BTDDlES IN AUSTRALIAN PISHES— MCCULLOCH, 361 



young specimens of D. aruanus in the Museum collection and 

 find that in worn specimens the lobes of the tail are often 

 rounded off, though in all cases their ragged edges are easily 

 detected, As Castelnau did not properly describe his specimen, 



I think it better to regard blochii as a synonym of /'. aruanus, 

 especially as I have collected fifteen typical examples of the 

 latter at Murray Island, Torres Strait. 



As Tetradrachmum aruanum, Fowler'' has included this 

 species in a collection said to have been made in Victoria, 

 but there can be little doubt that several species from the South 

 Pacific Islands have been mixed with the Victorian fishes, of 

 which V. aruanum is one. 



Family LABRID^E. 



For the preparation of these notes on the Australian 

 species of Pseudolabrus and allied genera LI have examined 

 a much larger collection of both species and specimens 

 than has been previously brought together. For this 

 advantage I am indebted to the following gentlemen who 

 have lent me material under their charge. Mr. J. A. 

 Kershaw, Curator, National Museum, Melbourne; Dr. R. 

 Hamlyn-Harris, Director Queensland Museum ; Professor W, A. 

 Has well and Professor T. W. F. David, Committee of the 

 Macleay Museum; Mr. Bernard H. Woodward, Director Western 

 Australian Museum. Of the specimens in the Australian 

 Museum a considerable number have been collected for 

 the Trustees by Mr. A. Abjornssen, Inspector of Fisheries, 

 Western Australia, while Mr. J. H. Wright has contributed a 

 valuable series of our local species. My thanks are also due to 

 Mr. E. La T. Armstrong, Chief Librarian and Secretary of the 

 Public Library of Melbourne for a copy of Bleeker's description 

 of Pseudolabrus guntheri. 



Characters which are variable. — In describing various species 

 of Labrichthys (= Pseudolabrus) Count Castelnau, Sir William 

 Macleay and Mr. C. W. de Vis relied largely upon their 

 colour and colour-mai-kings to distinguish them, and often 

 regarded important structural details as being of only secondary 

 value. But if a series of fresh specimens of any one species of 

 this genus be examined it will be found that the actual colouration 

 of different individuals differs considerably, and that, even the 



5 Fowler— Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., lix , 1907 (1908), p. 4:33. 



