BEnSION OF AUSTRALIAN THEEAPONS.—OGILBY AND McCULLOCH. 103 



bands ; the upper covers the greater portion of the back, and the second extends from 

 the eye to the upper half of the caudal peduncle. A large black blotch on the membrane 

 between the third and seventh spines which is variable in size. Soft dorsal and anal 

 fins with striking black and white markings in the young which are greatly reduced in 

 larger examples. Caudal fin with a median horizontal and two oblique bars, together 

 with large blackish patches which cover the greater part of each lo1)e. 



The foregoing description is based on six specimens 83-169 mm. long, of which 

 two are from India, being part of Dr. Day's collection. The tyi^e of T. nigripinnis 

 Macleay, from Rockingham Bay, Queensland, does not diff'er from them in any struc- 

 tural details, though its markings are very obscure. Therapon rubricatus Richardson 

 was based upon a color drawing of a fish from North-Western Austraha ; it has 

 been regarded as probably identical with T. theraps by Day and Bleeker, and there 

 seems to be no reason to doubt their conclusion. 



T. theraps has been recorded from the following Austrahan locahties : — Port 

 Essington, North Austraha {Richardson) ; North-Western Austraha {Richardson, as 

 T. rubricatus) ; Port Darwin, North Australia {Castelnau) ; Palm Island to FUnders 

 Island, Queensland {Alleijne & Macleay) ; Rockingham Bay, Queensland {Macleay, 

 as T. nigripinnis). We have examined specimens from the Burnett River and Yam 

 Creek, Queensland, and Torres Strait. 



THERAPON PUTA Cuvier & Valenciennes. 



Therapon piita Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., iii, 1829, p. 131 ; Valenciennes, Ilkistr. 



Poiss. Cuv. Regne Anim., 1843, pi. xii, fig. 2 ; Day, Fish. India, 187.5, p. 69, pi. xviii, fig. 3. 

 Therapon ghebul (Ehrenberg) Cnvier & Valenciennes, ibid., p. 133 ; Giintlier, Brit. Mtis. Catal. 



Fish.,i, 1859, p. 281. 

 Therapon trivittatus Giinther, ibid., p. 280 ; Macleay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, v, 1881, ji. 3GI 



(Not Coins trivittatus H. Bvichanan.) 

 Therapon {Datnia) picta Bleeker, Atlas Ichth., vii, 1876, p. 112, pi. cccxl, fig. 2. 

 Aittisthes argenteus de Vis, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, ix, 1884, p. 398. 



D. xi i 10 ; A. iii 9. About 100 series of scales above the lateral hne between its 

 origin and the hypural joint, and about 90 below it ; 12-13 scales between the lateral 

 line and the middle of the spinous dorsal fin. Cheek-scales in about 6 rows. 



Proportions of a S]Decimen 103 ram. long : — Depth 3-7 in the length to the 

 hypural joint ; head 3.3 in the same. Eye 3.7 in the head, a little longer than the 

 snout and the interorbital width. Snout 4, interorbital width 4.3 in the head. Fifth 

 dorsal spine 1.6, first dorsal ray 1.8, and third anal spine 2.1 in the head. 



Body elongate, compressed. Cranium and interorbital space with low bony 

 ridges. Preorbital finely serrated. Preoperculum with spines on the posterior margin 

 which are very strong and enlarged on the angle ; lower margin denticulate. Lower 

 opercular spine enlarged and produced beyond the opercular lobe. SuprascajDular 

 exposed, denticulate. Fifth dorsal spine longest and higher than the anterior rays ; 

 the last spine is much longer than the penultimate one. Third anal spine longer than 

 the second. 



Light brown on the back, paler beloAV. Three or four dark bars, which are almost 

 straight, extend along the sides ; the first commences on the nape and runs close to the 

 dorsal profile to the end of the spinous dorsal ; the second from above the nostrils to 

 the soft dorsal and along the back of the caudal peduncle ; the tlurd from the snout 

 to the upper half of the caudal peduncle ; the fourth, if j^resent, from beliind the 

 pectoral to the lower half of the caudal peduncle. The third bar extends along the 

 middle of the caudal fin wluch also bears two oblique bars on each lobe. Spinous dorsal 

 mth a large black blotch, soft dorsal and anal with darker obhque bars. 



