34 NEW SOUTH WALES 



readily, and is never captured by the net. It attains a great size, fishes weighing 



35 and even 40 lbs. being not uncommon. It is found as far as Jei'vis Bay to the 

 south ; to the north it has probably a much more extended range. It has been 

 observed of this fish that those caught ofl' the " Solitaries" and other places to the 

 north of Port Jackson are as a rule of larger size than those found to the south. 

 It is rarely seen now in the Sydney market, owing to the great falling off in the 

 suj^ply obtained from Port Jackson Heads, Coogee, and other places where it was 

 formerly abundant. It is difficult to account for this diminution of the supply, 

 for the causes which undoubtedly afiect the supply of other fishes do not apply to 

 this. The spawn is not deposited in shallow bays constantly raked by nets, the 

 yoixng are never taken in the seine, and the number of the adult fisli captured has 

 never been sufficient to account for the deficiency. It is probable that the fish 

 has merely sought retreats further removed from the stir and traffic of Port 

 Jackson. — R.R.C. 



The Wirrah. 



(Plate IV.) 



" Wirrah " or Plectropoma is a genus similar to that of Serranus, 

 but armed with a row of spinous teeth on the lower jaw which are 

 directed forwards, besides the pair of canines above. The dorsal fin 

 has from seven to thirteen spines. This is a tropical fish for the most 

 part. There are about thirty species known, of which we have a dozen in 

 Australian seas. Our common marketable species is P. ocellatum, 

 Giinth. (/*. cyaneo-stigma in R.R.C.) In this species the body is 

 equal to the length of the head, and two-fifths of the whole without the 

 caudal. Preoperculum with three spines, beneath the anterior of which 

 is the strongest spine, which is sometimes bifid. Colour, brownish' ; 

 head, body, and base of the fins with numerous roundish spots, bluish in 

 the centre and black round the margin, more numerous and smaller in 

 older fishes. 



One of our most experienced amateur fishermen (Mr. A. Oliver) 

 informs me that the wirrah is often mistaken by the tyro for Serranus 

 davielii. They are both percoid fishes ; but here the resemblance ends. 

 A good black rock cod is equal to the best tvu"l:)ot, and the best wirrah 

 has the flavour and consistency of leather, which no sauce or cooking 

 can change. Both fishes are remarkably tenacious of life. They are 

 lively in the boat or basket long after every other fish has ceased to 

 move. 



The genus Plectropoma is also numerously represented in our seas ; it does not 

 however furnish the market with a single species of value as food. The best 

 known species is the "wirrah" of the fishermen — Plectropoma cyaneo-stiijma oi 

 Giinther.— R.R.C. 



The Glaucosoma. 



Glaucosoma scajnilare, Macleay. An excellent food fish, but so 

 I'are that it need not be described, especially as it is figured at the end 

 of the first volume ofMacleay's catalogue. The name of Pamsay as the 

 authority, there given, should probably be Macleay, as its first published 

 description was by Macleay, who quotes the name as a manuscript one 

 of Ramsay's. See Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, vol. v, p. 3.34. It is 

 sometimes called a Jew-fish, because another species, G. hebraicum, goes 

 by that name in Western Australia. 



