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The Atoll of Funafuti, Ellice group : its zoology, botany, ethnology and general structure based on collections made by Charles Hedley of the Australian Museum, Sydney, N.S.W.

Balistæ

Balistæ.

Balistes, Artedi.
Balistes fuscus, Bloch.

Batistes fuscus, Bloch, Schn., p. 471; Bleeker, Atlas Ichth., p. Ill, pl. ccxxv., fig. 3.

Two adult examples, wherein the caudal lobes are greatly produced and the anterior portions of the dorsal and anal fins much elevated, even more than in Bleeker's figure. The amount of development, which both these fins and the caudal undergoes as the fish attains maturity, will be well seen by comparing this figure with that of Day's,* which represents a young example of the natural size. Rüppell *has illustrated the species of intermediate age.

Funafuti native name, "Oom."

* Day—Fishes of India, pl. clxxviii., fig. 4.

* Rüppell—Atlas, pl. vii., fig. 2.

page 197
Balistes flavomarginatus, Rüpp.

Batistes flavomarginatus, Rüpp., Atlas Fische, p. 33; Bleeker, Atlas Ichth., pl. ccxxiv., fig. 3.

One specimen secured. It agrees exactly with the figure cited, both as to size and proportions, but the representation is spoilt by the delineation of the scales on the snout, which as Günther remarks are not correctly drawn.

Balistes aculeatus, Linn.

Balistes aculeatus, Linn., Syst. Nat., i., p. 406; Bleeker, Atlas Ichth., pl. ccxvi,, fig. 3.

Under the name of " Soumou," one example of this beautiful and very widely distributed species is in the Funafuti Collection, and is apparently as common in the Ellice Group as in other islands of the Pacific.