76 DR. RICHARDSON'S DESCRIPTION OF AUSTRALIAN FISH. 



short, wide, depressed, and confined to the centre, the anterior or basal opening being 

 on the upper side, and the posterior one beneath. There are twenty-three rows of scales 

 in a vertical line behind the pectorals, of which four are above and eighteen below the 

 lateral line, on which there are fifty-four scales, exclusive of a few small ones on the 

 caudal. The lateral line is boldly arched, the curve diminishing posteriorly, and chan- 

 ging to a straight line in its course through the tail. 



Rays. — The pectoral is large, with an oval outline, and when turned back reaches to the 

 commencement of the anal. All its rays are branched, and the branches are so disposed 

 towards their ends as to form a flat lanceolate tip to each ray. The base of the fin is 

 protected by an encroachment of the scaly integument, and a tapering row of very fine 

 scales runs up between each pair of rays for half the length of the fin. The ventrals, 

 placed exactly under the pectorals, are rather pointed. The spine is one-third shorter 

 than the soft rays, whose tips reach within half their own length of the anus. The 

 dorsal, commencing exactly above the pectorals and tip of the gill-cover, is supported 

 anteriorly by ten spines, which, with the exception of the two foremost, are all of the 

 same length. The soft portion of the fin, equal in length to the spinous part, is some- 

 what higher, and its outline is slightly arched, the intermediate rays being rather longer 

 than the extreme ones. The membrane, to the extent of two-thirds of the height of 

 the spinous rays, and one-third of that of the soft ones, is densely covered with small 

 scales. Behind the tip of each spine there is a triangular portion of smooth membrane, 

 which, when the fin is laid back, falls within the looser scaly integument, and, together 

 with the spines which lie alternately a little to the right and left, is wholly concealed. 

 Narrow bands of scales run between the soft rays, nearly to the edge of the membrane. 

 The spines of the anal are short and moderately stout ; but the soft rays, which are more 

 than twice the length of the posterior and longest spine, are longer than the soft rays 

 of the dorsal. The outline of the fin is much arched, and the naked space between it 

 and the caudal is considerably greater than that behind the dorsal. The fin commences 

 opposite to the seventh soft dorsal ray, and terminates opposite the eighteenth. It has 

 a scaly base, and prolonged stripes of scales between the rays like the soft dorsal. The 

 caudal fin has a crescentic termination with a scaly base and tapering scaly fillets run- 

 ning between the rays nearly to their ends. 



Anatomy. — Exterior row of rakers slender, subulate, and about four lines long ; the 

 others shorter, obtuse, those of the inner row on each arch being considerably shorter 

 than the outer ones ; they are all bristled with minute teeth. 



The stomach descends from the gullet for an inch and a half, gradually widening until 

 it measures an inch across ; it then contracts suddenly, to form the much narrower 

 pyloric branch which thus issues from the fundus of the descending portion. The 

 pyloric branch is above an inch long, and has a saccular dilatation on its inferior side. 

 The inner coat of the descending branch is pervaded by about twenty fringed or papillary 

 ridges, pale at their commencement in the gullet, but firmer and of a browner hue in 



