BY J. DOUGLAS OGILBY. 15 



Occasionally, but very rarely, one of the dorsal spines is 

 absent, in which case an additional soft ray will almost inva- 

 riably be found ; while it also happens that not unfrequently 

 the short first spine appears to be wanting, having been acciden- 

 tally broken off and the scar healed over. A specimen in the 

 collection of the Australian Museum, Sydney, has a pungent 

 spine growing outwards and rather downwards from the base of 

 the eighth dorsal spine, of which it is fully half the length ; it 

 protrudes well beyond the skin, and was probably caused by an 

 injury when the fish was young. 



Length to 135 millimeters. (Head and body 106, caudal 

 fin 29.) 



East coast of Australia. I have taken specimens at various 

 points of the coast between Port Hacking to the south and 

 Moreton Bay to the north ; it frequents sandy bays in preference 

 to muddy estuaries, and, unlike its relative, the " Bullrout," 

 never ascends rivers into fresh water. It is very common in 

 Port Jackson, every haul of the trawl net bringing up several ; 

 it is, therefore, not out of place to warn the inexperienced 

 against rashly plunging the hand into the gatherings of the net 

 from that port, since, between stingarees (Lrolophus), numb- 

 fishes (Hypnos), and fortescues, he would probably receive an 

 unpleasant reminder of the evils of curiosity. In the 

 autumn of 1886, I had the pleasure of accompanying Mr. Tryon 

 and the late Captain Fison, on a three days' trip down Moreton 

 Bay, during which we did some dredging and caught several 

 specimens, which differed in no particular from the common 

 Port Jackson species. It appears, therefore, to be tolerably 

 plentiful in suitable localities along our foreshore, and possibly 

 extends its range considerably further northwards. The same 

 may be confidently asserted as to the extension of its range in 

 a south-easterly direction ; but it has not as yet been recognised 

 by the naturalists of Tasmania or Victoria. 



" australis " can only, therefore, be correctly employed when the species so 

 designated is an inhabitant of a more southerly district than any of itss 

 congeners at that time known. By this rule White was correct in so naming 

 his fish, no Cottiis from further south being known. (The Cottidu- proper, 

 as now limited, are inhabitants of j)eriarctic regions only). If an author 

 intends to convey the meaning that the product which he is describing is an 

 autochthon of the Australian Region he should employ such a word as 

 " australice" or " australianua " and the like ; but the vagueness, of even 

 these terms, owing to the size of the territory comprehended, suggests the 

 advisability of omitting their employment altogether. 



