Tragulichthys Whitley, 1931

Leis, Jeffrey M., 2006, Nomenclature and distribution of the species of the porcupinefish family Diodontidae (Pisces, Teleostei), Memoirs of Museum Victoria 63 (1), pp. 77-90 : 85

Tragulichthys Whitley, 1931

Tragulichthys Whitley, 1931 (type species D. jaculiferus Cuvier )

Diagnosis. All spines fixed, except those in pectoral axil which are by far the longest on the body; all spines except those in the P axil with 3 bases; spines long to medium; 9 C rays; 19 vertebrae; no tentacles in adults; nostril in adult a short tube with 2 openings, but may become bifurcate in larger individuals; no spines wholly on dorsal surface of caudal peduncle, but large spines extend over the peduncle nearly to the caudal-fin base; no fins spotted; no large blotches on dorsal surface. Some additional osteological characters are given by Tyler (1980, ref. 4477) as Diodon jaculiferus .

The type species of this monotypic genus is D. jaculiferus Cuvier (1818, ref. 18059). Most of the spines are fixed in the normal ʻburrfishʼ manner, but those in the pectoral axil, which are by far the longest on the body, are erectile. Some have regarded Tragulichthys Whitley (1931, ref. 4673) as a synonym or subgenus of Diodon (Fraser-Brunner, 1943, ref. 1495; Tyler, 1980, ref. 4477). But, until a full analysis of the phylogeny of the family is forthcoming, it seems best to maintain current usage and to recognize Tragulichthys at the generic level because the only species has a number of morphological differences from the five species normally included in Diodon .