300 THE GREAT BARRIER REEF. 



wide, obliquely set, and armed with a closely set row of sharp conical teeth ; two short barbels 

 depend from the prominent lower jaw. It occurs in the Fitzroy, Dawson, and other tributary 

 inter-tropical Queensland rivers debouching on the Barrier coast-line, and is a species whose 

 natural history and life habits might be advantageously studied with a view to its artificial propaga- 

 tion. It is a noteworthy circumstance that the only other two known species of the genus 

 Osteoglossum — viz., 0. bicirrhosiim,'Vand., and O. forinosiun, Mull., are inhabitants respectively of 

 Brazil and Guiana, and Borneo and Sumatra. An allied form, Arapaima gigas, Cuv., also inhabit- 

 ing the larger rivers of Brazil, is further remarkable as representing the largest Teleostean or 

 bone-skeletoned fish yet discovered. This Arapaima has been known to exceed fifteen feet in 

 length, associated with a weight of over 400 lb. It is highly esteemed as an article of food, and 

 is salted and exported in large quantities from the inland fisheries, to the South American 

 seaports. Another allied type, Hdcrotis niloticus, Ehr., is an inhabitant of the Upper Nile 

 and various West African rivers. 



The existence of a second species of Osteoglossum in Queensland waters has been recently 

 established by the author. This variety is confined to the rivers of Cape York Peninsula, includ- 

 ing the Batavia, Norman, and Gregory rivers, that debouch upon the Gulf of Carpentaria A 

 technical account of this new form, upon which, in honour of its discoverer, Mr. Frank Jardine, of 

 Somerset, the title of Osteoglossum J ardinei has been conferred, was communicated by the author 

 in 1892 to the December meeting of the Queensland Royal Society. Among the more salient 

 features that serve to distinguish it from the single previous Australian species, are the more 

 oblique cleft of the mouth, the considerably larger number of rays in both the dorsal and anal fins, 

 the absence of a conspicuous spine in front of the last-named, and the distinct character of the 

 colour-markings. In Osteoglossum Leichardti the majority of the scales are ornamented with one 

 or, at most, two red spots. In 0. Jardinei \hes& spots are more usually represented by continuous 

 crescent-shaped bands, which, above the lateral line, are, for the most part, divided up into three 

 or four relatively small spots. A process-block illustration of this new species, reproduced from 

 a photograph, is given on page 67. 



The herring tribe, Clupeidas, occupies a position in the northern hemisphere with relation to 

 economic utility that is surpassed bj- no other group of fishes. Though numerous species likewise 

 abound in Australian waters, up to the present time their occurrence has been turned to little or 

 no practical account. Byway of example, it may be mentioned that an anchovy — one of the smaller 

 representatives of the herring family — occurring in shoals on the Victorian and Tasmanian coasts, 

 that is indistinguishable from its European congener, has hitherto been entirely neglected 

 There is also a pilchard, Clupea sagax, Jen., possessing all the essential qualities for making a first- 

 class sardine, which European product, in its familiar tinned condition, is simply the young of the 

 Mediterranean and Atlantic species, Clupea pilchardus, Walb. Queensland is by no means deficient 

 in members of this important family. There are two species of anchovies, one of which, Engraulis 



