374 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



the same urgency in the matter of deciding the best common name for them. Now 'pomfret' in its 

 ichthyological connotation is stated to be of uncertain etymology by most EngHsh dictionaries, but is 

 I believe derived from a German vi^ord 'palmfett' — palm (oil) butter (De Vries, German-English 

 Dictionary for Scientists, 1939) ; at least the well-known oiliness of the fishes most widely called by the 

 name supports such a view. The use of ' pomfret ' for the Stromateidae would thus preserve the literal 

 significance of 'butterfishes', already current in America, while avoiding the confusion that may 

 result from widespread use of ' butterfish' for other groups in other English-speaking countries, shown 

 in Table 38. I therefore tentatively suggest ' spotted pomfret' as a suitable English common name for 

 Stromateus maculatiis. 



ATHERINIDAE 



Austromenidia smitti (Lahille). The ' William Scoresby ' secured three specimens of this littoral species 

 on hand-lines in the Golfo Nuevo, off the jetty at Puerto Madryn. Specimens from Port Stanley in 

 the Falkland Islands, where it is not uncommon, were sent to Norman (1937, p. 120) by Mr A. G. 

 Bennett. 



Austromenidia nigricans (Richardson). No specimens of this littoral species were obtained during 

 trawling operations, but series from East and West Falkland were sent to Norman by Mr A. G. 

 Bennett and Dr J. E. Hamilton. 



A note of E. R. Gunther's, referring to both these species, reads : ' . . .known in the Falkland Islands 

 as " smelt", were never taken by nets fished outside the littoral zone. They are among the most prized 

 as food, growing to a length of twenty-two inches (56 cm.).' Norman (1937, p. 122) quotes Mr A. G. 

 Bennett's notes on the erratic movements and shoaling habits of smelts, and their spring spawning in 

 sheltered shallow water. From the series of measurements given by Norman it seems probable that 

 A. smitti is the larger of the two species. 



Already in good repute as food, Falkland smelts would appear to be among the most promising 

 subjects for the development of any small-scale fishing industry to supply local needs. 



SCORPAENIDAE 



Sebastvdes oculatus Cuvier and Valenciennes. We obtained more specimens of this species by casual 

 fishing in the Magellan channels than by the systematic trawling oflF the east coast of Patagonia, and 

 this suggests that the Pacific may be the real home of this fish, as it is of most other Scorpaenidae. 

 As we have already had occasion to note, the ecological niche filled by the ' rock-fishes ' in the north 

 Pacific seems to be occupied by the characteristically southern Nototheniidae in our area. 



Norman (1937, pp- 123-4) 'preferred to use the name Sebastodes in the wider sense of Jordan and 

 Evermann (1898)', finding recent further subdivisions of the genus unreliable. He points out that 

 the Patagonian species is doubtfully distinct from Sebastodes chilensis Steindachner, found on the west 

 coast of South America; and is barely separable from Sebastichthes capensis Gmelin from South 

 Africa, the Tristan Group and Gough Island (Steindachner himself regarded this last species as 

 identical with the Patagonian one). 



The most familiar relative of Sebastodes oculatus is of course Sebastes marinus Linnaeus, common 

 on both sides of the north Atlantic, where it is known as the ' rose-fish', ' Norway haddock', and even 

 (at Halifax, N.S.) as the ' John Dory ' ! I mention this last because I can find no record of ' John Dory '^ 

 referring to any fish other than Zeidae in any other part of the world, and confusion of common names 

 is one of the greatest bugbears all fisheries workers have to face. The rose-fish has become very im- 

 portant commercially in recent years ; it is one of the staples of the frozen fish trade in eastern U.S.A., 



^ Though the 'dory' part of it, if derived from the Spanish dorado, is a different fish altogether! 



