106 edible fishes. 



4. Red Snapper. 



{Scorpis llecturi). This is described as a new species by Captaiu 

 Hutton, and is not luifrequently caiiglit in the sounds on the west 

 coast of Otago, although only one specimen, obtained when I was on 

 board H.M.S. 'Clio' in April, 1871, has been preserved. It is generally 

 called the Red Snapper by seamen who are acquainted "with the fish of 

 the coast, the colour being a uniform bright red, with a few dark streaks 

 on the fins and a black spot on the side. The length of the figured 

 sjjecimen is 12 inches, but when I was in Milford Sound in 1863 several 

 much larger specimens were obtained in Anita Bay. It has been litho- 

 graphed, as it would no doubt be an edible fish, although I do not 

 remember our trying the experiment. 



In the grouji of fishes next to the foregoing is the much piized Red 

 Mullet, which is represented in the New Zealand seas by a fish that has 

 not been seen of late years (No. 5, Ujyeneoides Ylaminyii). The specimen 

 of this fish mentioned in the list was obtained in Queen Chax'lotte 

 Sound, and if it at all aiipi'oaches the Red Mullet of the MediteiTanean 

 in delicacy it would be a very desirable addition to our marketable 

 fishes. 



7. Snapper. 



There are few fishes better known in the northern pai-ts of the Colony 

 than the Snapper [Pagi'us unicolor). This name, by which it is best known, 

 is adopted from Australia, its Maori name Tamure being seldom used by 

 Europeans. It I'epresents in these seas the Braize of the Eui'opean mar- 

 kets, and is remarkable for its singularly abrupt profile and the brilliant 

 metallic lustre of its scales. The Snapper is not reported to occur south 

 of the Kaikoura Peninsula, the fish which usually goes by that name in 

 the Dunedin mai'ket being the Tarakihi. The Snapper freqiients shallow 

 water, and is generally caught with the net in Wellington Harbour, but 

 the natives may often be seen catching them with a hook and line in 

 the sui'f on exposed sandy beaches when the wind is ofi" shore. In clear 

 shallow l)ays troops of this fish may be observed rooting up shell-fish 

 that are buried in the sandy bottom, and crushing them with their 

 powerfully armed jaws. oBjs. is the weight of an average sized Snapper 

 in Wellington market, but they are frequently obtained four times that 

 size. It is a handsome fish for the table, and when boOed may be eaten 

 either hot or cold. PI. II, fig. 7 is the reduced outline of a specimen 

 24 inches long, caught in Wellington Harbour in the mouth of December. 



