108 MEMOIBS OF THE QVEENSLANV MUSEUM. 



Uses : — This species, which is known as " grunter" among the Burnett anglers, 

 greedily takes an}' flesh bait in the daytime ; it is a game little fellow, but is usually 

 considered too small for the table, as it rarely exceeds a quarter of a pound in weight, 

 nevertheless the flesh, what there is of it, is equally as good as that of its congeners. 

 {Bancroft in lit.) 



Dimensions : — Attains a length of 150 miUim. 



Range : — Although this grunter is principally known as a Queensland species 

 it is probable that it occurs in suitable localities throughout intertropical and juxta- 

 tropical Australia. Within the boundaries of the home State it has been taken in the 

 Burnett River (Bancroft), Fitzroy {Giinther), Barron and FUnders {Austr. Mus.), 

 Norman (Castelnau), Hodgkinson (Lucas), Walsh (Bancroft), and Palmer (Macleay), 

 while beyond our limits it has been recorded from the McDonnell Ranges (Zietz), and 

 Swan River (Castelnau). 



Illustration : — Our illustration is taken from one of the specimens kindly 

 forwarded to us by Dr. Bancroft. 



THERAPON CAUDAVITTATUS Richardson. 

 Datnia? caudavittata Richardson, Voy. Erebus and Terror, Fishes, 1845, p. 24, pi. xviii, fig. 3-5. 



Therapon caudovittatus Giinther, Cat Fish. Brit. Mus., i, 1859, p. 284; id., Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (3) 

 XX, 1867, p. 58 ; id., Voy. Challenger, ZooL, i, 188U, Shore Fishes, p. 39 ; Allevne & Macleay, 

 Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, i, 1877, p. 270 ; Macleay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S.' Wales, ii, 1878, 

 p. 348 ; id., ibid., v, 1881, p. 361 ; Castelnau, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, iii, 1878, pp. 42 

 and 47 ; Klunzingf r, Sitzb. Akad. Wien, Ixxx, i, 1879, p. 350 ; Waite, Rec. Austr. Mus., iii, 

 1900, p. 210 ; McCulloch, Rec. W. Austr. Mus., i, 1912, p. 88. 



Therapon caudovittatus vel bostockii Castelnau, Proc. Zool. Soc. Vict., ii, 1873, p. 128. 



D. xiii 8-9 ; A. iii 8 ; P. 14-15 ; V. i 5 ; C. 17. 52-56 series of scales above 

 the lateral line between its origin and the hyjjural joint, and 44-49 below it ; 6-7| scales 

 between the lateral line and the middle of the spinous dorsal fin. Cheek-scales in 

 9-10 rows. 



Proportions of a specimen 196 mm. long : — Depth 2-8 in the length to the 

 hjrpural joint ; head 3-3 in the same. Eye equal to the interorbital Aviclth, 4-5 in the 

 head and 1-6 in the snout. Snout 2-7 in the head. Fifth dorsal spine 1-8, anterior 

 dorsal ray 2-1, and second anal spine 2-5 in the head. 



Body compressed, the dorsal profile a little more arched than the ventral. 

 Interorbital ridges well developed, those of the cranium weak. Maxillary reaching 

 to below the nostrils or the anterior orbital margin. Preorbital more or less serrated. 

 Preoperculum evenly and finely serrated. Lower opercular spine well developed, not 

 or scarcely projecting beyond the opercular lobe. Suprascapular hidden beneath the 

 skin and scales ; coracoid denticulate. Fifth dorsal spine longest, higher than the- 

 rays ; the last spine is shorter than the penultimate one. Second anal sj^ine longer 

 than the third. 



Color in formaline : — Violet grey on the back, fighter on the sides, and wliite 

 below ; the upper parts and the sides are closely spotted with round greyish spots. 

 Dorsal fin similarly spotted, the soft portion with a blackish margin. Caudal more 

 or less spotted basally, each lobe with a large black blotch extending obHqueh' across it. 



We have a good series of specimens 127-196 mm. long which exhibit very 

 little variation. 



Locs. : — Fre mantle. Western Austraha ; Torres Strait ; Murray Island, Torres 

 Strait ; Gulf of Papua ; Dutch New Guinea. 



