128 EDIBLE FISHES OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



i 



since, and so far not at all in Tasmania. It is not mentioned, at least under 

 its scientific name by Saville Kent from the coast of Queensland, but there 

 can be little doubt as to its presence along the whole eastern seaboard of 

 Australia. 



The average size at which this species appears in the market is about 

 twelve inches, but examples measuring as much as sixteen occasionally occur. 



Genus II.— MYXUS. 



J\L/.viii>, Giinther, Catal. Fish. iii. p. 466, 1S61. 



Branchiostegals six : pseudobranchia? present. Cleft of mouth extending 

 on to the sides of the snout, but not reaching to the orbit : anterior margin 

 of the mandible sharp. Eyes without adipose lids. A single series of small 

 teeth in the upper jaw : similar teeth sometimes present in the lower jaw, on 

 the vomer, and on the palatine bones. Pyloric appendages in small numbers. 



Oeogra2)hical distribution. — Coasts of Australia and Avestern South. 

 America. 



MYXUS ELONGATUS. 



Myxus elongafus. Guth. Catal. Fish. iii. p. 466 ; Kner. Voy. Novara, Fisch. 

 p. '230 ; Macleay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S. Wales, iv. p. 426. 



Tallegalaae : Sand Mullet. 



Plate XXXIII. 



B. vi. D. 4. 1/8 A. 3/9. V. 1/5. P. 16. C. 14. L. lat. 43-46. L. tr. 15. Ccec. 



pyl. 2. Vert. 11/13. 



Length of head 4-40-4-75, of caudal fin 4-66-4-90, height of body 4*60- 

 4'85 in the total length. Eye moderate, with the adipose lid but little 

 developed, its diameter 4'20-4'60 in the length of the head, r20-l'40 in 

 that of the obtusely rounded snout, and l'40-r60 in the interorbital space, 

 which is very slightly convex. Lips thin. Nostrils approximate, the an- 

 terior circular and set in a low tube, a little nearer to the eye than to the 

 tip of the snout ; the posterior upright and oval, about twice as large 

 as the anterior. Free space behiud the mandible lanceolate, its length 

 equal to the distance between the eye and the tip of the snout. The 

 maxilla extends to between the jiosterior nostril and the orbit. Preorbital 

 denticulated along the posterior half of its lower margin and the hinder 

 mariiin, the denticulations strongest at the angle, not much expanded 

 behind. A single series of small, rarely tricuspid teeth in the upper jaw ; 

 lower fringed with minute ciliae ; a narrow transverse band of small teeth 

 on the head of the vomer, and a similar, but smaller, patch on the palatines. 

 The distance between the origin of the spinous dorsal and the base of the 

 caudal is equal to that between the same point and the anterior margin of 

 the eye ; spinous dorsal small, the first spine the longest, 2'00-2'33 in the 

 length of the head ; the distance between the origins of the two dorsal fins 

 is a little less than the len^^th of the head ; the rayed dorsal commences 

 opposite to the middle of the anal fin : the anterior anal rays are longer 

 than those of the dorsal, and the posterior ray is produced beyond the 

 median rays, forming a shallow emargination on the outer edge of the fin : 

 the length of the ventral is from 200-233 in the distance between its 

 origin and that of the anal, and from 1"75-1'90 in that of the head : the pec- 

 toral reaches to the tenth body scale, and is 1"50-1"66 in the same length ; 



