292 BLENNirD.T, 



25. PAT^CUS. 



Richards. Ann. Sc Mag. Nat. Hist. 1844, xiv. p. 280, and Ichthyol. 

 Voy. Ereb. ^ Terr. p. 20. 



Body oblong, anteriorly elevated; the upper profile of the short 

 snout parabolic ; minute teeth in the jaws and on the vomer, palatine 

 bones smooth. Dorsal fin long, anteriorly with some of the spines 

 strong, posteriorly continuous with the caudal ; ventrals none. Gill- 

 openings wide ; pseudobranchiae none ; branchiostegals six. No cleft 

 behind the fourth gill. 



Coasts of Australia. 



1. Patsecus fronto. 



Richards. Ann. ^- May. Nat. Hist. 1844, xiv. p. 280, and Ichthyol. 

 Voy. Ereb. Sf Terr. p. 20. pi. 13. 



B. 6. D. 30. A. 16. P. 8. Vert. 17?/18. 

 The pectoral fin is considerably longer than the head. Uniforai 

 brown. 



West Austraha. 



o. Adult: stuffed. "West Australia. Presented by Captain Sir G. 

 Grey. — Type of the species. 



2. Pataecus maculatus. 



D. 31. A. 12. P. 8. 



The pectoral fin is shorter than the head. Olive, black-sjjottod. 

 North Australia. 



a. Fine specimen. Freemantle. Purchased of Dr. Bowerbank. 



Description of the specimen. — This species agrees with P. fronto in 

 the general habit ; its body is compressed, highest above the oper- 

 culum, tapering posteriorly ; the upper and anterior profile of the 

 head forms a quarter of a circle. The height of the body equals the 

 length of the head, and is one-third of the total length ; the eye is 

 very small, situated nearer to the end of the snout than to that of 

 the operculum, and more remote from the lower profile than from 

 the upper. The cleft of the mouth is of moderate width, slightly 

 oblique, and with the jaws nearly equal in length. The teeth are 

 minute, forming bands ; there is a small patch of teeth on the vomer. 

 There is a very small tubercle midway between the eye and the end 

 of the snout, but there is no nasal opening. The branchial aperture 

 is obliquely situated ; it is veiy wde, extending on to the symphysis 

 of the lower jaw ; no slit behind the fourth gill. The dorsal fin is 

 perfectly contimious, extending from the snout to the middle of the 

 caudal fin ; the first spine is very short, the second is the strongest, 

 enveloped in a thick membrane (both are situated before the vertical 

 from the eye) ; the second and the third are the longest, one-half 

 the height of the bodj- ; the following become gradually somewhat 



