ON THE ICHTHYOLOGY OF NEW ZEALAND. 15 



manuscripts are kept at Berlin, and are said to be at present in the course of 

 publication in an entire state. The ' Histoire des Poissons' is quoted under 

 the initials of its authors, and reference is occasionally made to the 9th vo- 

 lume of the Annals of Natural History, in which I am now publishing " Con- 

 tributions to Australian Ichthyology." 



Percoideje. 



1. Serranus lepidopterus (Rich. Annals, 9, p. 18.). The Butterfly-bar- 

 ber-fish. {Perca lepidoptera J. R. Forster MS. II. 58. apud Schn. Epi- 

 nephelus lepidopterus, Bl. Schn. p. 302.) 



This fish was discovered on Cook's second voyage, and has recently been 

 detected by Dr. Lhotsky on the shores of Van Diemen's Land. It belongs 

 to the group of Serrani, which is named " Les Barbiers" in the * Histoire des 

 Poissons,' and which is nearly equivalent to Bloch's genus Anthias. The 

 works above quoted contain all that has been published respecting it. 



2. Polyprion cernuum (C. & V. 3. p. 24. t. 42.), Wreck-fish, Cherny or 

 Jew-fish. (Sciama gadoides, Solander, p. 38. Parkinson, 2.t.74. Perca 

 prognathus, et "Palo-tera," G. Forster, 2.t.l8. J. R. Forster, MS.iv.19. 

 Epinephelus oxygeneios, Bl. Schn. p. 301 .) 



Few of the finny tribes have a wider range than this curious fish, which is 

 remarkable among the percoids for its considerable size, and the peculiar ar- 

 mature of its head. It is abundant in the Mediterranean, where the fisher- 

 men have long applied to it an epithet expressive of its worthlessness and con- 

 sequent rejection as an article of food ; and it has been taken on both sides 

 of the Atlantic, from the coast of Cornwall to the Cape of Good Hope. Yet 

 it seems to have been quite overlooked by European ichthyologists until the 

 publication of M. Valenciennes' paper upon it in the eleventh volume of the 

 • Memoires du Museum,' unless Duhamel intended to represent it in his 

 < Peches,' pi. 6. (vide C. & V. 3., p. 23.). In the same year however as the pub- 

 lication of Duhamel's work, this fish was an object of interest to Solander, who 

 was then with Cook, navigating the seas of New Zealand. His 'Pisces 

 Australia?' contain an extended description of a specimen taken off Motuaro, 

 which embraces most of the peculiar characters of the genus. Parkinson's figure 

 was executed at the same place, and most probably is a portrait of the same 

 individual. On Cook's second voyage the species was seen by the Forsters 

 at Queen Charlotte's Islands, near the 19th parallel of south latitude and 138th 

 meridian, where it was known to the natives by the name of " Palo-tera". G. 

 Forster's drawing of it is preserved in the Banksian library, and J. R. Forster 's 

 description may be found in Schneider's edition of Bloch. 



3. Centropristes trutta (C. & V. 2. p. 54.). (Scicena trutta, G. Forster, 2. 

 t. 210. Perca trutta, J. R. Forster, apud Bl. Schn. p. 542.) 

 This fish was procured by the Forsters in one of the coves of Queen Char- 

 lotte's Sound, and Schneider quoting from the manuscripts of J. R. Forster, 

 informs us that it was named by the natives " Kahavai," and by the sailors 

 " Salmon-peel," on account of its rich and delicate flavour. Cuvier adopted 

 the species in the second volume of the ' Histoire des Poissons,' under the de- 

 signation that it has in Schneider's edition of Bloch ; but in the third volume 

 of the ' Histoire des Poissons ' he supposes that the species may prove to be 

 the same with the Centropristes ? truttaceus procured by Messieurs Quoy and 

 Gaimard at Port Western. Several very closely resembling but distinct 

 species appear to exist in the Australian seas. Two of them are named be- 

 low, and Polack in his popular list of New Zealand fish mentions " Kahawai" 



