VII. OBSERVATIONS ON A FISH (Chylomycterus schcepfi) NEW 

 TO THE FAUNA OF NOVA SCOTIA. BY HARRY PIERS. 



(Read May 8th, 1S99.) 



In the summer of about 1896 a curious fish was brought to 

 the Provincial Museum by a fisherman who had taken it in deep 

 water off Sambro near Halifax. 



At Dr. Gilpin's request I examined the specimen and found 

 that it belonged to the species Chylomycterus schcepfi, (Walbaum) 

 which is the same as Chilomycterus geometricus, Kaup, and 

 Diodon maculostriatus, Mitchell. It is variously known as the 

 Common Burr-fish, Rabbit-fish, Swell-toad, or Swell-fish. The 

 specific name schoepfi was given it in honour of its discoverer, Dr. 

 Johann David Schopf, a Hessian surgeon in the American 

 revolutionary war and a noted botanical collector. 



It is a small, elliptical-oval shaped species of remarkable 

 appearance. The bones of the upper and lower jaws are con- 

 fluent, forming a short beak with a trenchant edge, without 

 teeth. Unlike those of the Tetrodons, these plates are without. 

 a median suture. The body is covered with short, stout, 

 triangular, dermal spines, each with three roots and consequently 

 immovable. It is thus well protected from enemies, and would 

 prove a thorny morsel to any marine animal foolish enough to 

 capture it. 



When fresh from the water the upper parts are greenish- 

 black with a series of undulating blackish stripes running from 

 the head backward ; a similar series between eyes and across, 

 face ; an ocellated black spot above pectoral ; a larger one behind 

 the same fin ; another ocellated spot at the base of the dorsal^ 

 with a smaller spot below it. The specimen has now lost much 

 of its colour in alcohol, but the markings may still be traced. 



(110) 



