FISH AND nSHERIES. 89 



" conger eel " {Conger lahiata) also grows to a large size, but it is rarely brought 

 to market. The " green eel " (Muroena nfra) is found abundantly in the holes 

 and crevices of the rocks everywhere. — R.R.C. 



A figure is given of the Australian eel. The silver eel is not un- 

 common in the Hunter River and is caught by night-lines just in the 

 same manner as the ordinary freshwater kinds. The other genera and 

 species need no further remarks than those given above. 



It is a singular fact in the distribution of our fishes that eels in 

 Victoria are only found in rivers which take their rise on the south side 

 of the dividing range. It is also asserted that no eels are found on any 

 of the western waters, but this is doubtful. It is quite certain that the 

 Murray cod (Oligorus macqicariensis ) is found on both sides of the 

 dividing range. On this subject Mr Hill says : — " So far as the cod-fish 

 is concerned, I have seen it caught in the Upper Clarence, where many 

 eels exist, and some two or three hundred miles (as the river goes inland) 

 towards the head of eastern waters. I have seen and partaken of 

 remarkably fine cod, identical with those of the Murray, and which I 

 have also caught in the Murrumbidgee. Mi'. Wilcox, of the Clarence 

 River, I think, first called attention to the fact that these cod-fish did 

 exist in the eastern as well as in the western waters, and since which it 

 has been asserted that eels have been taken in particular parts of the 

 western shed. The report that eels are said to have been caught in the 

 w^estern shed will probably cause, now that attention has been called to 

 the subject, many cases wherewith this may be corroborated and multi- 

 plied, or it may appear that they have been only the Plotosus or eel- 

 fish, described by Sir Thomas Mitchell." The fish here referred to is 

 F. anguillaris, Lacepede, one of the Siluridte, or cat-fishes. 



To fish for eels it requires a well secured bait and night lines ; this 

 has not been much tried in the proper places of the western waters, it 

 having been taken for granted that the hypothesis referred to has been 

 correct ; certain, however, it is the fact, that these fishes have not been 

 found to be plentiful or well disseminated, either the eel in the westei-n 

 or the cod-fish in eastern waters. There is no reason why eels should 

 not be in congenial places of the western shed ; but that which appears 

 to me to militate against their general dissemination in these regions is 

 great altitude and cold water, racy bottoms and rapid streams, and 

 further west the liability to continued droughts. 



The Leather-jacket. 



(Plate XL.) 



The orders Lopliohrancldi and Plectognatld, containing the curioasly formed 

 fishes known as " sea-horses, " "cow-fish," "toados," " porcupine fishes," "sun- 

 fish," and "leather-jackets," are very numerously represented in the Australian 

 seas, but out of the entire number one only can be cited as being in tlie least 

 degree useful, and that one is productive of more harm than good. It is a 

 "leather-jacket" {Monaccmthus ayraudi). It is said, when skinned, to be excel- 

 lent food, but it is a most sei'ious annoyance to the fishermen, infesting their 

 favourite fishing-grounds and cutting their lines. The plague of these fish seems 

 to be on the increase, and unless some means can be found of getting rid of the 

 pest, schnapper-fishing will have to be conducted with wire lines. — R.R.C. 



The species referred to belongs to a genus of which we have no less 

 than thirty-seven species in Australian waters. It belongs to the family 



