24 
OST-RACION. 
The fins are rounded with ramified rays. This fipecies is 
from the Eaft and Weft Indies, living on fhell-fifh, and 
growing to the length of a foot and a half. It is fo much 
efteemed as food, that only the rich can procure it; for, 
according to Brown, it furpafies all the fifli of America. 
This large fpecies isfhown on the annexed Plate, at fig. i. 
2. Oftracion concatenatus, the fettered trunk-fifh : body 
triangular, without fpines, and marked with chain or net¬ 
work. There are iz rays in the peftoral fins, 9 in the 
anal, 8 in the tail, and 10 in,the dorfal. The fides are 
narrower, the back lefs arched, and the extremities of the 
back and belly more even, than in the preceding. By 
help of a magnifier, a curious arrangement is obfervable 
on the furface of the (hell; each piece is compofed of fix 
triangles, four of which havealmoft equal fides,and the two 
middle ones have Ion glides; t he felaft being connected with 
their bafes, and their angles touching the adjoining piece, 
form that chain-work of which we have fpoken ; but thole 
interfefftions difappear by degrees towards the belly, be- 
caufe all the triangles become ifoceles, or of equal fides. 
The edges of thele pieces are raifed, and of a white co¬ 
lour. The aperture of the mouth is fmall; the upper jaw 
rather the longeft, and five teeth in each. The pupil of 
the eye is black, with a yellow border, and a green iris. 
The head is alh colour, with fome ftripes of blue. The 
fides are violet inclining to grey ; and the belly is white, 
as is the network on the fhelt. The tail is brownilh ; the 
fins of a dirty-red. Plunder found this in the Antilles. 
3. Olfracion trigonus, the triangular trunk-fifh: the 
back arched, 14. rays in the dorfal fin, fubcaudal fpines 2. 
There are 12 rays in the pefforal fins,' 7 in the tail, 9 in 
the anal. The furfaces of the three fides are higher in 
this filh than in any of the other fpecies of this genus ; the 
head is alfo larger, and more truncated. The mouth is 
very fmall; there are ten teeth in the upper jaw, eight in 
the lower. On the fides, the pieces of armour are raifed 
in the centre, on the belly at the rims; they are marked 
with lines, on which are ftrong pearly tubercles. The 
eyes are large, with a black pupil and golden iris. The 
head is grey, inclining to yellow ; the body yellow, (haded 
with brown; the fins are yellow, inclining to blue at the 
extremities, with ftrong ramified rays; the fpines at the 
anus are very ftrong, and channelled or fluted. This fifh 
grows a foot long or rtiore. It is natural to the Antilles 
and Brafil, feeding on coral and the animals it finds 
therein; Marcgrave found (and or gravel in the ftomach, 
■which probably had been taken in to help digeftion, as in 
many birds. The fame author found one of thefe in the 
ftomach of a fpotted perch, (Perea guttata;) which proves 
that the hard (hell it is covered with does not proteft it 
from the voracious tribes. Dutertre fays, that, when 
caught, it grunts like a hog, which has gained it the name 
of Jea-hog. The flefli is hard and tough. It is caught 
with a net; it will bite at a bait; but, if not drawn up 
quickly, it bites the hook in two with its ftrong teeth. 
4. Oftracion biaculeatus, the two-fpined trunk-fiih : 
the body triangular and fpotted, two fpines near the anus. 
There are 13 rays in the pectoral fins, 9 in the anal, 8 in 
the tail, and 10 in the dorfal. The eyes are large, with a 
black pupil and reddifh iris; the noftrils are fingle, and 
near the eyes. There are fixteen teeth in the upper jaw, 
and twelve in the lower. The furface of this fifh is rough 
to the touch, and covered all over with black fpots, as is 
the tail and its fin, but not the other fins. The colour of 
the body is grey, mixed with pale-yellow; the fins are 
yellow, which is darker towards the extremities, with 
ramified rays. This fpecies is found in the Eaft Indies; 
it is from a foot to a foot and a half long; its food is like 
the preceding. 
( 3 . There is a variety of this, which Lifter, Ray, Arte- 
dius, and Klein, have made a feparate fpecies. But the 
conftru&ion is entirely the fame; the only difference is, 
that, initead of the round black fpots, each piece of ar¬ 
mour has the appearance of a ftar with fix rays. Perhaps 
both are only varieties of the O. trigonus. The pe&oral 
fins have but 11 rays. 
5. Oftracion tricornis, the three-fpined trunk-fifh: body 
triangular ; one fpine on the back, and one over each eye. 
The fpines on the forehead are nothing more than pro¬ 
longations of the bony covering near the eyes, extending 
to a point, and direfted forwards. It is found in the In¬ 
dian Sea. 
Cepede remarks, thafe-the authorities brought by Gme- 
lin for this fpecies belong to other oftracions; and that 
the remarks of Daubenton and Bonaterra, in the Encyclop. 
Method, fhould have been applied to Lifter’s trunk-fifh, 
and not to this. 
6. Oftracion quadricornis, the four-fpined trunk-fifh : 
body triangular, with four fpines. There are 6 rays in 
the peftoral fins, 8 in the anal, 10 in the tail, 7 in the 
dorfal. In this fpecies, the furfaces of the fides are fome- 
what broader than the preceding, and the forehead not fo 
flat. The eyes are oval, with a dark-blue pupil enclofed 
in ayellowifli iris. There are fourteen teeth in the upper 
jaw, and twelve underneath. The (hell is rough to the 
touch, becaufe of the little tubercles with which it is befet. 
The colour of this fifli is brown inclining to red, with 
long brown fpots in various direftions. The fins are yel¬ 
low, with branched rays; the tail is of the fame colour; 
with black fpots ; its fin is large, but the dorfal and anal 
are fhort. The back is arched. Two of the fpines are 
upon the forehead, the other two under the tail. This 
fpecies inhabits the feas of Jamaica, the Antilles, Guinea, 
and the Eaft Indies, growing about fifteen inches long. 
It is not very flefliy, nor much efteemed as food. 
7. Oftracion L’fter, the five-fpined, or Lifter’s, trunk- 
fifh : body triangular; one large fpine under the tail. 
This fpecies has five fpines, four of them placed fimilar 
to the quadricornis; but the two under the belly feem to 
have been overlooked by Artedius, Daubenton, and Bo¬ 
naterra, (or rather the two latter have copied the former,) 
for they have called it the three-fpined. As Lifter (ap. 
Will. Ichthyol. p. 19.) firft deferibed it properly, Cepede 
has given it his name. The fpine on the tail, below or 
behind the armour of the body, is hard, pointed, and as 
long as the anal fin; it it nearer the caudal fin than to 
the edge of the bony cafe. The dorfal fin is nearer to 
the head than the anal is. The feales on the tail cannot 
be diliinguifhed during the life of the fifli. On the back, 
and on the lides of the head, appear large undulated fpots. 
Its native country is not known. 
8. Oftracion turritus, the fea-camel : body quadrangu¬ 
lar, with a large elevation ; one fpine on the eyebrows and 
back, 4 on each fide the belly. There are 12 rays in the 
pefforal fins, 10 in the anal, tail, and dorfal. This fifh is 
broader at bottom than at top. The lower edges are (harp, 
the upper rims blunt or round. At the lower edge are 
from three to five fhort ftrong fpines bent back; it is pro¬ 
bable that their number increafes with the age of the fifh ; 
and there is a fpine of the fame kind over each eye. The 
upper furface riles gradually on each fide into an emi¬ 
nence or hump, which is broad, thin, and radiated,crowned 
with a fhort thick ftrong fpine, bending backwards. The 
divilions of the (hell are marked with lines, and their.edges 
are raifed; and, being compofed fometimes of fix trian¬ 
gles, fometimes of feven or eight, they are either fix, 
feven, or eight, fided; and, the raifed edges being o£ a 
white colour, the body feems as if covered with a net. 
The colour of the body is faint-yellow; the head brown, 
the fins grey; a few round fpots of a brown colour are 
feen on different parts of the body. The head is large 
and truncated ; the mouth a little protruded. There are 
twelve teeth in the upper jaw, and eight in the lower. 
The pupil of the eye is black, not entirely round, with a 
golden iris. The gills have a large aperture; the mem¬ 
brane has only one ray. This fpecies inhabits the Red 
Sea and the Eaft Indies; it is particularly plentiful about 
the Molucca Illes. Some fay it grows to the length of ten 
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