n 4 FISHES OF AUSTRALIA. 



shoals of them move about together, and prey on the shoals 

 of Salmon and some other fishes. On the New South Wales 

 coast one of the principal foods of this species (when it JS 

 in its favourite haunts) is Sand Whiting, but nothing of 

 an animal nature comes amiss to this hungry fellow, and I 

 have taken quite a number of other species of fishes from 

 Jewfish stomachs as well as Crustaceans Prawns and Man- 

 tis-Shrimps (Squilla). At times numbers of Jewfishes may 

 be observed lying basking in the sunlight on the sands un- 

 derneath the railway bridge at Como, George's River, 

 N.S.W. ; this forming a most interesting sight. In addition 

 to being found on our eastern coast, this fish also occurs on 

 the coasts of South and Western Australia. In regard to its 

 relative abundance in Western Australia, nothing very much 

 is known, but it is quite common in the mouth of the River 

 Murray, in South Australia, where it is captured partly by 

 means of floating meshing or gill-nets (chiefly at night- 

 time). The variety of common names under which this 

 species is known in the various States forms a great object- 

 lesson of the necessity for using the technical names in any 

 written account of our fishes and their habits, otherwise they 

 can only be misleading, and full of confusion; as what 

 applies in the case of the Jewfish is found to apply with 

 equal force to many of our other fishes. Some species are 

 even known under different common names in localities not 

 more than 20 or 30 miles apart, while different species are 

 often only recognised under the one common title. The 

 Jewfish is often known in Queensland as "Dewfish" ; in Vic- 

 toria it is known as the "Kingfish," while at the mouth of 

 the Murray the fishermen call it "Mulloway," or "Butter- 

 fish." In Western Australia, again, it is called by the Vic- 

 torian name of Kingfish. Wherever caught, and under what- 

 ever name, this handsome species is rightly regarded as a 

 most valuable food-fish, and certainly it is a very profitable 

 one, being what is termed "so meaty." In the principal cities 

 of the Commonwealth it is one of the greatest resources of the 

 restaurant-keepers, as it is excellent either served up as 

 "Silver Jew," or perhaps what is more common as "Snap- 

 per." I am afraid the Jewfish has had to pay for a great 

 deal of the Snapper's reputation in this direction. The term 

 "Silver Jew" is properly restricted to young examples of 



