288 THE GREAT BARRIER REEF. 



Ord River, Cambridge Gulf, in association with the surveying cruise of H.M.S. Myrmidon. 

 It has been named Polyncnms Verekcri, in compliment to Captain the Hon. H. P. Foley 

 Vereker, then in command of that ship, to whom the author was indebted for much 

 hospitality, and unparalleled opportunities of investigating the fish-fauna of that little- 

 known locality. 



The Sciaenidae, or Jew-fishes, are represented in Queensland by several species, referable 

 chiefiy to the genus Corvina, the most familiar and valuable commercial form being C. axillaris, 

 De v., — the jew-fish of the Brisbane market, — which attains to a length of three or four feet, 

 with a weight of 5c lb. and upwards. An allied species, Sciaiia antarctica, Cast., regarded by 

 some authorities as identical with the maigre, S. nqtiila, of the European seas, bears the same title 

 of jew-fish in New South Wales ; but it is known to the Victorian fishermen as the king-fish. 

 Although not yet recorded from Queensland waters, it very probably extends its migrations to at 

 least the southern limits of the Queensland coast. It grows to a length of six feet, and is very highly 

 esteemed for the table. A smaller species of Corvina, C. canina, De V., that may weigh, however, 

 several pounds, is plentiful at certain seasons in the Brisbane River, and aff"ords excellent sport 

 with the line. It is one of the many forms popularly known as perch. Corvina albida, C. & Val., 

 is a large representative of the same genus that has been recorded from the Norman River, North 

 Queensland. A species of Umbrina, U. Mnlleri, belonging also to the Sciaenidae, and described by 

 Klunzinger, has been obtained from the Queensland coast. 



The family of the barracutas, Trichiuridae, includes fish characterised by their much-com- 

 pressed elongate bodies. They are of rapacious habits, and usually range the seas in extensive 

 shoals. One of the most familiar species, Thyrsites aiiin, C. & Val., representing the common 

 barracuta of Victoria, Tasmania, and New Zealand, occupies a very important position with 

 relation to the fish markets of those colonies ; and while hitherto unobserved alive in Queensland 

 waters, it is not unfrequently imported to Brisbane in the smoked condition, from New Zealand. 

 Two allied fish, referable to the genus Trichiurus, T. savala, C. & Val., and T liaitmela, Bl., have 

 been contributed to the Queensland museum, and may not improbably be found in certain localities, 

 and at certain seasons, in sufficient abundance to be of commercial value. The last-named of these 

 two types, Trichiurus haumela, grows to a length of five or six feet, and occasionally appears 

 in shoals on the coast of New South Wales. The European representative of the same genus, 

 Trichiurus lepturus, L., is popularly known as the hairtail. Other closely-allied Australian forms 

 are the frost fish of New Zealand, Lepidopus caudahis, White, and the Tasmanian king-fish, 

 Thyrsites Solandri, C. & Val. ; both very highly esteemed for the table. The representatives of this 

 family are most effectively captured by means of hooks and lines trailed astern, with the vessel 

 going at a good speed. The apparatus known as a jig, by which the common species of barracuta 

 is most extensively taken in Tasmania and New Zealand, consists of a square piece of cedar wood, 

 about an inch thick and five or six inches long, to which one or two barbless hooks are firmly 



