EDIBLE FISHES OF QUEENSLAND.— OGILBY. 353 



general comparison between specimens of different sizes is possible. Again, the 

 measnrements given " in length" M'onld make it appear at a casual glance that 

 the lobes are excessively short, in fact practically non-existent, but on turning to 

 tlie figure (of T. ohlongiis) we find that the caudal fin is included in the 

 " length" measurement, a method of computation which has been discarded for 

 so many years by all reputable ichthyologists, that it is necessary here to call 

 attention to its revival in a modern work. Measured in the ordinary manner, 

 from the tip of the snout to the root of the caudal, their figure agrees very well 

 with ray example of T. hailloni, in the synonymy of which their T. ohlongiis 

 should be placed, Avhile their T. quadripunctahis should be relegated to T. botJa, 

 Reverting for a moment to these authors' criticism of the inaccurate representa- 

 tion of the maxillary in Day's figure, it is somewhat disconcerting to find that 

 while they write of that bone in T. oblongns as '' maxillary short, reaching front 

 of eye," their artist has depicted it as reaching well-nigh below the middle of the 

 eye, thus reversing their OAvn proposition. 



Uses: — The only notice which 'I can find, dealing with this important 

 phase of the subject, is that by Valenciennes, under Trachinotus quadripunctatus, 

 where he writes in reference to the Seychelles islanders ''it is highly esteemed 

 and is moderately abundant throughout the year. ' ' Doubtless my remarks under 

 T. hotla would appl.y with equal justice to this fish, as also those regarding their 

 food. 



Range: — ^The range of the Black-spotted Swallowtail is much wider than 

 that of its congener and near ally T. hotla, being roughly from Madagascar, 

 Mauritius, the Seychelles, and the Red Sea, through the Indian and Malayan 

 seas eastward to the Ellice and Society Islands and northward to the Riu Kin 

 ■Group. In Australian waters the records, as before mentioned, are very unsatis- 

 factory, owing to the association of the two allied species — hotla and hailloni — 

 under the latter name by Dr. Giinther, whose example was followed by all the 

 earlier Australian writers. Two records may, however, be selected, the one as 

 certainly, the other as probably, authentic. The first relates to the specimens 

 collected by IMcCulloch at JMurray Island, the second to that recorded by Waite 

 from Lord Howe Island ; the latter is unfortunately unavailable for re-examina- 

 tion. Eastward of Australia it has been specifically reported from — Lord Howe 

 Island (Waite), Ncav Britain (Peters), New Hebrides, Samoa, and the Society 

 ■Group (Giinther), and the Ellice Islands (Waite). It may, therefore, be 

 regarded as of general distribution among the greater number if not all of the 

 South Sea Islands. Turning westward from thence we first note the Murray 

 Island record (McCtdloch) , and next arrive at the Austro-Malayan section of 

 the Archipelago, whence it has been recorded from Ceram, Amboina, Batchian, 

 Obi, and Celebes (Blecker) , while the Indo-Malayan section yielded to the same 

 indefatigable collector specimens from Bali, Java, Nias, and Sumatra. North- 

 wards we find it extending through the Philippines and Forinosa (Jordan 

 & Richardson) to the Riu Kiu Islands (Jordan & Starks), but so far it does not 

 seem to have reached Japan, nor to have been met with on the mainland of 

 China. "Westward from the Malay Archipelago it recurs at Pulo Pinang 

 (Cantor), Siam (Bleeker), and the Indian Peninsula (Dag), onward through 

 the Persian Gulf (Boulenger) to Socotra and South Arabia (titeindachner) , 

 which lie at the gateways of the Red Sea, one of the original type-localities 

 (Riippell). Southwards in the Indian Ocean it has been recorded from the 

 Seychelles (Valenciennes), Mauritiufi (Bleeker), and Madagascar (Commercon), 

 but I can nowhere find any notice of its occurrence on the East African litoral. 



