45 



bers of this family in that district of the world, has been 

 erroneously asserted ; and when one reflects that the Cy- 

 prinidie are numerous in Java, and the adjoining chain of 

 islands, a reasonable hope is naturally excited, of the 

 existence of similar species on the opposite, and not far 

 distant north-western coasts of Australia. A family which 

 is almost wholly located in fresh waters, cannot be very 

 abundant in the small islands of Polynesia ; but the ma- 

 rine species above alluded to traverses Torres Straits to 

 the island of Tanna. The rivers of the southern parts of 

 Australia, being more like morasses, or strings of ponds of 

 impure water, than healthy streams, are unsuitable for the 

 nourishment of many kinds of fish ; but within the tro- 

 jncs, where periodical and abundant rains fall, the rivers, 

 whether small or large, are likely to be of a very different 

 character, and to nourish many kinds of fish. Ichthyology 

 has hitherto been considered as so secondary an object, 

 that few or none of our surveying officers have pursued 

 the search for fish with proper nets, and in a suitable 

 manner ; yet, in a new colony especially, a knowledge of 

 the neighbouring fishing-banks is of the first importance, 

 and may be turned to good account. 



Sir James Ross's success in the discovery of novel and 

 interesting forms offish, may be attributed to the constant 

 employment of a towing net, and to his use of a dredge 

 whenever practicable. The stomachs of seals and sea- 

 birds were explored with success by him and Dr. Hooker. 



The Cypriuoid we have at present to describe, is quite 

 a new form, and when the figures in Plate 29 were drawn, 

 our only materials were two dried specimens from West 

 Australia ; but within a few days we have had, through the 

 kindness of Professor Owen, an opportunity of inspecting 

 a specimen, very perfectly preserved in spirits, sent from 

 New Zealand by Captain Sir Everard Home, of the North 

 Star. We are thereby enabled to give some anatomical 

 particulars, and to amend the description of the lips, which 

 is not quite correctly given in fig. .3, owing to the contrac- 

 tion of the parts in drying. This is remedied by the intro- 

 duction nt I wo il tut ( \liiliiting the mouth, when closed.* 



e 



^^""f^ 



The stninadi cniitained some blackish matter, mixed 

 with grains of sand, and between the gills were fragments 

 of a turbinated shell, old and worn, which had been long 

 dead and evidently taken into the mouth along with the 

 matters on which the fish preyed. The fragments were 

 much too large to pass the oesophagus. Tins seems to be 

 evidence of the fish finding its food among the sand or 

 mud of the bottom, as indeed its form and position, so 

 similar to the mouths of the sturgeons, would lead us 

 naturally to infer. 



* Even this cut does not exhibit the rostral barbel and the labial 

 papillee so clearly as I could have wished. 



The following is a summary of its most remarkable 

 external characters. 



Rynchana, i. p. ^i^vxava, vasuia. 



Forma elotigala, inter C'yprinidas lovf/issima. 



Caput cotiinini i)hi(/iie jira'tcr iit1>ia .siiiuniiosiin). 



Rostrum vlha osrii/in/i iiroduci inn, co/iirin/i, nriilum, infrit 

 cirrho parvido, wediaiio, so/ihirio .sitp/x'dilii/uni. 



Osculum in/eruin, ad suyeiidum apt ion, riclii palulo semi- 

 rotmido. Labia trnnsrcrsini .sulcata papulosa ciliata. 

 Lahiinn siiperiiin ad angulum oris lobulatuni . Labium 

 infer inn tri-lohiilatinn. 



Dentes pharyngei, hreres, gracilenti, cylitidrici, iruncati, 

 siihpavimentnti. 



Radii branchiostegi Ires. Membrana branchiostega cum 

 ijiilo coalescens et aperturam solummodo verticalem 

 iimitans. 



Pinna dorsi brevis, ventrales valde reiropositas oppo- 

 nens : spinis validis nullis. Pinna ani in medio inter 

 pinnas dorsi caudmqne posita. Pinna omnes inter 

 radios squamosa. Appendices long<B acuminata squa- 

 mosa supra pinnas pectorales et ventrales protenste. 



Squamae parva lalide ciliata. 



Linea lateralis recta, dorso parallela. 



Caeca pylorica circiier quinque. Vesica pneuniatica 

 nulla Y 



Form linear, sub-quadrilateral, with the corners much 

 rounded, the tail behind the dorsal tapering, and at the 

 same time becoming compressed, and quite thin at the 

 origin of the caudal. At the base of this fin, above and 

 below, there is a short acute keel. The height anteriorly 

 and the thickness are equal to one another, and to one- 

 twelfth part of the whole length. 



The head forms a seventh of the length, is conical, 

 much rounded above and flattish beneath, and on the gill- 

 plates. It tapers gradually to the tip of the acute snout. 

 The eye, oval and rather large, is situated midway beween 

 the tip of the snout and the gill-opening, and its axis 

 equals a fourth of the length of the head. It encroaches 

 on the profile, and the space between the orbits exceeds 

 the vertical diameter of the eye. Before the eye, and at a 

 greater distance from it than from the tip of the snout, are 

 the two small and quite contiguous openings of the nos- 

 tril, on each side. A small barbel depends from the 

 middle line of the snout beneath, before the nostrils. 



Midway between the eye and rip of the snout is the 

 mouth, enrirely on the under surface of the head, and 

 opening downwards. Its small orifice, when fully ex- 

 tended, is semi-oval, approaching to a semicircle, the upper 

 lip being vaulted and the lower one transverse. The lips 

 are thick, and softly granular, or papillose, and are ciliated. 

 On the upper lip the soft grains are in rows, and the 

 cirrhi are merely the papilla3 in an elongated, tapering 

 form, being longest at the corners of the mouth, where the 

 lip ends in a loose lobe, or lappet. Except at this place, 

 the cirrhi of the upper lip arc on its interior edge, and 

 somewhat resemble a row of teeth, as in the genus Nandina 

 of Gray, {Cirrhinus, McLellan ; Rohita, Valenciennes). 

 On the lower lip, the cirrhi are a minute fringe to its 



