16 STUDIES IN THE ICHTHYOTjOGY OF (iUEEXSLAND 



Type apparently non-existent. 



White's description and figure are so bad that it is impos- 

 sible to state with absoute certainty that the subject of this 

 article is the actual species of which he obtained specimens ; 

 their identity, therefore, rests solely on the negative evidence 

 that there is no other Port Jackson fish at all reseinblitig his 

 species in pattern of coloration. But this is of less importaiice 

 owing to the accurate descriptirn given in the " Histoire 

 Naturelle des Poissons," the authors of which retain White's 

 specific name for specimens collected by Quoy and Gainiard in 

 Port Jackson, during Freycinet's voyage in the " Uranie," 

 associating our species, however, with the Indian genus, 

 Apistus, from which it may be distinguished by the absence of a 

 free pectoral ray, etc. 



The Fortescue feeds on small crustaceans, mollusks. and 

 the like, and is useless even as food for other fishes, the painful 

 character of the wounds inflicted by the preorbital and preoper- 

 cular spines acting as a sufficient deterrent to its would-be 

 consumer. Its small size renders it valueless as human food. 



The above description is drawn up from an examination of 

 numerous specimens collected in the Sydney district. 



If a comparison be instituted between the above description 

 of Centro])0(/on australis and Giinther's detailed description of 

 C. marvwratus, the differences will be found to be very slight. 

 Putting aside the rather unreliable character of coloration, they 

 amount to the (1) lowness of the anterior dorsal spines, the 

 third to sixth being subequal and longest, only half the length 

 of the head and lower than the soft portion of the fin ; and (2) 

 the larger scales, which are arranged in 68 transverse series 

 above the lateral line. Though a native of Moreton Bay this 

 species is equally unknown to Mr. De Vis as to myself.* 



I cannot close my account of this genus without a few 

 remarks on the figure of Ncosehtistes in(.strali.s, published in 

 "Memoir iv. " of the Australian Museum publications.! 

 Waite's figures of fishes are ordinarily so accurate in every 



* Since writing the above I have received through the kindness of Mr. 

 J. R. Tosh two examples of Centropogon from Southport, which belong 

 to the low-finned form. They differ, however, so much inter ite that I think 

 it advisable to withhold the description until such time as I can obtain a 

 fuller series of specimens. 



t " Scientific Results of the Trawling Expedition of H.M.C.S. ' Thetis , 

 off the coast of New South Wales." Sydney, 1899. 



