21 



chums, is very abundant in all parts of the harbour ; it is 

 always in demand for bait, but is also a good edible 

 species. Adults, reaching a length of 1 5 inches, are occa- 

 sionally taken on the coast, and sometimes also far up the 

 harbour during the spawning season. 



" There are very many species in Australian waters, their numbers 

 increasing rapidly towards the warmer seas of the north. Those 

 best known to the fishermen of Port Jackson are — the ' Yellow- 

 tail' (Trachurus dcdivis), t\\Q ' White Trevally ' {Cara?ix gcorgi- 

 anus), the ' King-fish ' {Seriola /alandii), the ' Samson-fish ' {Seriola 

 gigas, Gih..), and 'The Tailor' {Tcmiwdon saltator). The first of 

 these, the ' Yellow-tail,' is almost, if not quite, identical with the 

 ' Horse Mackerel ' of Europe {Trachurus trachurus). In the young 

 state it is abundant at all times in Port Jackson, and is in great 

 demand for bait. The adult fish is seldom seen in the harbour, 

 but it is said to pass along the coast in large shoals at or about 

 midsummer. It is most probable that this fish spawns in the 

 inlets and harbours of the coast, from the fact that the young fish 

 of from five to six inches in length are always to be found in such 

 localities. The very young fiy have a most extraordinary and in- 

 genious way of providing for their safety and nutrition at the 

 same time ; they take up their quarters inside the umbrella of the 

 large vicdusce, where they are safe from their enemies, and are, 

 without any exertion on their part, supplied with the minute 

 organisms which constitute their food, by the constant current 

 kept up by the action of the curtain-looking cilia of the animal." — 

 R. R. C, pp. 24, 25. 



" The ' White Trevally ' is very abundant at times in the har- 

 bours and inlets of the coast, but generally in a young state. The 

 adult fish is large, and appears in summer in very large shoals. 



" The ' King-fish' is about the most voracious and destructive of 

 all the predacious fishes of these seas. It grows to a large size, 

 congregates in enormous shoals, and habitually pursues and 

 destroys the shoals of other fish at all smaller than itself It is 

 not considered a very good fish. 



" Of the ' Samson-fish ' very little has been observed. It is a 



