68 MEMOIJtS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 



Colour. — Light brown above, with darker blotches ; the edge of each scale 

 is darker. Dorsal, caiidal, and anal fins with a white margin. 



Described from two specimens 205-233 mm. long. 



This species is very similar to P. sclerolepis, differing only in having smaller 

 eyes, and fewer dorsal and anal rays. 



Loc. — Busselton, Geographe Bay, South-Westem Australia. 



Family ANTENNARIID^. 

 Genus RHYCHERUS, Ogilby. 



Rhycherus, Ogilby, Proc. Roy. Soc. Qld., xxi., 1907, p. 17 [R. wildii, Ogilby), 



In his definition of this genus, Ogilby has described the teeth as small, and' 

 the tongue as smooth. I regard the teeth as of moderate size, while in his typical 

 specimen of R. wildii the tongue has strong teeth on either side of the median line. 

 McCoy placed B. bifurcahis in Chironectes, and in defining that genus he also described 

 the tongue as smooth, but strong lingual teeth are present m his species. 



RHYCHERUS FILAMENTOSUS, Castelnau. 



Chironectes filamentosus, Castelnau, Proc. Zool. Soc. Vict., i, 1872, p. 244, and ii., 1873, p. 65. 



Antennarius filamentosus, Macleay, Proc. Linn, Soc. N, S, Wales, v., 1881, p. 579. 



Chironectes biftircatus, McCoy, Prodr, Zool. Vict., Dec, 13, 1886, pi. exxiii. Id., Lucas, Proc. Roy, 

 Soc. Vict., 2nd. ser., 'ii., 1890, p. 27. 



Rhycherzis hifurcatus, Ogilby, Proc. Roy. Soc. Qld., xx., 1907, p. 19. 



Rhycherus wildii, Ogilby, loc. cit., p. 18. 



Four specimens, 70-207 mm. long, show that this species is a httle variable 

 in some of its characters, and they indicate that the synonymy quoted above is correct. 



One specimen is the type of R. ivildii, Ogilby, from Southern AustraUa, for 

 the loan of which I am indebted to Dr. R. Hamlyn-Harris, Director of the Queensland 

 Museum. A second small example was received from the Western Australian Museum 

 for identification, and was collected at Cottesloe Beach, Swan River. A third is 

 150 mm. long, and was forwarded by Mr. J. A. Kershaw, Director of the National 

 Museum, Melbcume ; it was obtained at Brighton, near Melbourne, which is the 

 typical locality of R. hifurcatus, McCoy. The fourth is the largest specimen, and 

 comes from South Australia ; it was lent me by Mr. Edgar R. Waite, Director of 

 the South Australian Museum. 



Castelnau's description of C. filamentosus apparently includes several errors, 

 and the details given of the dorsal spines and the dentition are so confused that 

 it is not clear what they are intended to con\ej. It seems, however, that they may 

 be reconstructed to apply to the tj^ical specimen of R. ivildii, Avhich is in agreement 

 vnth the rest of the description, and I am convinced that the two names refer to the 

 same species. 



Ogilby's tj^e differs from mj^ other specimens in having the dermal filaments 

 and tubercles of the body and fins more numerous and larger ; the flesh is greatly 

 shrunken upon the bones of the head, so that the cranial cavities are more pronounced, 

 and the eyes appear to be placed upon short, broad peduncles as described by 

 Castelnau. The terminal j^ortion of the anterior dorsal spine is differently formed 



