DIODON • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Diodon

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noun

Diodon n.

(Zool.) A genus of spinose, plectognath fishes, having the teeth of each jaw united into a single beaklike plate. They are able to inflate the body by taking in air or water, and, hence, are called globefishes, swellfishes, etc. Called also porcupine fishes, and sea hedgehogs.

(Zool.) A genus of whales.

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Etymology of 'Diodon'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Diodon" Quotes from Famous Books

... is a fish, the Diodon antennatus, that gets the better of the shark in a curious manner. He can blow himself up by taking in air and water, until he becomes a bloated wretch instead of the fairly decent thing he is in his normal moments. He can bite, he can make a noise with his jaws, and can eject water ...

— White Shadows in the South Seas • Frederick O'Brien

... described in 'Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.' 1860 page 151 a nearly similar variety but destitute of a dorsal fin.) has described a most singular variety, imported from China, almost globular in form like a Diodon, with "the fleshy part of the tail as if entirely cut away? the caudal fin being set on a little behind the dorsal and immediately above the anal." In this fish the anal and caudal fins were double; the anal fin being attached to the body in a ...

— The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication - Volume I • Charles Darwin