AMPHIBIA NANTES. BALISTES. 
13 
BALISTES. 
GENERIC CHARACTER. 
Caput compressum; dentes utriusque 8 ; horiim 
anteriores 2 longiores; utrinque 3 interiores 
intra totidem laterales, adpressi; aper- 
tura supra pinnas pectorales. Corpus com - 
pressum , squamis corio cocidunatis . Abdo¬ 
men carinatum. 
The head compressed; eight teeth in each 
jaw, of which two in front are longest, 
the three interior, on both sides, rest 
between an equal number of lateral teeth ; 
the branchial aperture above the pec¬ 
toral fins. The body compressed, the 
belly carinated; the scales fixed on a 
coriaceous skin. 
No. XX. 
Balistes pinna dorsali anteriore triradiata, radio primo osseo, breve, crasso, aspero, retuso, 
antice serrato; {Anna caudali integra, sub-Jtexuosa. 
The Balistes with a three-rayed anterior fin, of which the first ray is a short, rough, 
thick bone, with a ragged point, and serrated on the fore part; the tail undivided, 
somewhat flexuous. 
Called by the Natives Rahtee Yellakah. 
j_ j±_ 
D, 3. 30. P. 15. V. 14. A. 28 . C. 14. 
The body very compressed, thin, broad, and short; the skin rough, reticulated, with a few contiguous square 
scales, on the rostrum. The head, at first, of equal breadth with the body, and not less compressed on the 
sides, declines in an oblique line from the dorsal fin to the mouth, from which, in another oblique line, but 
rather shorter, it declines to the ventral fin. The mouth is situated at the point of the triangle, very small, the 
lips thickish; the two fore teeth in each jaw remarkably long. The eyes near the vertex, distant from the 
rostrum. No visible nostrils. 
The back slanting from the first dorsal fin to the tail, with the opposite ascending line from the ventral fin, 
compose a triangle somewhat longer than that of the head. The tail, at the termination of the dorsal fin, is 
much contracted, but expands somewhat towards the fin. There is no lateral line. The anus remarkably 
long. 
The Jins. The first spine of the dorsal is thick, strong, serrated, with a rough point, as if broken; the other 
two rays are small and short, but sharp pointed; the second dorsal is situated three fourths of an inch behind 
on the declivity of the back; the short roundish pectoral is placed nearly in the middle between the eye and 
ventral fin; the first spine of the ventral exactly resembles that of the first dorsal; the white points of the 
others just appear above the edge of the connecting black membrane; the anal is opposite to the second dorsal; 
the caudal is undivided, rounded somewhat in the middle, and sinuated on each side. 
