560 



THE OCAJV WORLD. 



The skin of these fishes bristles with small slightly-projecting spines, 

 the number of which compensate for their smallness, which repel 

 their enemies, and even wound the hand that would grasp them. 

 They enjoy, besides, a singular faculty : they can inflate the lower 

 portion of their body, and give it an extension so considerable that 

 it becomes like an inflated ball, in which the real shape of the animal 

 is lost. This result is obtained by the introduction of an immense 

 quantity of air into the stomach when it wishes to ascend to the 



Fig. 367. Diodon pilosus. 



surface. The species of globe-fish are numerous (Fig. 366). One 

 is common in the Nile, where specimens are frequently left ashore 

 during the annual inundations. 



The species of Diodon (Fig. 367) differ from the sun-fish in the form 

 of their bony jaws, each forming only one piece. They seem to have 

 two teeth, whence their name, from 8is, two, oSous, teeth. They differ 

 also in their spines, which are larger. The fishes belonging to the 

 genera Tetraodon and Diodon may be said to be the hedgehogs and 

 porcupines of the sea. 



There are many species of this genus Diodon piksus, represented 

 in Fig. 367, will give an idea of the others- 



