33 



vertebra, and the other two projected downwards nearly 

 half way to the anus. The cavities for lodging the upper 

 lobes were separated from those which contained the upper 

 portions of the liver by the peritoneum, and were lined by 

 pieces of the thick capsule, showing that this invested all 

 the four sections of the air-bladder. The sides of the large 

 first vertebra are concave, with an acute dividing line facing 

 ventrad. 



No information was furnished to us as to the habits of 

 the fish, or how it was captured. A small quantity of 

 fi^agments of minute Pinn<e and Crustacea was contained in 

 the gut, about two inches from the oesophagus. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Length of the specimen, nearly 2000 inches. 



„ from snout to vent 820 „ 



„ from ventto end of tail lltjO „ 



Hab. Sidney Cove ; Australia. 



Bagrus VENATicus. Richardsou. 



The north-west coasts of Australia nourish two species 

 of Bagrus, a single example of each having been procured 

 there by Benjamin Bynoe, Esq., surgeon of the Beagle. 

 Both specimens are much injured by the spoiling of the 

 spirits in which they were immersed, and most of the 

 barbels have perished, but many of their characters can 

 still be made out. They belong to the same group with 

 B. bilineatus, in which the nasal barbel is replaced by a 

 small lid. In general form they approach the gogora of 

 Buchanan-Hamilton pretty closely, but the upper lip is 

 not so prominent as in his figure, and the caudal is more 

 deeply forked. The rays of the anal fin are more nu- 

 merous than in any species of the group described in the 

 Histoire des Poissons. 



The larger specimen is 8j inches long, and for the sake 

 of reference, it is named leitalicns, in allusion to the Bea- 

 gle, though we cannot, fi-om its condition, give a correct 

 description of it. Its casque is strongly granulated, and 

 has the form of that oi gogora, except that the apex of the 

 inteiparietal process, where it meets the small crescentic 

 buckler of the dorsal fin, is slightly rounded. The width 

 of the base of this process is nearly equal to its length. 

 The granulations of the casque extend forwards to the 

 middle of the orbit, and the mesial membranous space is 

 very narrow and tapering behind, having its greatest 

 breadth exactly between the eyes. The lateral process of 

 the supra-scapular is broad at the base and triangular, and is 

 covered with a granular skin, but no granulations of the 

 bone show through the integument. The lateral line is 

 distinctly marked from the apex of this space to the tail. 

 The triangular plate of the humeral chain, which furnishes 

 a socket for the head of the pectoral spine, is roughly and 

 deeply sculptured, and its posterior corner is acute and 

 pungent. A part of the operculum at its articular angle 

 is marked by radiating rough lines, but the preoperculum 

 and interoperculum are smooth. 



The two-edged acute dorsal spine is in height equal to 

 the length of the granulated casque, including its inter- 

 parietal process, and is granulated in front from the base 

 to its middle, and acutely serrated from thence to the tip. 

 It is a little undulated posteriorly, uear the tip. The pec- 



toral .spine is equal in length to the dorsal one, and is 

 strongly serrated on both sides, from the tip downwards, 

 the serratures ceasing posteriorly about one-third of the 

 length from the base, and giving ))lace to granulations 

 near the base anteriorly. The jointed rays of the fins are 

 considerably injured, and cannot be correctly made out, 

 but the numbers, as nearly as can be ascertained, are as 

 follows : — 



Radii:— D. \\d, or more; —0; A. about 30; C. 17|; 

 P. 1!I3; V. about 8. 



The upper lobe of the caudal is rather the longest. 



The teeth are short, villiform. The front of the vomer 

 supports two small roundish dental plates, which adhere 

 to each other. The palatine plates are both broader and 

 longer. 



The points of the ribs show through the skin, as in bili- 

 neatus, and the allied species. 



The colours are dark greyish-blue on the back, and 

 white on the belly, — the tints of the fins are totally lost. 



Hab. N. W. coast of Australia. 



Bagrus veetagds. Richardson. 

 Radii:— B. 6; D. 1|6 vel 7—0; A. 28; P. I|9; V. 9? 



This fish was discovered by the officers of the same 

 ship who found the preceding one, and its specific name 

 has a similar origin. The only specimen we have received 

 was unfortunately too much injured to admit of a correct 

 figure being drawn, and the description must likewise be 

 considered as imperfect. It belongs to the same group 

 of Bagri with venaticus. 



The dorsal spine is proportionally shorter than that of 

 the species just named, being merely equal in length to 

 the space between its base and the orbit, or to the casque, 

 excluding the interparietal process. The pectoral spine 

 is strongly serrated on both sides, and exceeds the dorsal 

 one in length. The adipose fin is rather larger than that 

 of B. gogora, and is nearly of the same shape, but its fore 

 edge is a little waved, at the spot where it sinks to the 

 level of the back. The tail is deeply forked. 



The casque, less granulated than that of B. venaticus, 

 has the same general form. It is shallowly sculptured, as 

 far forward as the orbits, in a pattern similar to what is 

 named rustic work by builders. The apex of the inter- 

 parietal process is crescentic, and thus fits more exactly to 

 the curve of the buckler than that of venaticus. The 

 subulate process of the supra-scapular is clothed with 

 smooth integument. The surface of the humeral chain 

 above the pectoral is more smooth, and not so distinctly 

 seen as that of venaticus, nor is its angle so pungent. 



The vomerine teeth are disposed in two small separate 

 plates, and the palatine teeth form a still smaller plate 

 near each corner of the mouth. The barbels are six in 

 number, but they were too much injured in the specimen 

 to admit of their length being ascertained. 



The lints of the specimen, as far as its state permits us 

 to judge, are sky-blue on the back, with silvery sides and 

 belly. No spots now exist. 



Length, three inches. 



Hab. North-west coast of Australia. 



F 



