25 



and shoulders of this fish, says our Report, " makes the 

 most delicious dish one can conceive." Half-grown fish are 

 usually taken in the seine, the adults by line-fishing, or 

 with the trammel-net set near the rocks. 



Another common species is the "'Maori" {Coris lineo- 

 latus), a most varied and beautifully marked fish, of a rich 

 vermilion, longitudinally banded with broad bands of dark 

 violet and pink, and elegantly ornamented with bright blue 

 lines on the head. It frequents the rocky shores and 

 weeds, among which the young fish take refuge. Labricli- 

 thys laticlaviiis is sometimes obtained. Odax seniifasciatits 

 known locally as the " rock-whiting," " stranger," &c., is 

 more often found. Other members of the Labridae occa- 

 sionally are taken, but do not afford any supply worthy of 

 mention. The sanie may be said of the "pig-fish" {Cossy- 

 pJius unimaculatus), which is frequently seen ; it is a bright- 

 coloured fish, of a rich red, with a blackish spot about the 

 centre of the dorsal fin, and occasionally two black longi- 

 tudinal markings on the side of the body. 



Gadid^. 



This family, so largely represented in the Northern 

 hemisphere, is almost wanting in the Australian seas. It 

 is represented by only three or four species, which may be 

 looked upon as food-fish, belonging to the genera Lotella 

 and Pseudophycis. Lotella grandis is the largest species, 

 and not usually found. L. callarias and L. rubiginosa, 

 known as the beardie and the ling, are the only other 

 species which are marketable, and even these are only 

 occasionally found. L. callarias and L. grandis are de- 

 licious food-fish, but require to be cooked while fresh, soon 

 decomposing after death. 



