234 THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY 



and below the dorsal ; from thence it forms a regular convex 

 curve up to the caudal fin ; the lower profile is very concave up to 

 the anal, and then runs straight ; the cleft of the mouth is very- 

 oblique ; there is a series of eight spinous tubercules along the 

 anterior part of the back ; dorsal truncated posteriorly with the 

 last ray two-thirds as long as the first ; this fin has two spines 

 and thirteen rays ; the caudal is large ; the anal has two spines 

 and from forty to forty-two rays : on a considerable number of 

 specimens, none have the anterior protuberance, believed to be 

 sexual in Kurtus Indicus. 



Preserved in spirits, the fish is of a yellow flesh colour, but 

 when alive Mr. Grulliver says it was entirely diaphanous ; he 

 found this sort in a fresh water pond near the Norman River. 



The largest specimens are a little over four inches long. 



ECHENEIS NAUCRATES. 



Echeneis Naucrates, Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. I., p. 446. 



„ „ White, Voyage New South Wales, p. 296, 



pi. 64, f. 3. 



The fish of this genus are remarkable by a suctorial disk 

 formed of numerous pairs of laminae situated at the hinder parfc 

 of the anterior portion of the body, and by means of which they 

 adhere to rocks, other fishes, &c. This sort inhabits the West 

 Indies, Brazils, the China and Indian Seas. The specimen from 

 Australia is about seven inches long, and is from Cardwell, in 

 the north of Queensland. It was given to me by Mr. Duboulay. 



SCATOPHAGUS ARGUS. 



Ghoetodon argus, Linn. Edit. Grmel., p. 1248. 



This sort that I had frequently observed in India and China is 

 met in considerable numbers at the mouth of the Brisbane River 

 in Moreton Bay. It is often called by the fishermen Leather 

 Jacket. When the thick skin has been removed it is sometimes 

 used for food. 



The largest of my specimens measures near fourteen inches, 

 and I find that the dorsal spines seem to become lower in those 

 old individuals than in the others. In this specimen for instance 



