52 AUBTJRALIAN ATHERINID.15 " 



Craterocephalus maculatus, MacUay. 

 (Plate I. ; Fig. 2.) 



Atherinichthys maculatus, Macleay, Proc. Linn. Soc, N. S. 

 Wales, VIIL, 1883, p. 207, and I^., 1884, p. 40. 



D.VI-VIII, 1/6-8; A.I/8-9; V.I/5; P. 11-13; C. 17; 

 L. Lat. 32-33. 



Head 3f -4i in the length from the snout to the hypural. 

 Depth of body 1^-1 J in the head. Eye longer than, the 

 §nout, larger than in C. fliwiatilis, 2J-3i in the head, its 

 length equal to or less than the depth of the caudal peduncle. 

 Interorbital as wide as the eye in young specimens, half 

 as wide again in adults. • Head scales, nostrils, and pores 

 as in fluviatilis. Teeth minute, in three or four rows in- 

 the upper Jaw, and one or two below. 



Scales and fins similar to fluviatilis, but the relative 

 positions and sizes of the latter vary somewhat in both 

 species ; the ventrals appear to be usually larger in C. 

 matulatus. In all my specimens there are seven transverse 

 rows of scales between the median dorsal and anal series 

 in front of the second dorsal and anal fins. 



Colour.— Whitish in alcohol \^dth a dark band from the 

 hypural to the pectoral, which is usually also distinct on 

 the head. Upper part of head and back more or less 

 densely speckled with bflack, and in well-marked examples 

 each scale on the sides bears a central dark spot. 



This species was originally obtained in Lillesmere 

 Lagoon on the lower Burdekin River, Queensland. I am 

 unable to find the type specimens in the Macleay Museum, 

 and as they are not in the Australian Museum they are 

 probably lost. The Australian Museum collection includes 

 two specimens from freshwater at Cairns, and two from 

 Townsville, collected by Mr. W. Butcher ; four from 

 Eidsvold, Burnett River, collected by Dr. Thomas L. 

 Bancroft ; one from near Brisbane, collected by Mr. F. 

 Phillips. Length, 34-74 mm. 



C. maculatus is distinguished from C fluviatilis chiefly 

 by its different colour- marking and in having several rows 

 of teeth in the jaws instead of only one. The eye is also 

 larger. 



