A FISH NEW TO NOVA SCOTIA. PIERS. Ill 



Length 3 inches*, of which the tail forms about f inch. Fin 

 rays : dorsal, 12 ; pectoral, 21 ; anal, about 10 ; caudal, 9. 



This species has not previously been taken in Nova Scotian 

 waters, in fact it has never hitherto been captured so far north. 

 According to Jordan and Evermann (Fishes of North and Middle 

 America, 1898), its range is from Cape Cod to Florida. It is 

 very abundant southward in shallow water, being particularly 

 plentiful on the coast of the Carolinas and Florida. 



C. schoepfi belongs to the Diodontidce family (Porcupine 

 Fishes), all the members of which are sluggish, living on the 

 bottom among weeds and corals, in tropical seas. When dis- 

 turbed, they swallow air until considerably inflated, and then 

 float belly upward on the water. In such a condition they 

 could be easily driven before the wind. They are popularly 

 regarded as poisonous. 



* The usual length is from 6 to 10 inches. 



Date of publication ; December^ Slst, , 1899. 



