Zoology.'] 



NATURAL HISTORY OF VICTORIA. 



IFishes. 



Salmomdce. In Sydney it is popularly called the "Sergeant 

 Baker." The males have much more elongate anterior rays to the 

 dorsal fin and have much duller colors in less distinct patches, the 

 top of the head brownish and rich dark-purple, fading gradually to 

 whitish on l)clly ; cheeks, operculum, and some round spots on top 

 of head vermilion and carmine, and indistinct rosy blotches on 

 sides ; caudal purple, with 3 rows of reddish blotches ; pectoral 

 dark-grey with 3 or 4 transverse bands of darker spots ; ventrals 

 purplish with 3 rows in front and 5 rows behind of darker puri)le 

 and lighter spots on the rays ; anal light-grey, with 5 or 6 rows of 

 lighter ol)long spots in front, becoming darker purple behind ; front 

 of dorsal orange, hind part of dorsal grey with mimerous darker 

 blotches on the membranes of purple, front rays of dorsal red. 



The hollowed top of the head and the character of the rays of 

 the ventral fin, as well as the coloring, resembles the ScorpcBncB, in 



which such simple large unarticulated rays occur in the pectoral. 



The extraordinarily large number of the branchiostegal rays 



separates it from the other famihes completely. 



The first ray of the dorsal in both sexes is spinous, simple and 



shortest. The second ray bifid and longest, but only slightly 



exceeding the third and fourth much-branched rays in the female ; 



while in the male the anterior filament is prolongued to a length 



about equalling the distance from its base to the adipose dorsal, 



while the posterior filament ends at little more than half its length ; 



the first filament or branch of the third ray is rather less than 



half the length of the second ray. 



The following are the detailed measurements of two of the 



specimens in the Museum : — 



Measurements. 



Length from snout to distal end of middle of caudal 



„ of caudal to middle 



„ of caudal to end of lobes 



„ from snout to anterior edge of orbit 



„ of orbit 



„ of head from snout to end of operculum 



„ from snout to anal (measured along ventral edge) 



„ from front of anal to cud of middle of caudal ... 



„ from snout to base of pectoral 



„ from snout to origin of 1st dorsal 



Female. 



ins. lines. 



18 



1 1 



3 2 



1 .5 



10 



5 



11 9 



6 

 

 



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