EDIBLE FISHES OF IjV EEN SLAND—OOILKY. (jl 



own "jewfish" {S. antarctica), the (^alifoniian "white sea-bass" {Cynoscion 

 li()bilis),^■^ etc., attain a very large size, specimens exceeding one hundred pounds 

 having been recorded, but the majority of the species do not exceed a foot or 

 eighteen inches in length ; most of them, however, are valuable as food-fishes. All 

 the jewfishes are carnivorous, and as they bite greedily and struggle hard foi" 

 fi'eedom when hooked, they are alike favorites with the angler and the epicure. 

 The large and complicated air-bladder, common to most of these fishes, is used 

 extensively in the manufacture of an inferior brand of isinglass,"' and so adds 

 nuiterially to the value of the fish ; so much .so, indeed, that Day, writing of the 

 Indian si)ecies, states — "The air-vessels of many of these fishes are extensively 

 collected along the coast of India as they afford isinglass, which is exported to 

 China and elsewhere. As food, liowever, their flesh is rather tastoless w^hen 

 young and coarse when large, consequently in many localities, as Kurrachee or in 

 Beloochistau, the sounds or air-vessels are as valuable as the whole of the 

 remainder of the fish." Tlie otoliths or ear-bones of these fi.shes are very large 

 and are often beautifully sculptured, pitted, or papillated, differing so much 

 inter sc that the various Australian species may be readily distinguislied from an 

 examination of these bones alone. Many of these fishes are capable of producing 

 sounds so plainly, while still at some distance below the surface, that these are 

 readily perceptible by the occupants of a boat pa.ssing above them ; the method 

 by which the sound is produced has not been definitely decided, though several 

 theories have been propounded ; some authorities suggest that it is caused by the 

 clashing together of the pharyngeal teeth, but I am Piore inclined to believe in the 

 theory advanced by Jordan and Evermann '■ that it is "caused by forcing the air 

 from the air-bladder into one of the lateral horns." This theory is supported 

 by the fact that in the two species most widely credited with this accomplishment, 

 the "maigre" and the "drum" {Pogonias chromis')^^ of the Eastern United 

 States, the air-bladder is exceptionally large and complicated. The same authors 

 also assert — "None occurs in deep water and none among rocks."'' While the 

 former statement is irrefutable, the latter, though in the main correct, needs some 

 modification. I have personally .seen fine jewfish taken close in to Wolf Koek, an 

 outlier of Double I.sland Point and a noted haunt of the jew; also at "Jewfish 

 Shoal" some miles further south, where, according to Mr. J. Hirst Stevens, 

 Inspector of Fisheries for the State of Queensland, the bottom is "'mixed rock 

 and coar.se shingle, the rock predominating." The same gentleman also informs 

 me that jewfish may be taken on rocky ground in many parts of the South 

 Queensland Coast. As regards the breeding of these fishes I mitst confess myself 

 to be quite in the dark. The young of all our other edible estuarine fishes — 

 whiting, flathead, bream, etc. — are well known from their earliest stages, Ynit 



" Ayres, Proe. Cal. Acad. Sci., 1860, p. 78. 



'"The most highly prized isinglass is that which is procured from the air-bladders of the 

 ' ' tassel-fishes ' ' {Polynemidie) . 



»■ Fish. North and Mid. Amer., pt. 2, 1898, p. 1392. 



" Labms chromis Linnseus, Syst. Nat., ed. 12, 1766, p. 479. 



