THE NATURALIST IN AUSTRALIA. 



The Labriche or Wrasse and Parrot-fish tribe embraces a multitude of forms, 

 mostly of phenomenally brilliant colouration, but also including many species that are 

 esteemed for the table. Among these, Platychcerops Gouldii, the so-called Blue 

 Groper, of the Sydney fishermen, is one -of the largest and most important repre- 

 sentatives, growing to a length of three or four feet and a weight of over forty 

 pounds. In its adult state it is of a uniform dark purplish-blue hue, but is variegated 

 in its earlier phases of development with orange bands and spots. This species is 

 met with round the entire southern coast-line to King George's Sound, in Western 

 Australia, and is also reported from Tasmania. The head and shoulders of the Blue 

 Groper boiled, with egg sauce, has been pronounced by Australian epicures to surpass 

 the Cod and to closely approach the English Turbot in its delicacy of flavour. 

 The so-called Pig-fish, Cossyphus unimacMlatus, of a brilliant scarlet-vermilion hue, with 

 a single large blue-black spot near the centre of the spinous dorsal fin, is also highly 

 esteemed in the Sydney market. The Blue-head, Labricthys ceruleus, of Tasmania, 

 and several species of Odax, known locally as "Strangers," Ground Mullets, or Rock 

 Whitings, indigenous to all of the southern or temperate Australian Colonies, repre- 

 sent the leading remaining forms of the family group of the Labridee that occupy 

 a recognised position in the Australian markets. A cast of a fine example of 

 the Tasmanian Blue-head, executed by the writer, occupies a position to the extreme 

 left in the series of three fishes that constitutes the fifth row from the top in 

 Plate XXVIII. 



Apart from the foregoing there are numberless other Labridse, chiefly inhabitants 

 of the tropical coral reefs, that are much appreciated as a source of food supply by 

 those engaged more especially in the B6che-de-Mer and Mother-of-Pearl shell fisheries. 

 They embrace fish of the most brilliant hues, commonly known as " Parrot-fishes," 

 while some of the more sober-tinted types, belonging to the genus Chserops, are locally 

 known as " Gropers." One of the commonest of these, C. cyanodon, is of a uniform 

 greenish grey hue, having its dorsal, anal, ventral, and caudal fins edged with a fine 

 line of turquoise blue, and also prominent canine teeth of the same tint. Coloured 

 illustrations of some of the more phenomenally brilliant-hued of these Australian 

 Parrot-fishes are depicted in Chromo-Plate XV. of the author's recently published work 

 on "The Great Barrier Reef." 



Among the few remaining fish groups that demand brief attention with reference 

 to the phenomenal as well as economical character of their component members, that 

 of the Herring tribe, or Clupeidre, must be included. The presence in Australian 



