and Fish from Van Diemen's Land. 109 



this year sent. They are of a greenish colour, with a strong 

 spine on the back. 



u Parrot fish" (Ostracion, Linnaeus,) so called from the shape 

 of the head and mouth I suppose, as also perhaps from the 

 various and beautiful colours. Of these I send twelve speci- 

 mens of two or three species ; one specimen, although much 

 faded and altered, is still very beautiful. 



" Sea Horse," so called, I believe, from a fancied resemblance 

 of the shape of the head to that of a horse. The specimen this 

 year sent I picked up on the beach a few miles from Circular 

 Head ; it is of a different species to those usually caught in 

 the rivers Tamar and Derwent. The tail differs considerably. 



I think few, if any other, marine productions require notice. 

 I cannot and do not devote much time to the pursuit, but I 

 plainly see that much might be done. To a sincere lover of 

 natural history, possessed of knowledge and the necessaiy 

 means, a finer field than Van Diemen's Land could scarcely 

 be found. Crabs are very various and curious ; fish also. And 

 indeed a good cask of spirits might be filled with sundries 

 highly interesting to a scientific person. 



Notes on the Fish. By John Edward Gray, Esq. 



" The Nurse" is Cestracion Philippi of Cuvier, the Squalus 

 Philip-pi of Schneider, figured as the Port Jackson shark in Phi- 

 lipp^s Voyage, t. at p. 283. It is probable from their descrip- 

 tions that neither Cuvier, Miiller, nor Henle have ever seen 

 this species, but were only acquainted with it from the figure 

 above-cited; it is perhaps the only specimen now T in Euro- 

 pean collections. It is much more nearly related to Scy Ilium 

 than any other of the sharks. I am therefore induced to give 

 the following description of the specimen sent by Mr. Gunn. 



Cestracion Philippi : muzzle short ; nostrils large, near the 

 lips operculate; operculum subspiral (partly injured in the skin- 

 ning) ; events ? very small, low down on the cheek under the 

 hinder angle of the eye ; front teeth small, conical, com- 

 pressed, lancet-shaped, the larger one with a small lobe on 

 each side of its base ; eyebrows elevated, ridge-like. Dorsal 

 fins two, each with a spine in front ; anal fin one ; caudal fin 

 deeply lobed : the front dorsal fin over the middle of the space 



