THE FISHES OF PORTO RICO. 
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218. Alutera scripta (Osbeck). Unicorn-fish; Lija Trompct. 
Depth 3 to 3.25; D. i, 44 to 48; A. 47 to 52; vertebrae 7+14. Body oblong, its depth being nearly 
equal to distance of hind margin of orbit from extremity of snout; snout produced, with upper profile 
concave; dorsal spine long and slender, above middle of orbit, about 1.25 in head; middle of gill- 
opening in advance of middle of eye; pectoral fin below posterior part of eye; caudal fin elongate, 
nearly as long as, or longer than, head, rounded; dorsal and anal fins low; ventral spine none. Head 
and body olivaceous, with irregular light-blue spots and curved streaks; besides these, numerous round 
black spots about as large as pupil; dorsal and anal yellowish; caudal reddish; skin finely velvety. 
An inhabitant of tropical seas. Common in the West Indies, occasionally northward to South 
Carolina; also occasionally taken about the islands off the west coast of Mexico. Not seen by us in 
Porto Rico, but recorded from there by Professor Poey. Length 2 to 3 feet. 
Unicornu pisces bahamensis (the Unicorn-fish) Catesby, Hist. Nat. Carolina, etc., II, pi. 19, 1737, Bahamas. 
Batistes scriptus Osbeck, Iter Chin., 1, 144, 1757, China. 
Lija trompa Parra, Dif. Piezas Hist. Nat., 46, pi. 22, fig. 1. 
Malistes Ixvis. Bloch, Ichthyol., IX, 82, pi. 414, 1795, Morocco; Tranquebar. 
Batistes ornatus Marion de Proce, Bull. Soc. Phiiom., 131, 1822. 
Aluleres pareva Lesson, Voy. Coquille, Zool., 106, 1828. 
Monacanthus proboscideus Ranzani, Nov. Comm. Ac. Sc. Inst. Bonon., 1842, 8, Brazil. 
Aluterus venosus Hollard, Ann. Sc. Nat., IV, 1855, 14, pi. 1, fig. 3. 
Alutera picturata Poey, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1863, 183, Cuba. 
Alutera scripta, Poey, Fauna Puerto-Riquena, 345, 1881; Jordan & Evermann, l.c., 1719, 1898. 
Fig. 73 . — Alutera scripta. 
Family LV 111. OSTRACIIDtE. The Trunk-fishes. 
Body short, cuboid, triquetrous or pentagonal, covered by a carapace formed of firmly united 
polygonal bony patches; jaws, bases of fins, and caudal peduncle free and covered bv smooth skin. 
Mouth small; each jaw with a single series of long, narrow teeth. Maxillaries and premaxillaries 
firmly united. Gill-opening a nearly vertical slit, below and behind eye. Dorsal fin single, short, 
without spine; anal short, similar to dorsal; caudal rounded; no ventral fins; vertebrae 14, the 
anterior 9 elongate, the last 5 extremely short; no ribs. 
The Ostraciidee comprise 3 genera and about 20 species, all of the tropical seas, living near bottom 
in shallow waters. The species are so singular in appearance and so easily preserved that they have 
been common in collections ever since the collecting of tropical curiosities began. The 4 American 
species were well known to Artedi and Linnaeus. Goode says of these fishes: 
“The locomotion of the trunk-fishes is very peculiar. The propelling force is exerted by the 
dorsal and anal fins, which have a half-rotary, sculling motion, resembling that of a screw propeller; 
the caudal tin acts as a rudder, save when it is needed for unusually rapid swimming, when it is used 
as in other fishes; the chief function of the broad pectorals seems to be that of forming a current of 
water through the gills, thus aiding respiration, which would otherwise lie difficult on account of the 
narrowness and inflexibility of the branchial apertures. When taken from the water one of these 
fishes will live for two or three hours, all the time solemnly fanning its gills, and when restored to its 
native element seems none the worse for its experience, except that, on account of the air absorbed, it 
can not at once sink to the bottom.” 
