EDIBLE EISHES OE NE"\Y SOUTH WALES. 51 



bright golden band above the base of the ventral : dorsal fin dusky, with a 

 basal hyaline spot between the rays ; caudal dull yellow, with a broad dusky 

 terminal band ; ventral s golden ; anal with the basal half silvery, the mar- 

 ginal half golden. 



The generally accepted breeding season of the Tarv/hine are the summer 

 months, but that some at least deposit their ova at a different time is evident 

 from the fact that specimens forwarded to the Sydney market from Crosford 

 were found on examination to have the roe more than half developed duriug 

 the first week in July. 



They are seut in numbers to the market, chiefly from the northern fishing 

 stations and command a ready sale. Though not by any means so good a 

 fish as P. australis, it is nevertheless, when perfectly fresh and in good con- 

 dition, a fairly well flavored fish. 



The range of P. sarha is very extensive, embracing the greater part of 

 the Australian coast, thence through the Malayan and Indian Seas westward 

 to the Eed Sea and the He de France. It is tolerably common in the neigh- 

 borhood of Port Jackson, but it is impossible to state definitely how much 

 further to the southward its range extends. Northwards it rapidly increases 

 in numbers, and at Brisbane, according to Saville Kent it contributes ex- 

 tensively to the fish supply; it is a.bundant along the entire coastline of 

 Queensland, Southern New G-uinea, and Northern Australia, but there is 

 no record as to its southerly range on the shores of West Australia. 



PAG-EUS AUSTEALTS. 



Clirysoplirys australis', Gnth. Catal. Fish. i. p. 49I<, 1859; Casteln. Proc. 



Zool. Soc. Vict. 1872, i. p. 71 ; McCoy, Prodr. Zool. Vict. dec. i. pi. 4 ; 



Macleay, Catal. Austr. Fish. i. p. 119 ; Johnston, Proc. Eoy. Soc. Tas. 



1882, pp. G9, 111. 

 Chrijsoplvjrs sarha, Casteln. Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S. Wales, iii. p. 373. 



Black Bream, 

 Plate XV. 

 B. vii. D. 11-12/11-10. A. 3/7-9. V. 1/5. P. 15. C. 17. L. lat. 44-47. 

 L. tr. 5/13-15. Coec. pyl. 3-4. Vert. 10/14. 



Length of head 3-60-4-33, of caudal fin 4-25-4-75, height of body 

 2-66-3-00 in the total length. Eye moderate, its diameter 4-00-4'66 in 

 the length of the head, l'50-2'00 in that of the rather pointed snout, and 

 l"15-l'o0 in that of the convex interorbital space. Nostrils separated, the 

 anterior small, round, and slightly tubular, the posterior a narrow oblique 

 slit entering the orbital ring. Upper jaw slightly the longer. Cleft of 

 mouth moderate, horizontal, the maxilla extending to beneath the anterior 

 third of the orbit. Upper profile of head almost straight, much swollen 

 above the posterior nostrils. A single blunt spine on the opercle. Three 

 pairs of curved canines in front of either jaw, behind v/hich are several 

 series — four to six in the upper and three or four in the lower jaw— of 

 rounded molars, the posterior teeth being the largest; the outer series in 

 the upper jaw subconical. Dorsal spines strong, the fourth (or fifth) the 

 longest, 2'00-2'33 in the length of the head, the last spine two thirds of 

 the longest, and equal to the first ray : the anal commences beneath the 

 third dorsal ray and terminates at a considerable distance behind the dorsal ; 

 the second spine is very strong and curved, subequal in length to the longest 

 dorsal spine: the ventrals do not quite reach to the A^ent; the outer ray is 



