OSTRACION. FISHES. 397 



yellow, the tail with black spots. 12 inches long. Inhabits In- 

 dian seas. Block, pi. 134. 



4. Body triangular, with spines on the ridges. 



O. bicuspis, Blumen. (0. stellifer, Schn.) With two dorsal spines. 



Inhabits coasts of China and America Abbild. Nat. Hist. Ge- 



gen&t. pi. 58. 



5. Body quadrangular, without spines. 

 O. cubicus, Bloch. Body quadrangular ; plates hexagonal, with a 



brown circle and white central spot, and covered with tubercles ; 



sides gray; head yellowish ; tail and fins reddish-brown. One foot 



long. Inhabits Indian seas. Bloch, pi. 137- 



O. meleagris, Shaw. (O.punctatus and lentiginosus, Schn.) Body 

 quadrangular, the plates hexagonal and of a deep blackish chest- 

 nut-colour, the whole marked with numerous small white spots ; 

 fins and tail whitish, with chestnut-coloured rays. Shaw, v. 

 pi. 172. 



O. nasus, Bloch. Head convex, sloping downwards, and rounded 

 off in front into an obtuse snout, beneath which the mouth is si- 

 tuate ; plates forming by their borders hexagonal stars, with a 

 round red spot in the centre of small tubercles ; general colour 

 grayish ; tail and fins reddish brown. Inhabits Indian and Ame- 

 rican seas Shan, v. pi. 171- 

 6. Body quadrangular, with frontal and subcaudal spines. 



O. cornulus, Bloch. Body quadrangular, yellowish-brown, deeper 

 below ; head short and truncated ; two long stout spines project- 

 ing forward from the head ; and two circular ones pointing back- 

 wards on each side of the anal fin. 8 or 10 inches long. Inha- 

 bits Indian Seas. Shaw, v. pi. 170. 



7. Body quadrangular with spines on the ridges. 



O. turritus, Bloch. Body subquadrangular, the back rising into a 

 pyramidal hunch, terminated by a very strong, short, and striated 

 spine, curving slightly backwards ; abdomen with three to five 

 spines on each side curved slightly backwards ; plates with lines 

 and elevated borders of a triangular shape, forming various figures; 

 colour yellowish-brown, with irregular brown spots. 10 to 12 

 inches long. Inhabits Indian seas. Shaw, v. pi. 171. 



8. Body compressed ; abdomen carinated, with scattered spines. 



O. auritus, Shaw. Body thick, broad, and short, with the back 

 very convex ; above each eye a very strong, thick, sharp pointed 

 spine, curving backwards ; on each side of the dorsal ridge two 

 others ; two spines on each side of the abdomen, and one shorter 

 on each side of the body ; colour deep brown, except the fins and 

 spines, which are paler. 4^ inches long. Inhabits Indian seas. 

 Shaw, v. pi. 173. 



