‖ Ostracion Ichth.
(ɒˈstreɪsɪɒn)
[a. mod.L. ostracion, a. Gr. ὀστράκιον, dim. of ὄστρακον hard shell.]
A genus of fishes notable for the hard encasement of their bodies, consisting of juxtaposed hexagonal plates; a trunk-fish or coffer-fish.
| 1658 Sir T. Browne Gard. Cyrus iii. 147 To omit the ruder Figures of the ostracion. 1752 Sir J. Hill Hist. Anim. 284 The body of the Ostracion is of an odd figure. 1861 Hulme tr. Moquin-Tandon ii. iv. ii. 244 Adanson saw negroes die after severe vomiting and convulsions from eating of the Ostracions or Trunk Fishes. |