328 



CORAL AND ATOLLS 



with thick spikes projecting fore and aft, others are one mass 

 of prickles like hedgehogs, and some have only a few cruel 

 spikes situated so that they are sure to wound any animal 

 that attempts to seize them. One of the strangest of the 

 Tetradonts is the Ikan Buntal, that can inflate its whole body 

 at will, and so float lightly on the surface of the water, a 



Fig. 76. 



The llicm Buntal {Tetrodon patoca). 



bobbing air-ball clothed with prickles. The method of infla- 

 tion is truly marvellous, for a Buntal when irritated can inflate 

 itself in a very few seconds, and from being a creature not 

 much larger than your fist, swells up to the size of a football : 

 and all this is done when the fish is lying calmly under water. 

 It can inflate and deflate itself many times in rapid succession, 

 and can go through the whole performance on land as easily 

 as it can when in the water. 



The Bunted is the one poisonous fish of the atoll, and the 

 whole of its poison is concentrated in its gall-bladder, so that 

 if the gall-bladder be removed whole, the fish is said to be 

 excellent eating ; but I never tried it. I have kept these fish 



