544 TETEODONTIDiE. 



L. Chad, Senegal, Niger), T. mbu, Blgr. (Congo), T. pustulatus, Murr. (Old Calabar, 

 Gaboon), and T. miurus, Blgr. (Congo). 



These fishes, called " Puffers " or " Globe-Fishes," are remarkable for the manner 

 in whicn they inflate themselves with air. The flesh of most species is poisonous. 



1. TETBODON FAHAKA. 

 (Plate XCVII.) 



Linnaeus, in Hasselquist, Beise Palaest. p. 441 (1762) ; Giinther, Cat. Fish. viii. p. 290 (1870). 

 Tetrodon lineatus, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 411 (1766) ; Forskal, Descr. Anim. p. 76 (1775) ; 



Giinther, Petherick's Trav. ii. p. 267 (1869). 

 Tetrodon phi/sa, Geoffroy, Descr. Egypte, Poiss. p. 19, pis. i. & ii. (1809) ; Joannis, Mag. ZooL 



1835, iv. pi. ii. 

 Bou Jerap, Bifaud, Voy. Egypte, pi. cxeix. (1830). 

 Tetrodon strigosus, Bennett, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1834, p. 46. 

 Crayracion fahaka, Steindachner, Sitzb. Ak. Wien, lxi. i. 1870, p. 572. 



Head as long as broad or a little longer than broad, its length (to the gill-opening) 

 three to three and one-fourth times in the total length. Snout rounded, twice as long 

 as the eye, which is contained six to seven times in the length of the head ; interorbital 

 region feebly convex, twice to twice and a half in the length of the head ; no nostril, 

 but tw 7 o nasal tentacles on each side, measuring about half the diameter of the eye. 

 Dorsal fin rounded, with 12 to 14 rays. Anal fin rounded, with 10 or 11 rays, 

 originating below the middle of the dorsal. Pectoral fin rounded-sub truncate, two- 

 fifths to half the length of the head. Caudal fin rounded, as long as or a little 

 longer than the head. Caudal peduncle half to two-thirds the length of the head, 

 once and one-fourth to once and a half as long as deep. Head and body with minute 

 spines, except on the snout, round the base of the pectoral fin, and on the caudal 

 region ; lateral-line system represented by very distinct furrow r s. 



According to a coloured sketch made by Mr. Loat at the mouth of Lake No, the 

 upper parts are dark olive-grey, the lower parts and the dorsal, anal, and pectoral fins 

 yellow ; the caudal is dark olive, with a broad orange posterior border ; black stripes 

 run along the sides of the body and the caudal peduncle, converging towards their 

 fellow on the back ; there are usually three stripes below the pectoral fin and three 

 on each side of the caudal peduncle ; in some specimens the stripes are lost on the 

 back, which is of a uniform blackish olive, or with roundish lighter spots ; some 

 specimens have dark vertical bars on the sides of the head. The pupil is horizontally 

 oval and the iris orange. 



Young specimens have the head and the eye much larger in proportion than in the 



