546 teteodontiDtE. 



4 Mouth of Lake No.— Loat, 15.2-4.3.01. 



11 Gondokoro.— Loat, 7.2-11.3.02. 



6 Lake Chad.— Capt. Gosling, 1905. 



1 Yo R., Lake Chad.— Capt. Gosling, 1904. 



1 Senegal. 



1 Niger. — Allen, 1833. (Type o£ T. strigosus.) 



1 Niger.— Dalton, 1864. 



Niger Delta.— Dr. W. II. Crosse, 1895. 



9 



Geoffroy St. Hilaire, who observed the habits of this curious fish at the end of the 

 18th century, says it rises to the surface in order to inflate its body, which may be so 

 swollen as to resemble a balloon, and is in fact used as such a plaything by the native 

 children, just as those of the Congo have been observed to do with Tetrodon mbu*. 

 This inflation is useful to the fish as, in that condition, with prickles erected, it is less 

 easily seized by predaceous fishes. The air-pouch, which communicates with the 

 branchial chambers, and its mechanism have been described by Geoffroy, and later by 

 Thilo f . 



Several specimens have been kept in the tanks of the Gezira Aquarium. 

 Capt. Flower J describes the adult as pugnacious and intolerant of any other fish 

 in its tank. These specimens are fed on pieces of raw meat; a small one did well 

 on meal and grain only. " The Globe-Fish have never been seen to inflate themselves 

 in the Aquarium ; even when lifted out of the water they make no attempt to do so. 

 The dorsal fin is usually not only depressed but hangs over on one side of the body, 

 the caudal fin is nearly always kept closed like a fan, only being spread for an especial 

 effort in swimming, and the pectoral fins are usually in a state of rapid vibration." 



Mr. Loat kept a specimen alive in a tank of water at Abu Simbel, Nubia, for a 

 week, changing the water once or twice daily. " Though often out of the water, it 

 showed no disposition to inflate itself. Fishermen, just after they have caught it, are 

 sometimes able to make the fish inflate itself by rubbing the ventral surface of the 

 body, or by taking up a small piece of the loose flesh in that region and moving it 

 backwards and forwards. In life the eye protrudes to a marked extent, and I noticed 

 this part was very sensitive when touched, causing the eye and the surrounding skin 

 to contract. When out of the water, even if other parts of the body are suddenly 

 touched, the eye contracts — in fact the fish winks, so to speak. A pinch from the jaws 

 of even a small specimen is very painful." A specimen taken at the mouth of Lake No 

 had the stomach full of short pieces of stick, -J to 1 inch long, together with some river 

 mollusks. " When dragged out of the water and landed in a net, it immediately began 



* Cf. Boulenger, Poiss. Bass. Congo, p. 502. 



t Anat. Anz. xvi. 1899, p. 73. 



J Eep. Zool. Gard. Cairo, vi. 1905, p. 28. 



