36 FISHES OF NEW ZEALAND. 



57. MUGIL PERUSII. C. and V.? CM. 



Mullet. 



If. arffenteics, Cat. Col. Mus. M. peric^ii, Guiitli., III., 422. 



D. 4 1 1 ; A. I ; L. Lat., 40 ; L. Trans., 13. 



Length four and two-fiftlis that of the head, or three and three-fifths 

 the height of the body ; interorhital space slightly convex, twice the 

 diameter of the eye, which goes four and a quai-ter times into the length 

 of the head ; snout rather longer than the diameter of the eye ; mouth 

 broader than deep, angle formed by mandibles rather obtuse (100°) ; 

 upper profile slightly arched ; prjBorbital emarginate ; upper liji not very 

 thick ; maxillfe not covered by prseorbital ; free space at the chin, 

 between the mandibles, lanceolate ; an adipose membrane covers one-half 

 of the iris anteriorly and posteriori}^ ; spinous dorsal half way 

 between the snout and the tail, higher than the soft, which commences 

 over the fourth ray of the anal ; pectorals are about two-thii-ds 

 of the length of the head, and when closed do not reach to the 

 spinous doi-sal, they are placed veiy slightly above the midcUe of the 

 body ; fins scaleless ; a long pointed scale in the axil of the pectorals ; 

 second dorsal and anal of about equal heights, much less than the caudal, 

 which is deeply emarginate, and uniform in color ; about twenty-six 

 scales between the snout and the dorsal. 



Above plumbous blue, below silvery. 



Abundant north of Auckland, and occasionally got as far south as 

 Cook Straits. In the Waikato they go down to the sea to spawn in 

 November, and return again in March. Our gi'ey mullet seems to differ 

 very little from the description given of II. perusii, except in the fins 

 not being scaly, but the specimens I have examined were not fresh, and 

 the scales may have been rubbed off. If it is not 2^srusii, it will, I 

 think, have to be made into a new sjiecies. 



Two skeletons are in the Museum, prepared by Dr. Knox. 



Agonostoma. 



Cleft of the mouth extending neai-ly to the eye ; small teeth in one 

 or both of the jaws, and sometimes on the palate ; the lower lip with 

 the margin rounded, not sharp. 



Fresh waters of the West Indies, Central America, Australia, 

 Celebes, Mauritius, and the Comora Islands. 



