W> LECTURE VIII. 



Angler, sometimes called the Toadfish. It is 

 found about our own coasts, and grows to the 

 length of six or seven feet. Its appearance is 

 extremely singular, the head being of enormous 

 size, and the mouth excessively wide. Its co* 

 lour dusky brown above, and pale beneath* 



In the American seas are found some species 

 of a still more singular appearance, as the L. His- 

 trio in particular, which exhibits one of the most 

 grotesque shapes that can easily be imagined. 

 It grows to more than a foot in length. 



The genus called Ostracion or Trunk-Fish, has 

 the body cased in a bony sheath or box, curi- 

 ously divided or marked into angular spaces, leav- 

 ing only the tail free or disengaged. The spe- 

 cies of this genus are sometimes difficultly ascer- 

 tained, on account of a certain similarity of struc- 

 ture : many of the most remarkable kinds have 

 been admirably figured in the celebrated work 

 of Dr. Bloch. 



The genus Diodon is so named from the pe- 

 culiar appearance of the mouth, the bony jaws 

 of which constitute as it were two large teeth, 

 Nothing can be more singular than the appear- 

 ance of some of the leading species of this genus. 



