DR. RICHARDSON'S DESCRIPTION OF AUSTRALIAN FISH. lOl 



Inches. Lines. 

 Height of seventeenth dorsal spine (the first is shorter, the second longer) 7^ 



Height of soft rays of dorsal Oil 



Height of second anal spine (the longest) 10 



Height of soft anal rays 1 



Length of anal 1 10 



The Banksian hbrary contains a drawing made by G. Forster on Cook's second voyage 

 (vol. i. t. 207), marked Sparus carponemus, of a fish taken in Queen Charlotte's Sound, 

 New Zealand, which is a pretty good representation of the form of ours ; and there 

 is another made at Matarruhow by Parkinson (tab. .52.), most probably from an indi- 

 vidual of the same species. In both the dorsal spines agree better with those of our 

 specimen than with the plate in the ' Histoire des Poissons.' Figure No. 206, made by 

 G. Forster at Dusky Bay, and marked Scicena macroptera, is also quoted by Cuvier 

 as a representation of Cheilodactylus carponemus, but I think that it ought rather 

 to be considered as belonging to a distinct species. It is a more slender fish than car- 

 ponemus, with a more acute head, and is further characterized by a dark blotch behind 

 the head. Its native name at Dusky Bay is ' Taraghee.' Figure No. 40. by Parkinson, 

 of a fish taken in Queen Charlotte's Sound, is very probably another represen- 

 tation of this second species. It has a lovver soft dorsal, with a more even spinous 

 portion than carponemus, and the dark mark on the shoulder is still more clearly defined 

 than in Forster's figure. A short description is given in Solander's MSS. Pisces 

 Australia of a specimen taken off Cape Kidnappers, under the head of ' Sciasnoides 

 abdominalis,' with a reference to Parkinson's figure, of which the following is an extract : 

 " Piscis compressus, totus supra e plumbeo argenteus, suhtus argenteus. Os atrum. Pone 

 caput per humeros, fascia lata nigra, ad basin pinnarum pecioralium non penitus descendens. 

 Pinna dorsalis colore dorsi. P. pectorales superne cinerascentes, inferne albidcB. P. ven- 

 irales et anales albida. P. caudalis e livido cinerascens. Radius decimus pinnce pectoralis 

 elongatus, incrassatus." A more extended description occurs in the same manuscript, 

 drawn up from a specimen taken off Motuaro Bay, Queen Charlotte's Sound. Ex- 

 tract : — " Caput parvum superne fere ad rostrum squamosum, ante oculos nudum obtusum. 

 Faux nigra. Branchiarum opercula integra squamosa. Membrana branchiostega 6-radiata, 

 tecta. Dorsum acutum in medio rectum, ibique fossuld exaratum pro parte spinosd pinnce 

 dorsalis recipiendd, postice descendens margine elevato basin pinnm dorsalis amplectens. 

 Pectus carinatum. Pinna dorsalis 43-radiata, radiis 17 anterioribus spinosis, crassis, 

 altioribus ; reliquis muticis\ Pinna pectorales mutica, l5-radiat(B : radio decimo longis- 

 simo, pone initium pinna analis elongato .- reliqui duplo breviores. Pinna ani, uti pars postica 

 pinnce dorsalis, basi amplexa marginibus elevatis, intra quos recondenda, \7-radiata : radiis 

 tribus anterioribus spinosis : secundo valido." 



' Forster's figure No. 206. exhibits only fourteen spinous rays. It is stated to have been drawn from the 

 living fish, while 207 is said to be from a dead subject. 



