176 EDIBLE FISHES OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



It is a much stouter and more fleshy fish than either of its congeners, and 

 is quite as delicious for the table as JI. intcnnedius. The contents of the 

 stomach were similar to that of the others. 



This species was first described by Giinther from examples supposed to 

 have come from New Zealand, but it is doubtful if that locality is correct. 

 On our coast odd examples are occasionally taken n\ Port Jackson and 

 Eotanv "Bay in company with the Sea Garfish, but they are not found in any 

 numbers south of the llichmond and Clarence llivers district. In Moretou 

 Bay, Savillc Kent says " that it is taken, but that it is more plentiful further 

 north." The collectors to the Challenger Expedition obtained this species 

 in fi-esh water in the Mary Kiver. 



The Short-beaked Garfish attains a length of fourteen and a half inches. 



Family IV.-GALAXIIDiE. 



Branchiostegals in varying numbers : pseudobranchia> absent. Margin of 

 the up])er jaw formed chiefly by the premaxillaries, which are short and con- 

 tinued by a thick lip, behind which are the maxillaries. Barbels absent. 

 Belly rounded. No adipose fin : dorsal fin opposite to the anal, in the 

 caudal section of the vertebral column. Body naked. Airbladder large and 

 simple. Pyloric appendages in small numbers. The ova fall into the cavity 

 of the abdomen before extrusion. 



Geographical, distnhation. — Freshwater fishes of small size, belonging to 

 the southern hemisphere. 



s 



Genus.— GALAXIAS. 



Galaxias, Cuvier, ilegne. Auim. 



Mesites, Jenyns, Voy. Beagle, Fish. p. 118, 1842. 



A series of conical teeth in the jaws, ou the palatine bones, and along 

 each side of the tongue : teeth on the tongue hook-like. 



Geographical distribution.— '^OMihevn half of Australia, Tasmania, New 

 Zealand, southern portion of south America, and the Falkland Islands. 



GALAXIAS COXI. 



Galaxias coxii, Macleay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, v. p. 45, 1880. 



Cox's Mountain Trout- 

 B. vi. D. 11. A. 13. Y. 7. P. 18. C. 16. Yert. 35/24. 



Length of head 5-2o-5-33, of caudal fin G-33-6-75, height of body 

 5-40-G-33 in the total length : greatest breadth of body 1-50 in its height. 

 Eye small, its diameter 500-5-50 in the length of the head, 1-60-1-75 in 

 that of the obtusely rounded and depressed snout, and 1-80-2-00 in the 

 interorbital space, which is flat. Low^er jaw a little shorter than the upper : 

 cleft of mouth deep and oblique, the maxilla reaching to the vertical from 

 the middle of the eye, or rather beyond. Body stout. The dorsal fin is 

 rather pointed, its height being l-i33-l-50 in the length of the head, and 

 slightly less than the distance between its origin and that of the anal _: the 

 latler fin commences beneath the middle of the dorsal, and is a little higher 

 and has a more rounded margin than that fin, and when laid back reaches 

 to or beyond the origin of the caudal : the base of the ventral fin is rather 

 nearer to the origin of the middle caudal rays, than to the tip of the snout, 

 and its length is 1-75 in the distance between its base and the vent, and 1-40- 

 1-50 in the°length of the head : the length of the pectoral is equal to or a 



