FISHES. 



BY JOHN RICHARDSON, M.D., F.R.S., &c. 



In no expedition that ever sailed from Europe has more care been taken to collect the zoological productions of the 

 sea, than in the pre-eminently scientific one of the Erebus and Terror. The commanding officer, an accomplished 

 zoologist, had previously paid much attention to Ichthyology, and, under his fostering superintendence, ample col- 

 lections of fish were made at New Zealand, Van Diemen's Land, Australia, Kerguelen's Land, Cape Horn, the 

 Falklands, and wherever an opportunity offered of drawing the seine or trawl, or dropping a hook. The specimens 

 thus obtained filled many casks, and numerous jars and bottles, and it were greatly to be wished that so much industry 

 had met with the full measure of success that it desen'ed ; but we have to regret that, during a voyage protracted for 

 upwards of four years and a half, including every possible change of climate, and during which the ships were 

 buffeted by many severe gales, and sustained innumerable shocks in forcing their way through the ice-packs of the 

 Antarctic Seas, the specimens suffered very severe damage. Owing to the deterioration of the spirits in jars that were 

 crowded with fish, and the long continued action of the brine, where that liquid was employed, very many specimens 

 entirely perished, or merely fragments of skeletons could be rescued from the mass. Yet the present number, 

 which includes only the Gobioid fishes and their allies, is rich in new forms, and will shew the Ichthyologist that enough 

 remains to render the collection as interesting as any that has been made, of late years, in any quarter of the globe. 

 Except what may be gleaned from the notes and drawings of the Forsters, who accompanied Cook on his second 

 voyage, nothing is known of the fish inhabiting the seas beyond the fiftieth parallel of south latitude. Sir James Ross 

 merits the warmest thanks of zoologists for having done so much to supply this want. They are due also to 

 Dr. Joseph Dalton Hooker for his able co-operation with his commanding officer, and for the excellent sketches and 

 notes which he has contributed ; as well as to the other officers who lent their aid in forming the collections. 



Fam. GoBiiD^. venenatus (12, p. 85.) It is not very dissimilar in its 



GoBius BYNOENSis. Richardson. general form to G. niger. The specific name has been 



bestowed in honour of Benj. Bynoe, Esq., Surgeon in the 



Ch. Spec. G. quinque-fasciatus maculatusque, punclis Royal Navy, who, while serving in the Beagle, made 



coloratis, seriatis utrinque in nucha; pitind dorsi extensive collections of Australian animals and plants, 



priori nebulosd, secundd lineatd ; pinnis ceteris uni- which he presented to the Museum of Haslar Hospital.* 



coloribus. The length of the head is contained four times and a 



Radii:— D. 6|—1|16; A. 1|1.5; C 19; P. 21 ; V. lIlO— 1 half in the total length of the fish, caudal fin included ; 



united. ' its width is less than half its length, but equal to its height, 



Plate I., fig. 1 and 2, natural size. » To make the list of Australian species as complete as possible, a few 



rrii,:_ • „ 1 ■„„ ,;„„ . »v, -ii ^ ■ .i undescribed fish from the western coasts of that country, discovered bv 



This species havnig canine teeth, will rank m the group ih^ officers of the Beagle surveying ship, have been added to Sir James 



which IS lieaaeci in the Histoire des Potssons by G. Ross's collection. 



