90 EDIBLE PISHES OE NEW SOUTH WALES. 



Bart. 



B. vii. D. 6. 1/23-25. A. 2. 1/22-24*. Y. 1/5. P. 18. C. 17. L. lat. 85-95. 

 Ca-e. pyl. 10. Vert, 10/14. 



Length of head 5'10-5'50, of caudal fin 3'33-3"75, height of body 

 3-00-3-25 in the total length. Eye moderate 3-33-3-75 in the length of the 

 head, and 1'10-1'25 in the interorbital space, which is convex : snout short 

 and obtusely rounded, rising abrubtly from the jaws, 1"10-1'20 in the 

 diameter of the eye. Nostrils separated by a narrow band of skin, vertical, 

 the posterior the larger. Jaws equal. Cleft of mouth moderate and slightly 

 oblique, the maxilla extending to beneath the middle of the orbit, or not so 

 far. Upper profile of head very slightly convex, the interorbital space and 

 the occiput with a low longitudinal ridge which extends backwards to the 

 recumbent dorsal spine. A narrow band of villiform teeth in each jaw, the 

 outer row enlarged ; a triangular patch on the vomer, and a short elongate band 

 on the palatines. The anterior dorsal rays reach, when laid back, almost to the 

 end of the fin, and are from one seventh to one third longer than the head : 

 the anal is similar to the dorsal ; its anterior rays are even longer, reaching 

 when intact to or even slightly beyond the end of the fin, and from one 

 third to three fifths longer than the head : ventrals small, reaching to the 

 vent, 2"25-2"75 in the length of the head: pectorals small, 1"40-1'60 in the 

 same length : caudal deeply forked, the least height of the pedicle four 

 fifths of the distance between the last dorsal ray and the base of the caudal. 

 Entire head, except the cheeks and a narrow band along the izpper margin 

 of the opercle, scaleless : vertical fins with a low scaly sheath. Lateral line 

 nearly straight, the anterior half wavy. 



Colors. — Bluish-gray above, silvery on the sides and below; a series of six 

 or seven indistinct dusky spots immediately above the lateral line : elongated 

 rays of the dorsal and anal, and caudal lobes blackish. 



As a food fish the Dart belongs more especially to the northern districts 

 of the Colony, but we occasionally find it forwarded to the Sydney market 

 in considerable numbers from such fishing grounds as Port Stephens and 

 Lake Macquarie ; these visits occur during the latter months of spring and 

 the summer, but in no case could we detect any symptoms of spawn in the 

 ovaries of a considerable number examined. 



This handsome fish has received its popular name from the alleged rapidity 

 of its motions. .Judging by the contents of the stomachs of those dissected 

 the major portion of its food would appear to be the young of other fishes, 

 though small squid are not unfrequently present, and on one occasion the 

 author detected the remains of a swimming crab x\s a table fish they 

 cannot be highly recommended, nevertheless they are by no means unpalat- 

 able when eaten perfectly fresh. 



On the New South Wales coast the Dart occasionally finds its way as far 

 south as Port Jackson according to Macleay, but to the northward it quickly 

 increases in numbers and importance, though even in Port Stephens and 

 Lake Macquarie, where it is sometimes met with in considerable shoals, its 

 appearance must be considered irregular, none of the fishes sent to market 

 being full grown, nor likely to spawn in the district ; it occurs also at Lord 

 Howe Island. Curiously enough the genus Trachynotus is not even men- 

 tioned by Saville Kent in his Preliminary Keport on the Eood Pishes of 

 Queensland, though, from their numbers and the size to which they attain, 



* In one example there were nineteen rays only, though the base of the fin was of equal length to 

 BimUarly sized specimens having twenty four rays. 



