rarely north to Japan; a specimen from 
Misaki in the Imperial University' of Tokyo. Also recorded from 
Japan by Dr. S. Matsnbara. (^M7'6"ar/W, purse-like.) 
Family II. TETRAODONTID^. 
PUFFERS. 
Body oblong or elongate, usually little compressed, sometimes very 
broad; head and snout broad; belly capaV)le of great inflation; skin 
scaleless, usually more or less prickly, the spines or prickles usually 
weak and movable, not rooted; rarely the skin is armed with bony 
scutes forming a sort of carapace; each jaw confluent, forming a sort 
of beak, which in each jaw is divided by a median suture; maxillaries 
curved outward behind the premaxillaries; lips full; nostrils various. 
Spinous dorsal and ventral fins wanting, the fins composed of soft 
ra3'S only; dorsal fin posterior, opposite and similar to anal; caudal 
tin distinct; no ventral fins, the pelvic bone undeveloped; no ribs; 
pectoral fins short and broad, the upper rays longest; caudal fin and 
caudal vertebr<» normally developed. Medifrontals articulated with the 
supraoccipital, the postfrontals confined to the sides, the ethmoid more 
or less projecting in front of frontals; postfrontals extending outward 
as far as frontals; prosethmoid short and narrow, little prominent to 
view above; vertebrae few, 7 or S + 9 to 13. Gill openings small, 
placed close in front of pectorals; air bladder present. Fishes of 
sluggish movements, inhabiting warm seas, noted for their habit of 
tilling the stomach with air. When disturbed they then float on the 
surface, belly upward. They are not much used as food, even in 
Japan, the flesh ))eing ill-flavored and sometimes reputed poisonous. 
a. Frontal bones expanded sidewise and forming the lateral roofs of the orbits, the 
postfrontals limited to the posterior portions. Species chiefly marine. 
b. Nostril on each side with 2 distinct openings nsually in a low tube or 
papilla; frontal region longer than broad Spheroides, 2. 
hh. Nostril on each side with a bifid tentacle without distinct opening; frontal 
region broader than long; tins rounded Teiraodou, 3. 
2. SPHEROIDES Lacepede. 
SWELL-FISHES. 
Crayracion Klein, Missus 1742 {spengleri; nonbinomial). 
Les spheroides Lacepede, Hist. Nat. Poiss., II, 1798, p. 1 (French name only; 
tuber cule). 
Spheroides Dumeril, Zoologie Analytique, 1806, p. 342 {tnhercitlatiis— spengleri, 
from a drawing showing a front view) . 
Orbidus RAFiNESciUE, Analyse de la Nature, 1815, p. 90 (substitute for Les 
spheroides Lacepede ) . 
Spha-roides Lacepede, Pillot Edition, Hist. Nat. Poiss., VI, 1831, p. 279 
{tii,bercidatus=spe)u/leri). 
