170 TELEOSTEI: PLECTOGNATHI. XXII. 



which the stomach may be greatly inflated and the fish float belly 

 upward out of reach of its pursuers. 



a, Back not carinated, skin without scutes ; nostril on each side with two 



openings. 



b. D. and A. falcate, of 12 to 15 rays; C. lunate; vertebrae 20; nostrils ses- 

 sile ; mucous tubes on head very conspicuous. LAGOCEPHALUS, 243. 

 bb. D. and A. short, rounded, of 6 to 8 rays; C. rounded; vertebrae 18; 

 nostrils at tip of a hollow papilla ; mucous tubes not conspicuous. 



OEBIDUS, 244. 



243 LAGOCEPHALUS Swainson. (Xcryoos, hare ; /ce^aX^, 

 head.) 



481. L. leevigatus (L.). RABBIT FISH. SMOOTH PUFFER. 

 TAMBOR. Olive green ; silver-white below ; belly with large 3-rooted 

 spines ; skin elsewhere smooth. Head 3J; depth 4J. D. 14. A. 12 

 L. 2 feet or more. Cape Cod to Brazil. (Lat., made smooth.) 



244. ORBIDUS Rafmesque. (Lat., orbis, a sphere.) 



482. O. maculatus (Bloch & Schneider). COMMOX PUFFER. 

 SWELL-FISH. SWELL-TOAD. Sides of head and body always prickly, 

 as is back from upper lip to D. ; prickles all similar, small, close-set, 

 3-rooted, never obsolete. Dark olive above, marbled and dotted 

 with black ; black blotches on side forming short cross-bars ; C. 

 nearly plain. Head 2f ; depth 3. D. 7. A. 6. C. 7. L. 12. Cape 

 Cod to S. C., very common. (Tetraodon turgidus Mitchill.) 



FAMILY XCII. DIODONITID^J. (THE PORCUPINE-FISHES.) 



Fishes similar to the Tetraodontidce, but having the teeth of each 

 jaw grown into one; body with rooted spines; stomach less ex- 

 tensively, inflatable than in the Tetraodontidce. Genera 3; species 

 about 10, in warm seas, (dis, two; 6Sa>v, tooth.) 



a. Spines robust, all fixed, and 3-rooted (some of them rarely 4-rooted); nasal 

 tube simple with two lateral openings. . . CHILOMYCTEKUS, 245. 



245. CHILOMYCTERUS (Bibron) Kaup. (xAos, lip; 

 P.VKTTJP, nostril.) 



483. C. schcepfi (Walbaum). BURR-FISH. SWELL-TOAD. A 

 ridge above eye. Greenish, with series of parallel blackish stripes 

 covering most of the body above ; an ocellated black spot above P. ; 

 a larger one behind it ; one at base of D. ; a smaller one below it ; 

 fins unspotted. Head 2|; depth 3. D. 12. A. 10. L. 6. Cape 

 Cod to Texas; very abundant S. (C. geometricus Bloch & Schnei- 

 der.) (Farther S. occurs Diodon hystrix L., larger, with longer 

 spines, of which some are 2-rooted and movable.) (To Johann 

 David Schb'pf, a Hessian surgeon in the Revolutionary War.) 



