EDIBLE PISHES OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 133 



the least height of its pedicle one half o£ the height of the body. Snout, pre- 

 orbital, interorbital space, and preopercle naked : cheek scales small, oval, 

 and non-imbricate ; those of the opercle of moderate size, of the occiput, 

 nape, and throat minute : vertical fins, partially enveloped in a deep, basal, 

 scaly sheath, which in the dorsal includes the three last, in the anal the two 

 last spines, and in both ceases about the eighth ray. Lateral line gently 

 curved to the caudal pedicle, the tubes, especially the posterior ones, pro- 

 fusely branched. 



Colors. — Above purplish-brown, sides and lower surface yellowish-brown, 

 each scale with an orange spot or vertical bar ; a narrow orange band encircles 

 the eye ; sides of snout with three similar bands, one of which crosses the 

 cheek, separated by blue bands : fins purple, the membranes of the anterior 

 rays of the dorsal and anal with orange spots ; all these markings are most 

 conspicuous in the young, but almost totally disappear in adult examples. 



The Blue G-roper is essentially a rock-loving fish, its favorite haunts being 

 rocky points, rising from a moderate depth, and with the bottom shelving 

 somewhat rapidly into deep water; in such spots they may always be 

 found, coming in with the flood tide to search every crevice and channel 

 worn by the waves for the molluscs, crustaceans, echinoderms, and starfishes, 

 which form the bulk of their food, and retiring with the ebb to the deeper 

 waters in the vicinity ; they are unsociable fishes, not more than two being 

 found about the same spot, and that possibly only during the spawning 

 season, and each oue appears to confine itself to its own particular stretch 

 of shore. 



JSTothing positive is known of its breeding habits, but it may be taken for 

 granted that the ova is deposited in crannies among weed-covered rocks, but 

 whether or not a nest is formed for the reception of the eggs — as has been 

 observed on the French coast by Moreau to be the case among members of 

 the typical genus, Lahrus — must be left for further investigation. 



Though an excellent table fish the Blue Groper, notwithstanding that it is of 

 common occurrence on our coast is but rarely to be seen in the market, even 

 though, when obtainable, it commands a high price ; for this apparent scarcity 

 Mr. Hill gives us the following reasons : — " The Groper, though plentiful, is not 

 a common market fish, neither is it much sought after by professional fisher- 

 men for various reasons, among which may be mentioned that it is out of the 

 lay for their general fishing grounds, as it is essentially a dweller among the 

 caves and rocks of the coast, and the rocky points within the harbor, where 

 their operations rarely extend, and also that the Groper may not be, from 

 its coarse appearance, a favorite with the general public." Notwithstanding 

 its appearance, it is not difiicult to persuade anyone, who has once been 

 tempted to make a meal oS" Groper, to do so again ; in fact a Blue Groper's 

 head and shoulders boiled with egg sauce, is equally as good as, and in the 

 estimation of many infinitely better than, the same portions of a Cod 

 {^Gadus morrhud), and, if the fish were more easily obtainable, would 

 worthily hold a similar position on colonial dinner tables. 



Blue Gropers are sometimes taken in the trammel set close along the rocks 

 {see p. 41), but the greater number sent to the market are caught by hook 

 and line, crab, squid, and cuttle being the best baits. Mr. Hill says that 

 these fishes are caught with hook and line along the rocks of our sea coast, 

 but the bait should be crabs ; it is usual to wrench off the legs and shell, and 

 having broken them up throw them out as berley along with comminuted 

 oysters and oyster shells, by which means they are often decoyed from their 

 hiding places ; " the body of the crab is then secured to the hook with a piece 

 of thread or flax and thrown out ; if a Groper should be at home that is the 

 surest way to entice it." 



