Zoology.'] NATURAL HISTORY OF VICTORIA. [Fishes. 



of tail, nor conical thorns; in other specimens, probably males, the "tooth- 

 brush" spines, 6h lines long-, are developed on each side of tail, without thorns. 

 Colour : Whole body yellowish-brown, fading- irregularly into paler on throat, tail, 

 and middle of body ; irregularly spotted with darker brown in most specimens ; 

 dorsal and anal fins with nearly colourless membranes, and yellowish-brown rays; 

 caudal with pale dusky membrane and yellowish-brown rays, darker than those of 

 the dorsal or anal fins, crossed by two narrow brown bands, one near the middle 

 and one near the posterior edge ; under a lens the scales are minutely dotted with 

 black. Measurements: Total length from snout to end of caudal fin, 10 inches. 

 Proportional measurements to total length, as 100 : — Snout to anterior end of orbit, 

 Tcnrj greatest depth of body, -f^ ; greatest thickness behind head, tWj diameter 

 of eye, -nn,; height of 1st dorsal spine, xinrS distance of base from edge of upper 

 teeth, xVoj length of branchial slit, yrny; length of pectoral, -p^-; length of 2nd 

 dorsal, fVo 5 greatest height of ditto, -j 3 ^-; from snout to anterior ray of ditto, -^oi 

 from snout to anterior ray of anal, x^V; length of anal, -££$ ; greatest height of 

 ditto, y^q ; length of caudal, T y^. .Number of spines in space of 3 lines, about 

 middle of bod}', 6. 



Reference — Ann. des Sciences Nat., 4th serie., v. 2, p. 356, t. 13, f. 8. 



The small skin-spines of this species only present the appearance 

 figured by M. Hollard, when looked down upon with a magnifier 

 from above, but when a bit of skin is cut off and properly mounted 

 to allow of a side view, the spines are all as in our plate, widening 

 near the point, which is obliquely truncated at an obtuse angle, 

 which angle, in some points of view, looks exactly like a swelling 

 below the apex, as in M. Hollard's figures and descriptions. When 

 fresh the spines are covered with a thick, finely black-dotted skin, 

 which soon shrinks from the apex, leaving the sharp point exposed ; 

 and very often it also shrinks from the stem, leaving a portion at 

 the angle where the oblique truncation of the apex occurs, thus 

 increasing the appearance of a bulb below the point. In the male, 

 with the " tooth-brush " group of setaceous spines on the sides of 

 the tail, the form is rather more slender, the depth being less than 

 one-third of the total length, including caudal fin ( T W) ; and the 

 head in front of eye is perceptibly longer and forming a smaller 

 ans;le with the midline. 



In our male specimen the dorsal fin has 32 rays, and the 

 anal 31 ; another female has 34 dorsal and 32 anal rays ; the 

 figured specimen has 34 dorsal and 33 anal. In our specimens 

 the end of the pelvic spine may be drawn out so that the depth of 

 body is one-half the total length, excluding caudal fin ; and it may 



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