67 



Aleuterius maculosus. Richardson. 



Radii :— D. 2|— 30 ad 34 ; A. 29 ad 32 ; C. 12 ; 

 P. 10 ad 12. 



Aleuterius maculosus, Richardson, Zool. Proceed., March lOth, 1840. 

 Zool. Trans, iii. p. 170. 



Plate XXIX., fig. 5, natural size ; G, 7, magnified. 



This Aleuterius has a higher body than paragaudatus, 

 and its face is slightly concave in profile, not flatly arched. 

 The greatest height is nearly a third of the total length. 

 The dorsal spine is similarly placed to that of paragmida- 

 tus, but is proportionally taller, and is somewhat curved at 

 its base. It has, in like manner, four angles which are 

 armed by rougher stronger teeth. Figure 6 is a lateral 

 view of the spine, and 7 a front view, which does not differ 

 fi'om the posterior one. The dermal bristles resemble those 

 of paragaudatus, and when examined through a lens, the 

 integument between them is seen to be finely spotted. 



The ground colour of the specimens in spirits is olive- 

 brown, densely spotted, and clouded by darker tints. The 

 under parts are more silvery, and the caudal fin is crossed 

 by a bar near its end. Length, 4 or 5 inches. 



Hab. Harbours of Van Diemen's Land and New South 



Dep. Assist. Commissary General Neill has drawn a 

 King George's Sound Aleuterius, which we are inclined to 

 consider as the same with maculosus, though, as occurs in 

 some others of his sketches, the peculiar mottling of 

 the body is omitted. It is number 15 of his collection, and 

 is named " Candiey " by the Aborigines, some of them call- 

 ing it also " Tabaduck," which seems to be a generic appel- 

 lation. He says that it inhabits deep water, where the bot- 

 tom is rocky, and is good to eat. 



Aleuterius variabilis. Richardson. 



Radii :— D. 2|— 35 ; A. 33 ; P. 13 ; V. ; C. 12, rounded. 

 (Spec. Br. Mus.) 



/(■on. 31, Neill's drawings of King George's Sound Fishes in Brit. 

 Mus. (unpublished). Native name, Tabaduck. 



Plate LIII., figs. 1, 2 and 5, natural size : 

 magnified. 



3,7, 



Mr. Neill informs us that this fish is very common in 

 deep water on the rocky coasts of King George's Sound, 

 and is much esteemed by the Aborigines as an article of 

 food. Like the Aleuteres, it is infested by Isopoda, and 

 Mr. Neill states that the fish, which are suffering from the 

 attacks of that crustacean, are bright yellow on the lower 

 parts, while the others are of a beautiful purple colour. The 

 specimen figured by Mr. Neill has the yellow colour, and a 

 large Isopode has burrowed in the side of the belly near 

 the vent. 



The top of the back, the dorsal, and anal fins are moun- 

 tain-green, the sides and belly are bright gamboge-yellow. 

 There are eight or nine flax-flower streaks on the lower lip 



and chin, one of them encircling the muzzle behind the 

 lips ; also five or six of the same tint on each side of tlie 

 pelvic bone, the three lowest of which unite on the mesial 

 line with the corresponding streaks of the o]jposite side. 

 A blue stripe runs beneatli the base of Uie second dorsal, 

 and another extends from the anus to the caudal, running 

 near the anal. The bases of the dorsal and anal are also 

 marked by a row of blue spots. The rays of the caudal are 

 yellowisli, and the membrane between them is striped 

 with blue. The fin is crossed by two black bars, one 

 on the base of the rays, and the other which is broader near 

 their extremities. 



The specimen is nine inclies long, including the caudal 

 fin, and its height at the point of the pelvis exceeds a third 

 of the length. Its profile is an irregular ellipse, obtuse 

 before and more tapering behind, with the ventral curve 

 more prominent than the dorsal one. The mouth is tunied 

 a little upwards, and the lips project somewhat, but the 

 snout has not a beaked form. The facial line rises with a 

 slight convexity at an angle of 40° to the dorsal spine, whicli 

 stands over the posterior half of the orbit : from thence to 

 the second dorsal, the outline of the back is horizontal. 

 The eye, placed high on the cheek, is three diameters and 

 a half of the orbit distant from the edge of the upper lip ; 

 and the oblique gill-opening commencing a diameter of tlie 

 orbit lower down, and exactly beneath its hinder edge de- 

 scends to opposite the middle of the pectoral, its lengtli 

 being equal to a diameter and a half of the orbit. The 

 skin is studded every where with short, recurved subulate 

 bristles, and when examined through a lens, it appears to be 

 divided into narrow rhomboidal compartments or scales, 

 each of them armed b}', from one to four bristles united to 

 one another at the base (fig. 4). On looking at the inte- 

 rior surface of the skin, the scales have the ordinary tiled 

 appearance represented in figure 5. The point of the pelvic 

 bone is a small, convex knob scarcely rising above the 

 level of the surrounding skin, granulated on the disk ; and 

 armed by a circle of incumbent spines, (fig. 7, magnified). 

 The side of the tail is armed by four short, lanceolate 

 spines, disposed in two rows, and round their bases the fine 

 bristles of the integument are a little longer and more slen- 

 der than elsewhere. The dorsal spine is equal in height to 

 the space between its base and the upper angle of the gill- 

 opening. It is convex and granulated in front with two 

 rows of blunt incumbent teeth, which become pungent at 

 the tip only of the ray. Posteriorly the dorsal spine is flat, 

 and furrowed with a row of strong, acute, reverted sjjinous 

 teeth on each edge. The trigger ray is minute. The in- 

 terval between the first and second dorsal fins is greater 

 than the length of the dorsal spine. The rays of the dor- 

 sal, anal, and pectorals are compressed in one direction at 

 the base, and in another towards their tips. They are rough 

 on the lower third of their height, but not quite down to 

 their bases, which are smootli. The caudal rays are rough 

 to near their tips. The markings of the dried specimen are 

 shown in the figure and are black, though many of the cor- 

 responding lines in Mr. Neill's drawing are light blue. The 

 dark colour is more intense in the spines than in the sub- 

 jacent skin of the part. 



Hab. King George's Sound. 



