76 NEW GENERA AND SPECIES OP AUSTRALIAN FISHES, 



is the longest and branched, as long as or a little longer than the 

 soft dorsal rays, and when laid back does not extend to the tip 

 of the last ray, which is much produced, the outer border of the 

 fin being moderately emarginate : ventral fin moderate and 

 gently rounded, inserted a little nearer to the origin of the anal 

 than to the extremity of the mandible, with a rather weak spine; 

 the outer i^ay is as long as or a little longer than the second, 

 lyQ to If in the length of the head, and 2|- to 2|- in the distance 

 between its origin and that of the anal fin : pectoral fin but little 

 pointed, the outer border sinuous, with sixteen or seventeen ra3's, 

 the two outer ones simple ; the second ray is compressed and 

 somewhat broader than the third, which is subequal to the fourth 

 and longest, the distance of its tip from the origin of the first 

 dorsal being two-thirds of the length of the fin, which is two- 

 thirds of that of the head : caudal fin large and deeply emarginate, 

 with the tips of the lobes acute, its length 3i in the total length; 

 caudal peduncle moderately compressed and strong, its least 

 depth 2| to 31 in the depth of the body and 1^ in its length. 



Scales cycloid; snout scaly; scales of the preorbital very small; 

 four series of scales below the eye, one of which is on the intei-- 

 opercle, along the upper and lower borders of which are one or 

 two series of small subsidiary scales; axillary scale of the pectoral 

 small; exobasal scale of the ventral as large as or a little lai'ger 

 than that at the base of the spinous dorsal, which extends about 

 half way along the membrane of the last spine; second dorsal and 

 anal fins without scaly basal sheaths, but with a series of small 

 scales extending outwards between the two or three anterior 

 rays. 



Dark steel-blue above, silvery below, the sides with indistinct 

 darker stripes along the rows of scales; sides of the head more or 

 less tinged with gold : dorsal and caudal fins dusky, the latter 

 with a tinge of yellow and narrowly bordered with blackish; anal 

 and ventral fins silvery, with the basal third golden; pectoral fins 

 with a narrow black basal bar above, and a biilliant silvery spot 

 covering the rest of the base and extending some distance along 

 the fin; remainder of the fin dusky with a narrow silvery border; 



