76 EDIBLE riSnES OF NEW SOUTH AVALES. 



seaAveeds, or floats ; the Avliereabouts and manner of life of the jouug fishes 

 are equally unknown, all we know being that they appear from seaw^ard in 

 large shoals during the late winter and the spring months, A-arying at this 

 time from one to three feet in length, the smaller fishes usually preceding 

 their more mature brethren by a few days. 



Referring to the Teraglin, the Royal Commission's Eeport has the follow- 

 ing sentence: — " In our species the airbladder is of great size and excellent 

 quality, and treated iu the same way, that is without any preparation or 

 outlay except that of drying in the sun, would probably add from threepence 

 to sixpence to the value of each fish caught." 



The Teraglin is of equally rapacious habits as the Jewfish, but does not 

 ascend rivers to a similar extent, and is not. therefore, so great a pest to the 

 estuarine breeding grounds. Asa table fish it is infinitely superior to the 

 Jewfish, even in the young, or Silver Jew, stage of that species, and always 

 commands a high price in the market. 



So far as we know at present the Teraglin is only found on the New 

 South "Wales coast, where it is abundant, and grows to a maximum length of 

 about three feet. 



Family XIII.-CAEANGIDiE. 



Branchiostegals normally seven (six to ten) : pseudobranchige present, 

 except iu Lichia and Tracliynoius. Body generally compressed, oblong, 

 elevated, or subcylindrical. Eyes lateral. Gill-openings wide. Xo bony 

 articulation between the preopercle and infraorbital. Dentition variable : 

 teeth, when present, conical. Spinous dorsal less developed than the rayed 

 portion or than the anal, either continuous with or separated from the rayed 

 portion, and sometimes formed of isolated spines : the anal spines, when 

 present, may or may not be continuous with the fin : the posterior rays of 

 the dorsal and anal fins sometimes detached : ventrals thoracic, sometimes rudi- 

 mentary or absent. Scales generally small or absent. The lateral line may 

 be partially or entirely armed with shield-like plates. Airbladder present. 

 Pyloric appendages usually numerous. 



Georjraphical distribution. — Tropical and temperate seas of both hemis- 

 pheres. 



Giinther lays great stress on the miiformity of the number of vertebra? in 

 this family, fixing this number at ten abdominal and fourteen caudal, with, 

 however, a limitation in favor of Temnodon and Chorinemus, which have, 

 the former twelve abdominal, the latter fifteen or sixteen caudal vertebrae ; 

 to these must be added Xancrates, in which there are also sixteen, while, 

 even in the typical genus Caranx, our White Trevally (C. georginnus) has 

 constantly fifteen caudal vertebrse, and SerioJa lalandii sometimes has 

 eleven abdominal. Until, therefore, the vertebral column of the numerous 

 little known species of Carmix,vi\\\c\\ less of Carangidcs, has been thoroughly 

 investigated, it would be well not to place too much reliance on this as a 

 diagnostic character of the family. 



In many of the Carangid genera the head in the young is armed with 

 spines, as in Naucrates, but the.se are absorbed before they attain to 

 maturity. 



Of the true Carangidcc many recent genera, such as Caranx, Argyriosus, 

 Licliia, and Tr achy not us, are present in various Tertiary formations, while of 

 the more aberrant forms Flatax occurs as far back as the Cretaceous, and 

 reappears in the Tertiary in company with Zanclus and JEqiiula. 



