EDIBLE EISHES OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 49 



lu the condensed report of the Royal Commission the following passages 

 occur : — " The Snapper is the most valuable of Australian fishes, not for its 

 superior excellence, for we have many more delicious, but for the abundant 

 and regular supply which it affords of a very nutritious and wholesome 

 description of food. It is found on all parts of the Australian coast, but 

 most abundantly on that of New South Wales. It is a deep water fish, found 

 generally on or near rocky points, or reefs running out for miles from the 

 coast. Its food is chiefly the mollusca living on the rocks, though the 

 readiness with which it will snap up bait of the most varied descriptions 

 indicates tastes of a rather omnivorous character. Like all or most fishes, it 

 has its periods of migration and accumulation in shoals. The time of the 

 appearance of the ' School Snapper' is the early part of summer ; it is then 

 believed to be at least three years old, the previous stages of its existence 

 being well known under the names ' Eed Bream' at the age of one year and 

 of ' Squire' at two. At a still greater age the Snapper seems to cease to 

 school, and becomes what is known as the 'Native' and 'Rock Native' a 

 solitary and sometimes enormously large fish." According to Tenison 

 AVoods the aboriginal name of these large examples is " Wollomai." 



Referring to the Melbourne market Castelnau states : — " The Snapper is 

 one of the largest and handsomest fishes (brought thither). It is found all 

 the year round, but the specimens caught in the cold months of the year 

 are generally small ; in November and December it becomes much more 

 abundant, and very large specimens are common." 



On our own coast P. tmicolor is very abundant in all suitable localities, 

 but its exact range to the northwards has not been determined, and Saville 

 Kent merely states, alluding apparently to the Sparidw of the Brisbane 

 fishmarket : — " It includes the celebrated Snapper." Lucas, in his 

 Victorian " Census" gives the locality as " Port Phillip and off the south 

 coast." Johnston, wa'iting on its scarcity in Tasmania, remarks that it " is 

 seldom seen in the southern waters of Tasmania, even where the reefs, depths 

 of water, and other conditions seem to be favorable. The north coast of 

 Tasmania lacks the deep fringing reefs which seem to be the favored resort 

 of the Snapper." It occurs in all suitable localities along the southern and 

 south-western coast line of Australia, but how far to the northward it 

 extends in "West Australian waters is rendered uncertain by the possibility 

 of the species which occurs at Houtman's Abrolhos being distinct. The 

 statement made by so many writers that the Snapj^er occurs in the seas all 

 round Australia is certainly erroneous ; those round the southern half of 

 the continent would be more correct. It occurs both at Lord Howe and 

 Norfolk Islands, but is said to be uncommon at the former place. Its habits 

 in New Zealand, where its Maori name is " Tamure," differ much from 

 those which prevail in this Colony as will be seen by the following quotations 

 from Hector, extracted from Sherriu's Handbook : — "There are few fishes 

 better known in the northern j)arts of the Colony than the Snapper." "The 

 Snapper is not frequently reported to occur south of the Kaikoura 

 Penmsula." " The Snapper frequents shallow water, and is generally caught 

 with the net in AVellington Harbor, but the natives may often be seen 

 catching them with a hook aiid line in the surf on exposed sandy beaches 

 when the wind is off the shore. In clear shallow bays troops of this fish 

 may be observed rooting up the shellfish that are buried in the sandy bottom, 

 and crushing them with their powerfully armed jaws." Speaking mainly on 

 the question of fish curing, Mr. M'Leod stated : — " I took nineteen hundred 

 Snapper in one haul in a seine net, and in curing this large quantity there 

 was not a single loss, although the month of January is the least adapted of 



