DR. RICHARDSON'S DESCRIPTION OF AUSTRALIAN FISH. 87 



Inches. Lines. 



Height of soft rays of second dorsal and anal 2 8 



Length of descending branch of stomach from gullet .... 9 



Transverse diameter of stomach 1 3 



Length of gut from pylorus 7 3 



Length of longest caecum 2 1 



The descending branch of the stomach is widely oval, and gives off the pyloric branch 

 about one-third of the length from the gullet, leaving a ' cul de sac' beneath it of an- 

 other third, while the junction of the two branches occupies the middle third. The 

 pylorus is contracted to the diameter of the gut which proceeds from it ; and just be- 

 neath it the intestine is surrounded by eight long caeca, the longest of which is twice 

 the length of the shortest, but only one-fourth of the length of the whole intestine. The 

 liver appears to be very small, but it may have been injured. The air-bladder is large, 

 and consists of two globular sacs united to each other for half their length : its coats 

 are thick and satiny. 



Trigla polyommata, Stiletto-beaked Crurnard. — Trigla polyommata, Zool. Proc, June 

 25th, 1839. 



Tab. V. Fig. 2. 

 Trig, squamis minutis Itevibus ; lined laterali inermi ; fossa dorsali ad finern usque 

 piniKB anterioris aculeatd, postic^ exossd ohsoletdque ; orbitd oculi leevi; aculeo ossis 

 preorbitaris antrorsum exstanti, maximo. 

 Radii.— Bt. 7 - 7 ; D. 8|- 12 ; A. 12 ; V. l|5 ; C. 13| ; P. 12 - in. 

 Form considerably compressed. The greatest depth of the body occurs at the begin- 

 ning of the dorsal, and is equal to one-fourth of the total length, caudal included. The 

 profile of the belly, from the under jaw backwards, is nearly straight ; that of the back 

 slightly curved, from the forehead. At the end of the dorsal and anal fins the body 

 tapers suddenly into the short but slender tail, whose depth does not exceed one-fourth 

 of that of the fore part of the body. The sides of the head are quite flat ; the sides of 

 the body are flattish, and the thickness diminishes gradually into the tail, which is 

 almost round, the caudal fin being set on in such a manner that the short incumbent 

 rays form a thin ridge or keel above and below. 



The head, measured from the symphysis of the upper jaw to the nape, forms one-third 

 of the total length, excluding the caudal ; its flat sides are vertical, and its height at the 

 nape exceeds its length. The profile descends more abruptly before the orbit than in 

 T. Vanessa ; between the orbits the cranium is narrower and is smoothly excavated, and 

 posteriorly it is flat and finely and equably granulated, without any appearance of radi- 

 ation. The space included between the supra-scapulars is semicircular (not rectangular, 

 as in Vanessa). The whole side of the head is dotted with minute rounded pits, like the 

 surface of a sewing thimble ; these pits being finer and shallower on the cheek, and 



