FISHES OF HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
425 
Genus 193. LAGOCEPHALUS Swainson. 
Body comparatively elongate; skin smooth or variously prickly, the prickles most developed on 
the abdomen; abdomen capable of very great inflation; dorsal and anal rather long, falcate, of 12 to 
15 rays each; caudal lunate; nostril without distinct papilla, each one with 2 distinct openings; mucous 
tubes on upper part of head and on sides of body very conspicuous; lower side of tail with a fold; 
vertebrae in increased number (about 8+13=21). Species reaching a rather large size, chiefly tropical, 
the genus intergrading fully with Spheroides. 
Lfigocephaius SWainson, Class. Fishes, II, 194, 328, 1839 ( pennanti ). 
Physogaster Muller, Abhandl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 252, 1839 (1841) ( lunaris ); name preoccupied. 
Gastrophysus Muller, Weigmann’s Archiv, IX, 1843, 330 (lunaris). 
Tetrodon Gill, Cat. Fish East Coast North Amer., in Rept. U. S. Fish Comm., Part I, 1871-72 (1873), 793 (Ixvipatus ) ; not of 
Linnjeus, as properly restricted. 
348. Lag'ocephalus oceanicus Jordan & Evermann. Plate 49. 
Head 2.8 in length; depth 3.6; eye 4.5 in head; snout 2.4; interorbital 3.2; depth of caudal 
peduncle 6; D. 12; A. 12; C. 10; P. 14. 
Body rather elongate, moderately compressed, greatest depth at vertical of pectoral; head long; 
snout long, blunt at tip) ; the sides flattened; anterior profile from tip of snout to vertical of pectoral in 
a long, low, even curve; ventral outline little convex when not inflated; mouth small; teeth pointed at 
median line, the cutting edge sharp; nostrils separate; not in tubes,' the anterior somewhat the larger, 
their distance from eye about half their distance from snout or about half the interorbital space; gill- 
opening vertical, 1.2 in eye, extending a little above base of pectoral, inner flap entirely hidden by 
outer; eye rather large, wholly above axis of body; interorbital space very little convex; cheek long; 
caudal peduncle nearly round, tapering, its length from anal fin equaling snout; back, upper parts of 
sides and head entirely smooth, no spines or prickles evident; belly covered with small 4-rooted 
spines, most prominent when belly is inflated, spiniferous area not extending on throat anterior to eye, 
nor on side above base of pectoral, but in front of anal extending upward to level of lateral fold; a line 
of very small mucous pores curving above eye on interorbital space; a strong cutaneous fold on lower 
part of side of caudal peduncle from above anterior base of anal to lower base of caudal fin; no dermal 
fold on head or anterior part of body; mucous pores inconspicuous; dorsal fin somewhat anterior to 
anal, pointed, anterior rays produced, their length equal to that of snout; anal similar to dorsal, its 
rays somewhat, longer; caudal lunate, outer rays about 2 in head;' pectoral broad, its length a little 
greater than snout, 2.3 in head. 
Color in life, back blackish, fading into deep steel-blue on side; side and below from level of upper 
edge of eye abruptly silvery-blue; sides of belly white, with round black spots about as large as pupil, 
these most distinct about pectoral, before, below, and behind the fin; upper fins dusky; caudal mottled 
black, tipped with white; pectoral black above and behind, pale below; anal pale, broadly tipped with 
blackish. 
Color in alcohol, bluish black above; side from upper level of eye abruptly bluish silvery; back 
crossed by 7 or 8 narrow darker cross-streaks; belly white, with a series of about 9 to 12 small 
roundish black spots, chiefly below the pectoral; cheek dusky; pectoral, dorsal, and caudal dusky, 
tips of the latter paler; anal whitish, a little dusky at tip. A somewhat smaller example (4.5 inches 
long) has larger dark spots along middle of side above level of pectoral. 
This species is known to us from 2 small examples obtained in the market of Honolulu. It is 
related to Lagocephalus stellatus (Donovan) of Europe ( Tetrodon lagoceplialus of Gunther, not of 
Linnaeus), but differs in the much shorter pectoral, more conspicuous spots, and rather greater 
extension of the prickly region of the breast. The types of Tetrodon lagocephalus Linnaeus are reputed 
to have come from India. According to Linnaeus this species had 10 dorsal and 8 anal rays. It may 
have been based on Lagocephalus scelercitus or some other East Indian species, but there seems to be no 
evidence that it was identical with the European Lagocephalus stellatus. In any event the Hawaiian 
form seems different from any other yet known. 
Type, No. 50820, U. S. N. M. (field No. 03379), 5 inches long, obtained at Honolulu; cotype. No. 
7784, L. S. Jr. Univ. Mus. (field No. 534, paper tag), 4.5 inches long, also from Honolulu. 
Lagocephalus oceanicus Jordan & Evermann, Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., XXII, 1902 (April 11, 1903), 199, Honolulu. 
