64 FISHES OF AUSTRALIA. 



CHAPTER IV. 



Long-Toms, Garfishes and Flying-Fishes- The Hardyhead Family- 

 The Mullet Family Threadfins or Tassel-fishes The Pike Family. 



LONG-TOMS, GARFISHES AND FLYING-FISHES. 



( Family : Scorn bresocidte . ) 



MOST of this family of fishes (of which, according to Boul- 

 enger, about 200 species are known) are marine. Most of 

 them are carnivorous, while some are wholly or partially 

 herbivorous, feeding on certain seaweeds ; such as, for in- 

 stance, the long "sea-grass" which grows on mud-and-sand 

 flats. 



Members of this family are found in all tropical and 

 temperate seas, while some occur in a fossil state both in 

 Australia and elsewhere. Among the more important Aus- 

 tralian Scombresocids, may be mentioned the Slender 

 Long-Tom ( Tylosurus ferox) , the Stout Long-Tom (Tylo- 

 surus mad e ay ana) , the Sea Garfish (Hemirhamphus 

 intermedius) , the River Garfish (Hemirhamphus regu- 

 laris), the Barred Garfish (Hemirhamphus far) and the 

 Short-beaked Garfish (Arrhamphus sclerolepis) . Though 

 not an important species I might enumerate also the "Saury" 

 or Skipper Garfish (Scombresox forsteri) and the Flying- 

 Fish (Cypsilurus melanocercus). 



The Slender Long-Tom is, at present, only known 

 from the coasts of New South Wales and Western 

 Australia. It is a very long, slender fish (as its name 

 implies), attaining a length of 2 to 3 feet with a thick- 

 ness, little greater than an ordinary, large Sea-Garfish. It 

 has long narrow jaws closely set with fine, needle-like teeth. 

 It is a very voracious fish, travelling through the water 

 with an undulatory motion and at a swift rate. 



The colours are as follows : Dorsal surface, light green, 

 with three parallel dark lines running along the middle of 



