DIODON. DIODON. 



Generic Character. 



.Maxilla ossese, indivisse. 

 Corpus spinis mobilibus ad- 

 spersum. 



Jaxvs bony, undivided. 

 Bodi/ beset with moveable 

 spines. 



PORCUPINE DIODON. 



Diodon Hystrix. D. sphericus, aculeis triquetris. 

 Spherical-bodied Diodon, with triangular spines. 

 Diodon Atinga. Lin. Syst. Nat, 



Hvstrix Piscis^ seu Orbis echrjiatus major. Seb. wus. 3. t, 23. 

 /. 1.2. 



Diodon Hystrix. Block, t, 126. 



In point of habit or external appearance the re 

 markable genus Diodon may be said to connect in 

 some degree the tribe of fishes with that of the 

 spiny quadrupeds, such as the Porcupines and 

 Hedgehogs : it is also allied in a similar manner to 

 the Echini or Sea-Urchins. 



The Diodon Hystrix, commonly termed the Sea- 

 Porcupine, is a species of considerable size, some- 

 times measuring not less than tv^o feet in length • 

 its usual form is nearly spherical, but it possesses 

 the power of inflating or contracting itself at plea- 

 sure by means of an internal skin or membrane 

 situated, beneath the exterior or spiny covering : 



