EDIBLE riSHES OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 105 



Genus I.— PLATYCEPHALUS. 



TUtycepTialus, Bl. Scliu. p. 5S, 1801 ; Cuv. & Yal. Hist. Nat. Poiss, iv. 



p. 226. 

 Neojplatyceplialus, Casteln. Proc. Zool. Soc. Yict. 1872, i. p. 87. 



Brauchiostegals seven : pseudobranchia? present. Head bi'oad, much 

 depressed, more or less armed. Body depressed anteriorly, subcylindrical 

 posteriorly. Cleft of mouth wide : lower jaw the longer. Eyes lateral or 

 directed upwards. Jaws, vomer, and palatine bones with bands of villiform 

 teeth, the former sometimes intermixed with larger ones. Two dorsal fins, 

 the first with the anterior spine small and isolated : a similar spine some- 

 times present between the fins : anal similar to the rayed doi sal: veutrals 

 thoracic, remote from the root of the pectorals : no pectoral appendages. 

 Scales small or of moderate size, ctenid. Lateral line complete : in some 

 species armed with spines. Airbladder absent. Pyloric appendages in 

 moderate numbers. 



Geographical distrihution. — From the seas of Australia and Polynesia, 

 through those of Malaysia, northwards to Jaj)an, and westwards through 

 those of India to the east coast of Africa. 



. Day remarks : — ^" These fishes are termed ' Crocodile-fishes ' in iVIalabar, 

 and wounds from their spines are dreaded, because of the violent irritation 

 they occasion." He also notices the peculiarity of the eyes, " in that the 

 iris possesses two semicircular flaps, one above and the other below, the upper 

 being usually the larger; they can be brought close, one to the other, probably 

 due to the stimulus of light." Gilnther, refering to the genus, says : — 

 " This genus represents in the tropical Indian Ocean the Gottl of the Arctic 

 and the Notothenice of the Antarctic zone. Like these, they live on the 

 bottom in shallow water, hidden in the sand, the colors of which are assimi- 

 lated to those of their body. Therefore, they are very scarce near coral 

 islands which are surrounded by great depths ; whilst the numbers of species 

 is considerable on many points of the shelving Australian coasts. Their long 

 and strong venti'al fins are of great use to them in locomotion." 



PLATYCEPHALUS EUSCUS. 



Flalyceplialus fusciis, Cuv. & Yal. Hist. Nat. Poiss. iv. p. 241 ; Quoy & Grain. 



Yoy. Astrolabe, Poiss. pi. x. f. 1 ; Casteln. Proc. Zool. Soc. Yict., 1872, 



i. p. 86, and Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, iii. p. 379 ; Sauv. N. Arch. 



Mus. (2) i. p. 150; Macleay, Catal. Austr. Fish. i. p. 217: Woods, 



Fisher. N. S. AYales, p. 67, pi. xxv. 

 .'' Flaiyceplialus cinereus, Gnth. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1871, p. 661 ; Macleay, 



Catal. Austr. Fish. i. p. 219. 



Common Flathead. 



Plate XXYIII. 



B. vii. D. 2-7. 1/13. A. 13. Y. 1/5. P. 19-20. C. 14. L. lat. ca. 100. Ca3c. 



pyl. 11. Yert. 11/16. 



Length of head 3-50-3 75, of caudal fin 6-66-7-00, height of body 

 8"50-9'00 in the total length : breadth of head at the base of the preopercular 

 spines 1-80-2-00 in its length. Diameter of eye 6-66-7-33 in the length o£ 

 the head, and 1 '80-2 '00 in that of the snout, which is broad and depressed, 

 rounded in front, its length one fourth of that of the head : interorbital 



