196 EDIBLE FISHES OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



Colors. — Head, back, and abdominal region either dark greenisb-brown, 

 or olive green with three darker longitudinal bands ; above the anal fin paler 

 yellowish-brown ; middle of tbe sides with several narrow undulated and 

 branched black lines ; two narrow purple bands, with a yellow streak 

 between them round the lips, two broader purple bands, which quickly dis- 

 appear after death, inside the bases of the soft dorsal and anal, which, with 

 the pectorals and pedicular spines, are yellow, the latter having their tips 

 blackish : membrane of dorsal spine black, with large pale blue spots ; 

 caudal rays pale brown, with the connecting membrane orange in large 

 examples, in the young with a basal and submarginal olive band : teeth 

 w^hite, with yellow tips. 



The habits of this species apparently differ in some respects from the two 

 other Leather jackets described in this work, inasmuch as it is never caught 

 on the outside reefs by the line fishers, but occasionally visits the sheltered 

 harbors and inlets of the metropolitan district in large shoals, whence it is 

 sent in considerable numbers to the market, where they find a ready sale at 

 moderate prices. Such a visitation took place during the summer of 1892, 

 when they \vere sent to the market in large numbers from all the inlets 

 lying between Port Hacking and Broken Bay, w'hile their occurrence among 

 other fishes from Port Stephens and Shoalhaven — localities from which 

 Leatherjackets are not forwarded to the market as a general rule — proves 

 that shoals of these fish were prevalent upon a considerable portion of our 

 coastline at that time, since which none have appeared. 



That these were true " school" fishes, even though they showed no signs of 

 spawning, was evident from the fact that they were all of much the same 

 size, — from, twelve to fourteen inches ; they were readily, even eagerly 

 bought as long as the supply lasted, and we, among others, took the 

 opportunity of testing their edible qualities, with the gratifying result that 

 we found them, if anything, superior to the other Leatherjackets previously 

 experimented on, and quite equal to any fish of these seas. 



The Yellow-finned — or, as Johnston calls it, Lozenge-scaled — Leather- 

 jacket is found in the seas of New South Wales, A'ictoria, and Tasmania, 

 and very probably, since it is recorded from Port Darwin by Klunzinger, 

 round the entire seaboard of Aiistralia. 



They attain to a length of sixteen inclies. 



MON ACANTHUS ATEAUDI. 



Batistes ai/raudi, Qiioy & Gaim. Voy. Uranie, Poiss. p. 21G, pi. xlvii, fig. 2. 



Aluteres velutinus, Jenyns, Voy. Beagle, Fish. p. 157. 



Monacanilius rlttatus (Solander), liichards. Voy. Erebus & Terror, Fish. 



p. GG ; Steindachn. SB. Ak. Wien, ISGG, liii. p. 47G, and 1S67, Ivi. p. 335. 

 Monacantlius frauenfeldii, Kner, Voy. Novara, Fisch. p. 397. 

 Monacanilius ayraudi, Gruth. Catal. Fish. viii. p. 211 ; Casteln. Proc. Linn. 



Soc. N. S. Wales, iii. p. 397 ; Macleay, Catal. Austr. Fish. ii. p. 2G2 ; 



Woods, Fisher. N. S. Wales, p. 89, pi. xlix. 



Ayraud's Leatherjacket. 

 D. 32. A. 31. P. 13. C. 12. 



Length of head 3'25, of caudal fin G75, height of body 3'50 in the 

 total length. Eye moderate, its diameter 4'50 in the length of the snout, 

 and 1'15 in the interorbital space, which is almost flat. Nostrils approxi- 

 mate, rounded, the anterior much the smaller. Snout much produced, with 

 its upper profile slightly convex. Gill-opening situated beneath the middle of 

 the orbit, its length 3"9"0 in that of the snout. Dorsal spine moderate and 



