116 CHECK LIST OF FISHES OF THE DOMINION. 



563. Balistes carolinensis Gmelin. 

 Trigger-fish. 



Marine. 



Recorded from Banquereau,* some 50 miles southeast of Canso, Nova Scotia: "a specimen 

 taken at St. Margaret's Bay is in the Halifax Museum"! (Jones, 1879, as B. capriscus): 



"a fine adult specimen taken with a spear on 25th August, near shore, 



Halifax harbour Dartmouth," (Piers, 1910): "tropical parts of the 



Atlantic; occasional northward in the Gulf Stream; very common on our coast 

 [United States], and in the Mediterranean, rarely north to England" (Jordan and 

 Evermann) : a specimen was obtained by Dr. Melville in the Bay of Galway in 1853, and 

 is recorded in Thompson's Natural History of Ireland (Yarrell, 1859). 



564. Monacanthus hispidus Linnaeus. 

 File-fish. 



Marine. 



"Occasional specimens are taken in shore waters [of Nova Scotia] — the Rev. John Am- 

 brose kindly forwarded one to the author about twelve years ago which was secured 

 at St. Margaret's Bay" (Jones, 1879, as Stephanolepis setifer) : ordinarily ranges from 

 the coast of Brazil and the West Indies, being abundant among the Florida Keys, 

 northward to Cape Cod; and also occurs at Madeira and the Canary Islands. 



565. Chilomycterus sehoepfi Walbaum. 

 Common Burrfish. 



Marine. 



Specimen off Sambro near Halifax "in the summer of about 1896" (Piers): "Cape Cod to 



Florida; very abundant southward in shallow water; especially numerous on the coast 



of the Carolinas and Florida" (Jordan and Evermann). 



566. Mola mola Linnaeus. 

 Sun-fish: Head-fish. 

 Pelagic. 



Temperate and tropical seas: recorded from coast of Labrador (Schmitt, 1904): occasional 

 on the coasts of the Maritime Provinces: "not uncommon at Canso and out on the 

 Banks" (Cornish, 1901-1902) " a specimen five feet six inches in length taken in Halifax 

 Harbour, October, 1873 " (Jones, 1879, as M . rotunda) : a specimen captured " about ten 

 miles off Devil's Island, at the mouth of Halifax Harbour" — 18th July, 1894, and an- 

 other seen in Bedford Basin " about half a mile from shore" — 14th August, 1895 (Piers, 

 1897): recorded from Gaspe Bay (Stafford, 1905-1906): "common northward to 

 England, Cape Cod, and San Francisco" (Jordan and Evermann): mentioned by 

 Giinther (1880) and by Yarrell (1859 — each as Orthagoriscus mola) as occurring also 

 on the coast of Ireland, and by Yarrell in Scotland, including the Frith of Forth, and 

 at the Channel Islands: occurs at the West Indies, and in the Mediterranean and 

 Adriatic Sea. 



*"One specimen of this remarkable File-fish was brought in by the deep-sea fishermen, who stated that it was 

 'gaffed' on Banquereau Bank, about fifty miles southeast of Canso. It was seen near the surface swimming around 

 a floating buoy. Its captors had never seen one before, and it may be added that while the members of the family 

 are abundant in tropical seas they become very scarce in high latitudes." Cornish. 



fSo recorded, but Mr. Piers, Curator of the Museum, says: — "J. M. Jones in his 'List of the Fishes of Nova 



Scotia' mentions a specimen taken at St. Margaret's bay which was then in the Provincial Museum. 



I have not been able to recognize that specimen in our collections." 



