Balistes aculeatus, _Bloch_, Ichth. tab. 149.
———— _Benn._ in Zool. of Beechey’s Voy. p. 69. pl. 22. f. 2.
FORM.—Body deep, subrhombic. Tail armed with three rows of prickles,
eleven in the uppermost row, about nine or ten in the middle one,
and five or six in the lowermost. A few larger scales than the
others behind the branchial orifice. Pelvic bone very rough and
prickly, the spines that follow short, and not protruding much
beyond the skin. First spine in the dorsal very strong, aculeated at
the anterior edge, but not at the sides; no third spine in this fin.
Second dorsal and anal even. Caudal rounded.
D. 2—24; A. 21; C. 12; P. 13.
Length 2 inc. 3 lin.
COLOUR.—Not noticed in the recent state. The ground colour has
probably been altered by the spirit, but the markings are still very
distinct, and accord tolerably with Bloch’s figure, except that the
oblique bands on the posterior part of the body, in front of and
above the anal, are darker; while they alternate with four white
ones, which are particularly conspicuous. Possibly these white bands
may have been originally blue, as the narrow stripes descending from
the eyes to the pectorals, which evidently were of that colour, are
nearly faded to a white. There is also a white stain on each side of
the tail, where the spines are, which appears to have been blue
originally: the spines themselves are deep shining black.
This specimen shows the black transverse bands between the eyes, and
the broad band passing from the eye to the pectoral, between the
narrow blue ones above alluded to, all represented by Bloch, but not
observed by Mr. Bennett in the specimen figured in the “Zoology of
Beechey’s Voyage.”
Habitat, Tahiti.
The above specimen was taken by Mr. Darwin at Tahiti. It is quite small,
and differs in some respects from the figures of Bloch and other
authors, but it is evidently referable to the _B. aculeatus_. The
species is probably subject to variation in respect of colouring.