EDIBLE PISHES OP NEW SOUTH WALES. 139 



ones ; and a lateral series of conical teetli, with an interior series of smaller 

 teeth, destined to replace those in function when lost : posterior canines 

 present. Dorsal fin with nine spines and eleven rays : anal with three 

 spines and ten rays : second ventral ray the longest. Scales large : present 

 on the opercle, and in a greater or less degree on the cheeks : forehead 

 naked : bases of the vertical fins inconspicuously squamose. Lateral line 

 continuous, each scale more or less branched. 



Gcograplucal distribution. — Coasts of Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, 

 and the adjacent islands ; Chinese and Japanese Seas. 



There can be no doubt that, as contended by Gill, the xmion by Giinther 

 of the Bleekerian genera Lahriclitliijs and Pseudolahrus is indefensible ; 

 even, therefore, though it necessitates the renomination of all the Aus- 

 tralasian species which we have been afforded an opportunity of examining, 

 we are compelled to reject the generic title Lahrichthys,no\\ in common use, 

 for that adopted above. 



The genus Pseudolahrns is abundantly represented in Australian seas, and 

 probably on no section of our coastline are tbey more numerous than on that 

 of New South Wales ; the great differences in coloration observable in the 

 same species, individually, seasonally, and sexually, have, however, led to a 

 deplorable multiplication of species by amateur ichthyologists, and a thorough 

 revision of this genus and LahricJdhys is urgently reqiiired. 



PSEUDOLABRUS aTMNOGENIS. 



Lahrichtlnjs gi/mnoqenis, Grnth. Catal. Fish. iv. p. 117, 1862, aud Ann. Nat. 

 Hist. (3) 1867, XX. p. G6, 1867; Steindachn. SB. Ak. Wien. Ivi. p. 

 342; Klunzing. SB. Ak. Wien, 1879, Ixxx. p. 403 ; Casteln. Proc. Linn. 

 Soc. N. S. Wales, iii. p. 389 ; Macleay, Catal. Austr. Pish. ii. p. 82. 



White-spotted Parrotfish. 

 B. vi. D. 9/11. A 3/10. V. 1/5. P. 13. C. 12. L. lat. 25-26. L. tr. 3/8-10. 



Length of head 3 60-3-66, of caudal fin 5-50-5-66, height of body 

 3'00-3'50 in the total length. Eye small, its diameter 4'33-5"25 in the 

 length of the head, and l'25-l '60 in the moderately pointed snout : inter- 

 orbital space flat or very slightly convex, 1'00-1"25 in the diameter of the 

 eye. Nostrils small, the anterior preceded by a low flap, the posterior 

 simple. Upper profile of head almost flat, with a slight median concavity 

 between the front margins of the eyes. Upper jaw the longer. Cleft of 

 mouth small and almost horizontal, the maxilla reaching to beneath the 

 posterior nostril or, in small examples, the anterior margin of the eye. A 

 pair of anterior canines in either jaw, those of the lower subhorizontal and 

 fitting in between the upper pair when the mouth is closed ; lateral teeth 

 gradually decreasing in size backwards, the outer series numbering eight to 

 ten in the upper, and ten to twelve in the lower jaw ; an inner series of small 

 blimt teeth inside the laterals, probably designed to replace those, which by 

 the nature of their food, and the means employed for obtaining it, are liable 

 to be broken off or worn away ; a few small pavement-like teeth behind the 

 canines in both jaws : one or two posterior canines. The dorsal fin com- 

 mences above the margin of the bony opercle ; its spines are rather weak, 

 but acute, and gradually increase in height to the last, which is from 285- 

 3'15 in the length of the head, and 1'25 in that of the first ray ; the pos- 

 terior rays of both dorsal and anal are elongated, the last being the longest : 

 the anal commences beneath the second dorsal ray ; its third spine is the 



