A Complete List of ao 
seine Edible Fishes OL brief rernarks 
upon 
New South Wales. each Species. 
eS 
In the following pages an attempt has been made to bring 
before the reader a “ bird’s-eye view”’ of the whole of the 
known edible fishes inhabiting the waters of New South 
Wales—both fluviatile and marine. But before proceeding, 
perhaps it is necessary for me to explain the exact meaning 
of the term “edible,” as used by me. By that, I mean 
all of those fishes which—while not being of a noxious or 
unpleasant character (such as Toad-Fishes, Porcupine- Fishes, 
&c.)—attain a marketable size, or else occur in sufficient 
abundance to render them of use as adjuncts to our food 
supply. Strictly speaking, of course, using the term in its 
widest application, it would necessarily include a host of 
small fry, like the Gobies, Blennies, &c.; but with one or 
two exceptions, such as these are not here taken into account. 
The order followed in treating of these fishes is that used 
by me in my “ Fishes of Australia,” (1906); and that is the 
true systematic order, which is as near as possible the natural 
one. Alphabetical order, which is so convenient in many 
respects, has here some very grave drawbacks; the principal 
of which is that fishes having no relation with one another, 
and which may be very different in habits, &c., are grouped 
together, through the terminal in the vernacular name 
being the same. (Familiar instances of this are the Red Cod 
and the Murray Cod; the first of which is a kind of Cod, 
while the second is a true Perch.) The binomial nature of 
our vernacular nomenclature also militates to some extent 
against an alphabetical arrangement. 
B 
