EDIBLE FISHES OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 197 



slightly curved backwards, its lengtli two fifths of that of the snout ; it is 

 situated above the posterior margin of the orbit, and is strongly compressed 

 and expanded laterally, the anterior facies being flat and feebly granulose, 

 the posterior rounded and smooth ; each sharp lateral edge armed with a 

 series of small barbs, which point outwards and downwards : soft dorsal and 

 anal fins falcate, the seventh to ninth rays the longest, subequal in length, 

 and 1"40 in the basal length of the anal, which commences beneath the 

 twelfth dorsal ray and terminates a short distance behind that fin : ventral 

 spine small, immovable, and roughened, without distinct teeth : pectoral 

 small, situated beneath the hind margin of the orbit, its length 3'25 in that 

 of the snout: caiidal subtruncate, the pedicle long, shallow, and spineless, 

 its least height 4"50 in the height of the body, and its length between the end 

 of the dorsal and the base of the caudal but little less than the base of the 

 anal. Skin rough and pilose. 



Colors. — Pale yellow or yellowish-brown, uniform or with two to four 

 indistinct lighter longitudinal body bands in the adults, these bands being 

 always present and well marked in small specimens : all the fins bright 

 yellow. 



Like Monacanthushippocrepis, Ayraud's Leatherjacket is principally taken 

 by hook and line on the ocean reefs by the boats engaged in fishing for 

 Snapper. In such places it is unfortunately plentiful, and is a source of 

 great annoyance to the fishermen, as, when hooked, it cuts the line with ease, 

 its strong sharp teeth forming admirable nippers, and if present in any num- 

 bers the loss sustained from this cause is frequently very great, not so much 

 from the actual loss of gear, as from the waste of time necessitated by 

 remounting the lines making the capture of the more valuable fishes almost 

 an impracticability. 



Alluding to this subject, the Eeport of the Royal Commission says : — " It 

 is a most serious annoyance to the fishermen, infesting their favorite fishing- 

 grounds and cutting their 'lines. The plague of these fishes seems to be on 

 the increase, and unless some means can be found of getting rid of the pest, 

 Snapper fishing will have to be conducted with wire lines." We are not by 

 any means sure that the proposed remedy would be as efficacious as the Com- 

 missioners appear to have thought. The same Keport, with a slight touch of 

 humor, refers to the Leatherjackets as being " numerously represented in 

 the Australian seas, but out of the entire number one only can be cited as 

 being in the least degree tisefid, and that one is productive of more harm than 

 (joodr 



It is not, however, on the outer reefs alone that this species occurs, for it 

 is at times plentiful in our bays and estuaries in its young or half grown 

 state, when measuring up to ten inches in length, and is then taken in 

 numbers by the seine, and when so captured is left to rot on the beach, or 

 be washed away by the next tide, being objects of abhorrence to fishermen 

 of all grades. 



This species, in common with many other Leatherjackets — notably M. 

 chinensis — forms the host of one, or more, species of isopodous crustacean 

 (Anilocra ?) which burrows into the side of the abdomen immediately beneath 

 the outer skin. These do not appear to cause any inconvenience to their 

 hosts, specimens of which, when so attacked, are to all appearance equally 

 healthy and in equally good condition as those which are exempt from 

 attack. 



The only localities from which this species can be recorded wath certainty, 

 are the metropolitan district of New South Wales, and King George's Sound, 

 whence Klunziuger received it. 



They attain a length of at least eighteen inches. 



