EDIBLE FISHES OP NEW SOUTH WALES. Ill 



Though but seldom appearing in our market the Red Grurnard is probably 

 not uncommoa on the coast of the Colony, but being an inhabitant of water 

 of considerable depth, and with a sandy or shingly bottom, we have at present 

 no appliances for capturing it, and it is only when a stray individual is taken 

 bv men engaged in fishing for Snapper that we ever see a specimen. It 

 is found along the coast of Queensland from north to south, and is the fish 

 mentioned by Saville Kent as Trigla poh/ommata, but not the species figured 

 by him under that name, which is possibly Trigla huergeri. Tenison Woods 

 has also confounded these two unmistakable fishes, so that the names on Plates 

 xxvi and xxvii must be reversed. It occurs on the shores of Victoria and. 

 Tasmania, but is not common. Although we have no record of its occurrence 

 in the seas of South and West Australia, its extensive range, through 

 Malaysia to the Chinese and Japanese seas, leads us to infer its existence 

 in those waters, and its gradual increase in numbers in a northerly direction 

 Kner has recorded it from the Cape of Grood Hope. 



Our Red Grurnard is found also in New Zealand waters, where it is known 

 to the Maoris by the name of Kumukumu, and is much more abundant than 

 is the case in the other Colonies. Sherrin remarks : — " The Red Grurnard 

 or Kumukumu is very abundant during the summer months in the harbors 

 of the iSTorth, and full nets are sometimes drawn in Wellington with no 

 other fish in them. The full grown fish weighs about four pounds, and all 

 sizes are used as food, the smaller ones, however, being preferred. The 

 flesh is firm and white but rather dry. The grunting noise which this 

 beautifully colored fish makes when caught, is a great source of amusement 

 to amateur fishermen. It is rarely seen in the Dunedin market. Though 

 found all around the North Island, they are not so plentiful in many places- 

 as at Wellington. They can be caught with hook and line if fished for, and 

 are found in some fifteen fathoms of water." Further, he says that " in 

 flavor it is similar to Snapper when fresh in tins, and will put up well in 

 small casks." The grunting noise above refered to is caused, says Giinther, 

 " by the escape of gaa from the airbladder through the open pneumatic 

 duct." 



This species grows to a length of twenty inches. 



TEIGLA POLTOMMATA. 



Trigla polyommata, Richards. Proe. Zool. See. 1839, p. 96, and Trans. Zool. 



Soc. iii. p. 87, pi. V. f. 2; Grnth. Catal. Pish. ii. p. 20i ; Casteln. Proc. 



Zool. Soc. Vict. 1872, i. p. 88 ; Macleay, Catal. Austr. Pish. i. p. 226 {fin 



forimda incorrect') ; AVoods, Fisher. N. S. Wales, pi. xxvi. ; Johnston, 



Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas. 1882, pp. 80, 115. 

 Soplonofus 'polgommatus, Gruichen. Ann. Soc. Linn. Maine-et-Loire, ix. 



Ichthyol. 

 ? Triqla amoeiia, Proc. Zool. Soc. Vict. ii. p. 131 ; Macleay, Catal. Aust. 



Pish. ii. p. 226. 



Sharp-beaked Gurnard. 

 B. vii. D. 8/12. A 12, V. 1/5 P. 12 + 3. C. 13. Coec. pyl. 8. Vert. 13/14. 



Length of head* 3-33-3-60, of caudal fin 5-20-5-33, height of body 450- 

 4'75 in the total length : breadth of head 1 90-2 '33 in its length. Eye very 

 large, rising far above the dorsal profile, its diameter 3'00-3'66 in the length 

 of the head, and 1'33-1"50 in that of the snout, which is short, abruptly 

 descending, and concave: interorbital space deeply concave, 1 '00-1 20 in the 



* Measured from the tip of the preorbital to that of the occipital spine. 



