16 



forty and fifty similar banks have been licensed or are under survey. The subdivisions termed " oyster 

 grounds" have been recently defined to take the place of " dredgo sections," and for the purpose of 

 including areas producing oysters in collectively deep or shallow water, or from high-water mark on one 

 side to the same limit on the opposite side of any given area. These oyster grounds are, as in the case of 

 the dredge sections, let by auction on leases of fourteen years' duration to the highest bidder. 



The license-fees payable upon the boats occupied in the oyster trade, as affixed by the Oyster 

 Act of the year 1880, is as follows : — £1 annually for every boat so employed that does not exceed three 

 tons, and a further sum of 10s. for every ton or part of a ton above the measurement. The license-fee 

 charged for every person engaged as master, servant, or assistant in dredging, collecting, or carrying away 

 oysters for sale, is 10s. per annum. 



Eetuen relative to the Qitantitt and Value of Oysters Expoetkd from Beisbanb and Maetboeough. 



BRISBANE. 



MARYBOROUGH. 



The foregoing return showing the quantities and value of the oysters exported from Moreton and 

 Wide Bays, has been reproduced from the Inspector of Oyster Fisheries, Moreton Bay district (Mr. C. L. 

 Eison), report for the year 1890. Tiie figures relating to the Brisbane exports, extending over a period 

 of twenty years, furnish a practical illustration of the steadily increasing value and extent of this highly 

 important fishery. 



It affords me much pleasure, in conclusion, to testify to the valuable facilities and assistance 

 afforded me, whenever needed, by the harbour masters and fisheries inspectors of the various districts visited, 

 towards the acquisition of the materials and information utilised in the compilation of this report. 



I have, &c., 



W. SAVILLE-KENT, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c. 



Commissioner of Fisheries, Queensland. 



EXPLANATION OP PLATES I. TO IX., ILLUSTRATING QUEENSLAND OYSTERS 



AND OYSTER CULTURE. 



Plate I. 



Figure 1. — Typical cluster of the ordinary commercial oyster, Ostrea glomerata, the largest shell 

 exposed to view, showing at the point a, a circular hole made by the boring whelk, TIrosalpinx paivoe. 



Figures 2 and 3. — Right and left, or attached and opercular valves, of the ordinary growth of Ostrea 

 glomerata. 



Figures 4 and 5. — Adult shells and young brood of the elongate variety of Ostrea glomerata, of 

 common occurrence in deep water. 



Figues 6 and 7. — Vertical and lateral views of the orbicular variety of Ostrea glomerata, most 

 abundant in the Northern districts. 



Figure 8. — Oyster whelk, Pof amides eheninus, with attached oyster brood. 



Figure 9. — Oyster spat and brood from one to three or four weeks old, in its earliest condition of 

 attachment to the cemented collectors figured at Plate VIII. 



Figures 10 and 11.- — Dorsal and ventral aspects of the oyster-boring whelk, Urosalpinx paivte. 



Figure 12. — Spinous oyster, Ostrea spinosa. A small non-commercial species from Keppel Bay. 

 Grows to about twice the size of the illustration. 



Plate II. 



Figure 1. — Lateral aspect of typical example of the coral rock oyster, Ostrea mordax, attached to 

 fragment of coral from the Capricorn Islands, Great Barrier system, Lat. 23^ deg. 



Figure 2. — Vertical view of conunon modification of Ostrea mordax, in which the anterior or butt 

 end of the left or attached valve is produced into a hollow beak ; a variety apparently identical with the 

 Ostrea cucullata, of Born. 



Figures 3 and 4. — Attached and opercular valves of the beaked variety of Ostrea mordax, the black 

 scar of attachment of the adductor muscle being conspicuously developed on the opercular valve. 



Figure 5. — A cluster of the non-commercial oyster, Ostrea crenulifera. 



Figures 6 and 7. — Dextral and ventral aspects of a detached example of the same species. 



Figure 8. — Lower or attached valve of the poisonous oyster, Spondylus sp. 



Plate III. 



