100 DR. RICHARDSON'S DESCRIPTION OF AUSTRALIAN FISH. 



figure*. The anal spines are also strong, and the second one is longer than the third 

 one, which is the tallest in the figure. There are no scales on the anterior sub- 

 orbitar of our fish. The tip of the operculum is flat, thin, and rounded ; the flexible 

 cartilaginous extremity of the suboperculum projects beyond it, and both are edged 

 with soft membrane forming a rounded lobe, which is the tip of the gill-flap, and 

 reaches to the base of the pectoral rays. The posterior edge of the preoperculum is 

 free, so that it can be raised from a small furrow which is lined by scaleless integument. 

 The edges of the smooth, oval, scapular bone, and of the bones in the axilla of the 

 pectoral, can also be slightly elevated. All the bones of the axilla are covered with 

 small scales, and their forms, as shown in our specimen, do not exactly agree with those 

 represented by the figure. There are sixty-two scales on the lateral line, of which 

 fifty are situated before the termination of the dorsal fin ; a vertical row in the fore 

 part of the fish contains twenty-one scales, four of them being above the lateral line. 

 The stomach gives ofl" a short pyloric branch high up ; there are two very short caeca, 

 and the rectum is much dilated, as described in the ' Histoire des Poissons.' 



Dimensions. 



Inches. Lines. 



Length from intermaxillary symphysis to tip of tail (jaws closed) . 12 3 



Length from intermaxillary symphysis to tip of central caudal rays .10 10 



Length from intermaxillary symphysis to base of caudal .... 10 5 



Length from intermaxillary symphysis to end of dorsal .... 9 2 



Length from intermaxillary symphysis to end of anal ..... 8 2 



Length from intermaxillary symphysis to beginning of anal ... 6 7 



Length from intermaxillary symphysis to anus 6 2 



Length from intermaxillary symphysis to ventrals 4 3 



Length from intermaxillary symphysis to beginning of dorsal . . 3 2^ 



Length from intermaxillary symphysis to tip of gill-cover .... 2 10^ 



Diameter of orbit 9^ 



Diameter of mouth (vertical) 8^ 



Length of long pectoral ray 4 



Length of ventrals 2 



Length of caudal lobes 2 8 



Length of caudal fork 1 4 



Height of body (under sixth dorsal spine) 3 8 



Height of tail (between dorsal and caudal) 9 



Thickness of head at opercular point 1 3 



Height of sixth dorsal spine (longest spine) 1 6 



' The two upper pectoral rays are simple, and there are only six simple rays in the lower part of the fin, the 

 uppermost of these six being the thick elongated one. In the ' Histou-e des Poissons' there are seven inferior 

 simple rays mentioned, the second being the long one. 



