306 A Review of American Diodontidm. 



5. D. hystrix Swain & Smith. ' ' Shorter and stronger spines in front of 

 dorsal." 



i. In specimens referred to I), hystrix, var. fwlacanthus. 



1. I), spinosissimus Cuvier. " Les piquants sont de la m§me forme (as 



those of punciatus) et a deux racines transverses. " 



2. B. spinosissimus Gunther. " All spines long, slender." 



3. D. maculatus Gunther (see above, C. h. 3). 



J. In specimens examined. 



1. No. 3728. Pre-dorsal spines very short, three-rooted. 



2. No. 3729. Pre-dorsal spines short, three-rooted (= hystrix). 



3. No. 876. Pre-dorsal spines very short, three-rooted (= hystrix). 



4. No. 1244. Pre-dorsal spines very short, three-rooted (= hystrix). 



5. No. 383. All spines similar, long, none with three roots (= holacanthus). 



6. No. 141. All spines more or less three-rooted (= hystrix.) 



7. No. 3727. Pre-dorsal spines, with the exception of the one immediately 



in front of dorsal, two-rooted (= holacanthus). 



8. "The pre-dorsal spines are two-rooted, though a few have a very short 



prolongation of the base of the spine (= holacanthus)." 



9. " Pre-dorsal spines conspicuously three-rooted" (= hystrix). 



2. DIODON MACULIFER. 



Diodon maculifer Kaup, "Wiegm. Arch., 229," 1855. Gunther. Cat. Fish. 

 Brit. Mus., VIII, 309, 1870 (Cape Good Hope, Cuba). Poey, En. 

 Pise. Cub., 169, 1875 (copied). Bleeker, L'ile Maurice, 23, 1855 

 (Mauritius). 



Habitat. — Southern seas. 



This species seems to be distinguished from its congeners by 

 its longitudinally compressed spines. It is possibly merely a va- 

 riation of hystrix. Klnnzinger (as also Swain and Smith) de- 

 scribes his hystrix as having the spines somewhat compressed. 

 Several others speak of compressed spines, but the descriptions 

 are not definite enough to warrant the reference of D. maculifer 

 to the synonymy of D. hystrix. Gunther records D. maculifer 

 from Cuba, but Poey has not found it there. The species is 

 known to me only from the description of Gunther. 



2. CHILOMICTERUS. 



Diodon Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. , Ed. X, 335, 1758 (in part). 



Les Chilomycteres Bibron, Mss. Barneville, Revue Zoologique, 1846, 140. 

 Chilomycterus Kaup, Wiegm. Arch., 365, 1847 (antennatus). 



