114i EDIBLE FISHES OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



These fishes are very voracious, and some of them grow to a large size and 

 are greatly dreaded by the inhabitants of those shores vi'hich they frequent. 

 Cuvier and Valenciennes, quoting some of the older writers, relate of the 

 West Indian Barracuda {ISphyro'na jjiciida), that "it must be included in the 

 number of marine monsters which are greedy for human flesh" ; that "it 

 attains to the length of seven or eight feet, and rushes with fury upon the 

 men whom it perceives in the water. Its teeth often inflict mortal injuries " ; 

 that "it is more dangerous than the shark, inasmuch as noise and movement^ 

 far from intimidating it, serve to incite it the more to rush upon its victims." 



SPHTE.ENA NOV^EHOLLANDI^. 



Sphyrwna novcelwUanJice, Gnth. Catal. Pish. ii. p. 335 ; Macleay, Catal. 

 Austr. Fish. ii. p. 32 ; Casteln. Proc. Zool. Soc. Vict. i. p. 96. 



Short-finned Pike. 

 Plate XXX. 



B. vii. D. 5. 1/9. A. 2/9. V. 1/5. P. 13. C. 17. L. lat. 127-136. L. tr. 

 11/16-17. Ccec. pyl. 47. Vert. 12/12. 



Length of head 4-25— 1-50, of caudal fin 7'33-7'80, height of body 

 9"50-9'75 in the total length. Eye large, its diameter 5"66-6'5U in the length 

 of the head, and 2'10-2'bO in that of the snout : interorbital space flat, with 

 two pairs of lateral longitudinal grooves, its width from 1'20-1"33 in the 

 diameter of the eye. Nostrils small ; the anterior j^ierced in a low tube, 

 which is directed forwards ; the posterior about twice as large and with an 

 anterior skinny flap, which, when decumbent, completely conceals the 

 orifice. Upper profile of head flat. Lower jaw much the longer. Cleft of 

 mouth very slightly oblique ; the posterior portion of the maxilla sharply 

 separated from the attenuated anterior portion, quadrilateral, the posterior 

 margin slightly concave, the inferior margin convex, reaching to the posterior 

 nostril in young specimens, and one fourth of its own length m front of the 

 eye in large examples. Two to four pairs of strong recurved conical teeth 

 in the ujoper jaw anteriorly, behind which are a single closely set row of 

 minute teeth ; a pair of strong recurved fangs in the middle of the lower jaw 

 in front, followed by a row of conical teeth, numbering about sixteen in each 

 ramus and strongest posteriorly ; palatine teeth in a single series, five 

 strong ones on each side, preceded by one or two, and succeeded by numerous, 

 small ones. Dorsal spines weak and flexible, the first and second the 

 longest, 3"15-3"50 in the length of the head ; the distance between the 

 origin of the fin and the tip of the snout is 1'15 in that between the same 

 point and the base of the caudal, while that between the origins of the 

 two dorsal fins is 1"40 in the length of the head ; the second dorsal ray is 

 the longest, 1*30 in the postorbital portion of the head, and 1'20 in the 

 longest spines: the anal commences beneath the third dorsal ray, and extends 

 back slightly beyond that fin, the basal length of the latter being about one 

 fifth more than that of the former ; the anal rays are equal in height to those 

 of the dorsal, and the posterior ray in both fins is slightly elongated : 

 ventrals small, inserted beneath the anterior half of the first dorsal, the outer 

 ray the longest, their length 2"50 in the distance between their origin and 

 the vent, and 3"20-3"66 in the length of the head : pectorals small, equal in 

 length to the postorbital portion of the head, or 2"40-2'75 in the length of 

 the head : caudal deeply forked, the least height of the pedicle 2'30 in the 

 height of the body. Lateral line almost straight. 



Colors. — Green above, silvery below : soft dorsal and caudal yellow, the 

 latter with a black marginal band posteriorly. 



