81 



Agonostoma lacusiris by Count Castelnau, is a suitable name 

 for this fisli. At Perth, where, according to the latter 

 authority, it is '• very common," it is known as the '^ Pilchard," 

 though the Count thinks that in this there " must be some 

 mistake " ; however, considering the remarkably herring- 

 like appearance of the fish it is quite possible that among an 

 ignorant population some such name would be applied to 

 this or any similar species, as indeed is the case among the 

 fishermen of New Zealand. The Estuary Mullet attains a 

 length of 400 millimeters, but is usually much smaller. 



Early in February I received from the same source a 

 number of young examples of Emmelichthys nitilus with the 

 following note on the subject of their capture : — *'0n Satur- 

 day, while one of our ' well ' fishing boats was fishing for 

 Barracouta, they got among a shoal chasing some small fish, 

 the result being that the small fry made a rush for the boat, 

 getting in at the holes and nearly filling the well." As the 

 adult fish is seldom taken on the Tasmanian coast this sudden 

 appearance of the fry in such numbers off the coast is very 

 interesting, especially as nothing whatever was previously 

 known about its breeding habits, though in a genus so closely 

 allied to Arripis it was safe to conjecture that the method of 

 propagation is somewhat similar in the two species. When 

 their life history is better known it will probably be found 

 that the members of both these genera shed their spawn 

 near the surface, avoiding while so employed the proximity 

 of the land. 



As both Sir William Macleay and Mr. Johnston have 

 followed Dr. G-iinther in using the generic name ErythricMhys 

 for this fish I give here the synonymy of the genus, a glance 

 at which will show that not only is that name inadmissable. 

 having been previously made use of for a genus of 

 Characinoid fishes, but that Richardson's name has priority 

 of publication over Schlegers, as also have Guichenot's and 

 Bleeker's names. 



Emmelichthys. 



Emmelichthys, Richardson, Voy. Erebus and Terror, Fish, 

 p. 47, 1346. 



Boxaodon, Guichenot, Rev. Zool. p. 333, 1847. 



Dipterygonotus, Bleeker, Journ. Ind. Arch. iii. 1849t. 



Erythrichthys (not Bonaparte, Saggio, 1831), Temminck and 

 Schlegel, Faun. Japon. Poiss. p. 117, 1850. 



Two fine examples of the fish commonly known to Aus- 

 tralian scientists as Holoxenus cutaneus were included in the 

 collection which was destroyed by an accident as previously 



t Perhaps separable from Emmelichthys 



