7;3(.> ox SOME AUSTRALIAN ELEOTRIX^E, 



jtlace of this, it sliould be made punishable to introduce this pest 

 into any waters of the colony at present free from it, and stringent 

 regulations should l)e at once issued to all caretakers of Govern- 

 ment tanks prohibiting its introduction therein. 



Both species of fresh-water Eel {Anguilla cmslralis and 

 ri'.inhardtii) were taken, the latter being, as is invariablj^ the case 

 ill this district, much the larger. The Long-finned or Reinhardt's 

 Eel is the common eel of the New South Wales rivers and estuaries, 

 so that nine out of every ten exposed for sale in the Sydney 

 markets belong to this species, which attains to. a weight of at 

 least fifteen pounds, whilst with us a specimen of australis 

 exceeding two pounds is a rarit}^ though, according to Mr. 

 Johnston (Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas. 1882, j)- 61) that species reaches 

 the enormous weight of thirty pounds in some parts of Tasmania. 

 Both Macleay and Tenison Woods have confounded reinhardtii 

 with australis, from whicli it may at once be distinguished by the 

 anterior position of the origin of the dorsal fin, which commences 

 far in advance of that of the anal instead of nearly opposite to it 

 as in australis. Roughly speaking, australis is the southern 

 form, being the common fresh-water Eel of Tasmania, Victoria, 

 and South Australia, while reinhardtii occupies a similar position 

 on the east coast from Sydney northwai-ds to Cape York. 



To return to the Eleotrince : — 



The name " Gudgeon " is very generally accepted throughout 

 Australia for these little fishes, having been doubtless gi-\'en to 

 them by the earlier colonists on account of a certain similarit}' in 

 their mode of life as well as a fancied resemblance in their 

 appearance to the European Gudgeon (Gohio fluviatilis). 



Sexual and seasonal differences: — Among bony 

 fishes distinctive characters b}'' which the sexes may be recognised 

 externall}' are not common, l^ut, as far as the species considei'ed 

 in this paper are concerned, the Australian Gudgeons are an 

 exception to this general rule, the shape and size of the genital 

 papilla being an accurate guide to the sex; in all the Gudgeons 

 proper (Eleotrii and Bntii) of Bleeker, this organ is narrow and 



