FlSniCS— WAITR. 95 



Family OSTRACIID/E. 



ARACANA, Gray. 



ARACANA LENTTCULARTS, RU-harrhnn. 



Box Fish. 



(Plates xvii. {f\.g. 2) .and xviii.) 



Ostracion lenticularis, Rich., Proc. Zool. Soc, ix., 1841, p. 21, and 

 Trans. Zool. Soc, iii., 1849, p. 158. 



Stations 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 2G, 27, 32, 33, 

 50, 52, 54, 59. 



The specimens from which Richardson made his description 

 were but half-grown, and as the species undergoes some change 

 during its lifetime further notes may be made. 



D. 10. P. 12. A. 10. C. 11. 



Adult. — Length of head 3-66, height of body 1'8, length of 

 caudal 5-5 in the total. The eye, set close to the upper profile, 3-3, 

 and the interorbital space, which is flat, 2-0 in the length of the 

 head ; the gill opening is very slightly oblique and lies just behind 

 the posterior margin of the eye, the diameter of which its length 

 exceeds by one-fifth : its upper edge is removed from the orbit 

 slightly less than its own length. Nostrils on a prominent papilla 

 in a depression in front of the eye, the anterior much the larger, 

 oval and crenate within, the postei^ior a small slit. 



Teeth long, incisor-like, five pairs in the upper and four pairs 

 in the lower jaw. 



Upper profile of snout extremely tumid and acute, the anterior 

 portion nearly vertical. Attaining its most prominent part it 

 slopes backwards and widens rapidly above ; at its widest part 

 the dorsal keel commences and rises to form a prominent rounded 

 hump placed in front of the centre of the body ; the profile then 

 falls to the end of the carapace, in advance of the dorsal fin, 

 whence it is slightly concave to the caudal. The lower profile 

 forms an even arc described from the summit of the dorsal hump 

 and broken only by the caudal pedicel. The dorsal and anal fins 

 are similar, the second, or longest, ray being slightly more than 

 half the length of the head ; the dorsal is the anterior fin. The 

 pectoral is two thirds the length of the head. The caudal is 



