135 



contained twice and a quarter in the height of the body. 

 The total length of the fish, caudal included, is three times 

 and a half greater than its height, and four times greater 

 than the length of the head. The thickness is rather less 

 than half the height. The jaws are considerably pro- 

 tractile, the premaxillary pedicles going as far back as the 

 middle of the orbit. The premaxillary lips are well deve- 

 loped and plaited, and, together with the mandibular ones, 

 are lax, and capable of being turned back even at the sym- 

 physes of the jaTes. Each limb of each jaw is armed by 

 about twelve teeth in the principal series, strongest as 

 usual, and longest next the symphysis, and diminishing 

 rapidly towards the corners of the mouth. Tliere is also a 

 canine tooth at the corner of the mouth, implanted in the 

 tip of the premaxillary, and a distinct interior row of small 

 teeth above and below. The jaws can be so retracted un- 

 der the preorbitar that even the lower parts of the premax- 

 illaries are covered. The eye, small, round and near the 

 profile, is two diameters of the orbit from the point of the 

 head, with the jaws fully retracted, and three diameters 

 from the edge of the gill-opening. The latter is restricted 

 above by membrane, which connects the whole upper edge 

 of the operculum to the shoulder. Three rows of round 

 scales cover the operculum and suboperculum, except the 

 lower angle of the latter, which, with the broad semi-mem- 

 branous interoperculum and disk of the preoperculum, are 

 clothed with smooth skin. The cheek, as far forward as 

 the front of the orbit and hind corner of the preorbitar, is 

 protected by small round scales, which descend from the 

 narrow suborbitars to the border of the preopercular disk. 

 There are seven or eight rows under the eye, which di- 

 minish on the temples to two or three. The upper range 

 of scales show a longer disk, and the supra-scapular, as the 

 integuments dry, shows like a large scale on the side of the 

 nape. The skin of the top of the head and round the eye 

 is full of pores. The lateral line is traced on twenty-five 

 scales, exclusive of two or three without tubes on the base 

 of the caudal, and the usual fillets between the rays. The 

 small tubes are divided by three successive bifurcations, 

 and generally diverge considerably, few being close or 

 bushy ; but there is considerable variety in the number of 

 branches on the different scales, without any regular dimi- 

 nution in their number either towards the head or tail. 



The dorsal spines are subulate and very acute, witli the 

 membranous fillets behind them, as in the preceding spe- 

 cies. The soft rays are somewhat taller. The pectorals 

 are rounded, the ventrals acute, and the caudal even, with 

 the corners rounded off. 



The colours are, in spirits, generally of a dull and dark 

 brown tint, with a pale mark on each scale, bearing some 

 resemblance to the characters of the Persian alphabet. 

 There are some dark marks on the cheek and preopercu- 

 lum, one on the base of the pectoral, and the membrane 

 connecting the first three dorsal spines is blackish, with 

 pale specks. There are also many pale specks on the anal. 



I have suspected that this fish may be the Otaheitian 

 Inlis boryii of Lesson ( Voij. de la Coquille, PI. 36), from 

 the similarity of the markings, but his figure shows no 

 scales on the cheek or lower half of tlie operculum, and all 

 the fins have different forms from those of our fish. No 



traces remain in the latter of the black crescent on the oc- 

 ciput, nor of the markings on the dorsal, ])cctorals, ven- 

 trals and caudal, which are shown in Lesson's figm-e. It 

 is to be observed, however, that after a sketch of Lesson's 

 specimen was taken, the fish was eaten, so that no compa- 

 rative examination of the species has yet been made. 



Length lOg- inches. 



Hab. Norfolk Island. (Polynesia.?) 



Caranx georgianus. Cuv. et Val. 



Scomber micans, Solaiider, Pise. Austr. MS. p. 27. An Parkinson's 

 fig. No. 88 ? 



Caranx georgianus, Cuv. et Val. ix. p. 85. Jcnyns, Zool. of Beagle, 

 p. 71. Richardson, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. x. p. 14. 



" Madavvick," Neill's Drawings of Fishes of King George's Sound, 

 No. 32. 



Radii :— B. 7 



D. 8|— l|-27; A. -2 

 P. 1119; V. 1|.5. 



1|23; C. 19| 



Plate LVllI., figs. 1—3. 



This species was discovered at Opooragi, in New Zea- 

 land, on Cook's first voyage, and a drawing made of it by 

 Sidney Parkinson, which is preserved, along with the rest 

 of the Natural-History sketches taken on that voyage, in 

 the Banksian Library. Solander's description is published 

 in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History as above 

 quoted. The specimen described in the Hisloire des 

 Poissoiis was procured by MM. Quoy and Gaimard in 

 King George's Sound. We have had specimens from that 

 locality also, and from the north-west coasts of Australia, 

 collected by Surgeon Bynoe of the Royal Navy ; also from 

 Norfolk island, through the kindness of Dr. Mc William ; 

 besides some from New Zealand, in Sir James Ross's col- 

 lection. Mr. Neill mentions that this fish is the " skip- 

 jack " of the sealers, the "madawick " of the aborigines; 

 that it is a very common inhabitant of shallow sandy bays, 

 and forms a staple article of food for the natives, who as- 

 semble in fine calm days and drive the fish into weirs 

 formed of branches of trees and shrubs. It is occasionally 

 taken by the hook. The close resemblance of the species 

 to C. lima and plalessa is noticed in the Hisloire des 

 Poissons. The specimen we have figured has a ray fewer 

 in the dorsal and anal than the numbers stated by Solan- 

 der, Cuvier, Jenyns and Neill. The scales are small, and 

 exist on the interoperculum, preoperculum, suboperculum 

 and breast. There are forty-one or Ibrty-two scales on the 

 straight posterior part of the lateral line, twenty-two of 

 which are decidedly keeled and cuspidate. The cuspidate 

 scales pass gradually into the smaller, soft, round ones, 

 both on the base of the caudal and anteriorly. The tallest 

 dorsal spine measures nearly one-third of the height of the 

 bodj' at the ventrals, and the free spines are close to the 

 anus. The acute occijjital ridge lowers a little as it ap- 

 proaches the point of the recumbent dorsal spine, and does 



