Series Plectognathi 421 
poison arrows. Tetraodon fahaka is a related species, the 
first known of the family. It is found in the Nile. Tetraodon 
lacrymatus, black with white spots, is common in Polynesia. 
Tetraodon aérostaticus, with black spots, is frequently taken in 
Japan, and Tetraodon setosus is frequent on the west coast 
of Mexico. This species is subject to peculiar changes of color. 
Normally dark brown, with paler spots, it is sometimes deep 
blue, sometimes lemon-yellow and sometimes of mixed shades. 
Fic. 359.—Tetraodon meleagris (Lacépéde). Riu Siu Islands. 
Specimens showing these traits were obtained about Clarion 
Island of the Revillagigedos. No Tetraodon occurs in the West 
Indies. Colomesus psittacus, a river fish of the northern part 
of South America, resembles Spheroides, but shows consider- 
able difference in the skull. 
But few fossil Tetraodontide have been recognized. These 
are referred to Tetraodon. The earliest is Tetraodon pygmaeus 
from Monte Bolca. 
The Chonerhinide of the East Indies are globefishes hav- 
ing the dorsal and anal fins very long, the vertebree more 
numerous (12+17), twenty-nine in number. Chonerhinus 
naritus inhabits the rivers of Sumatra and Java. 
The little family of Tropidichthyide is composed of small 
globefishes, with a sharply-keeled back, and the nostrils almost, 
or quite, wanting. The teeth are as in the Tetraodontide. 
The skeleton differs considerably from that of Spherordes, 
apparently justifying their separation as a family. The species 
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