25 



Good Hope, and Charleston, S. C. Its occurrence in the Indian Arch- 

 ipelago is extremely doubtful, as Bleeker himself admits. This spe- 

 cies is extremely variable, in length, breadth, and height of body, 

 length of tail, and length of caudal, and these variations seem to be 

 individual as well as related to age. Hollard's Ostracion maculatus * 

 and the various species duhia of Poey t will probably prove to be forms 

 of this species. 



Thepresenceofplates upon the caudal peduncle isapparently accidental. 

 They may possibly have some relation to sex, but certainly none to age. 

 Out of fourteen specimens examined, five had plates above and below, 

 one had two above, and six had none. In none of the specimens can I 

 distinguish traces of the spine in the middle of the dorsal ridge men- 

 tioned by Dr. Giinther. The color of young specimens is well described 

 by Giinther ; the bands on the cheek are, however, of a bright blue. 

 Adult specimens are colored in a rich bright blue, which quickly van- 

 ishes after death. In some individuals, the color is worn from the ridges 

 of the carapace, leaving patches of light brown. The largest specimens 

 are twenty-one inches long. 



The Cow-fish is, I was told, much esteemed for food, and is frequently 

 baked whole in its shell. The popular name, like the Cuban " ioro " and 

 the Jamaican " cuckold," refers to the two horn-like supra-orbital spines. 



BALISTID^. 



BALISTES CAPEISCUS, Gmelin. 



TUEBOT. 



Balistes capriscus, Gmelin, Linii6, Syst. Nat. 1, 1788, 1471. — Schneider, Bloch, Syst 

 Ichth. 1801, 476.— LacepJide, Hist. Nat. Poiss. 1798, 1, 372, pi. xiii, f. 3.— 

 Shaw, Gen. Zool. v, 1804, 411 — Risso, Ichth. Nice, 1810, 51. — Yarrell, Brit 

 Fish, ii, 1841, 472.— Hollard, Ann. Sci. Nat. 1854, 309.— G€^nthp.r, Cat. Fish. 

 Brit. Mus. viii, 1870, 217. — Gill, in Baird's Rep. on Sea Fisheries of Southern 

 Now England, 1873, 793. 



Balistes fuliginosus, DeKay, New York Fauna, Fishes, 1842, 339, pi. Ivii, f. 188. — Storer 

 Syn. Fish. N. Am. 1846, 243. 



Capriscus fuliginosus, Gill, Cat. Fish. E. Coast N. Am, 1861, 56. 



Common. Very erratic in its distribution, having been observed in the 

 Pacific at Panama, at Madeira, in the Mediterranean, and on the coast of 

 Great Britain. DeKay figures a specimen taken in New York Harbor j the 



*Annales des Sciences Naturelles, vii, p. 148. 



tRcpcrtorio Fisico-Natural de la Isla de Cuba, ii, j)p. 439-440. 



