i86 FISHES OF AUSTRALIA. 



on the Murrumbidgee River, N.S.W. The fishes included 

 one Macquarie's Perch about I foot long, two or three 

 Carp, and two examples of Purple-striped Gudgeon, a little 

 over 3 inches long. They were all wrapped up in several 

 thicknesses of newspaper, into which they had been placed 

 early in the previous afternoon at Wagga Wagga. They 

 had then been brought down in the train a journey of 314 

 miles ; no special care being taken of them that is, no more 

 care than a parcel of dead fish would merit. I opened the 

 parcel about 12 o'clock the next day (nearly 24 hours after) 

 and as the fins and skins were rather dry, threw all of the 

 fishes into a basin of water to "soak them out" prior to 

 preserving them in formalin. About 10 minutes after- 

 wards, upon going to examine them, my astonishment can 

 be better imagined than described, when I found the two 

 Gudgeons swimming round and round, one of them quite 

 serenely and the other just a little "lamely," as though it 

 had been bruised a little on one side. I kept the first one 

 alive in a jar of water for some time after and he remained 

 perfectly healthy. 



The Carp-Gudgeon : This interesting and beautiful 

 Carp-like Goby is commonly found in creeks and ponds in 

 coastal parts of New South Wales and Southern Queens- 

 land. In the upper parts of Cook's River, and in other 

 creeks around Sydney, it is quite common, though not so 

 abundant as the Striped Gudgeon. It varies in colour from 

 a very pale gold to a rich red coppery-gold ; the male being 

 very brilliant at the spawning time. 



This species is an excellent aquarium fish, and usually 

 swims in mid-water; while the other Gudgeons, which also 

 make fine aquarium pets, are ordinarily bottom-swimmers. 



The Carp-Gudgeon grows to a length of about 4 inches. 



The Mud-Skipper : Many of my readers will, no 

 doubt, have heard of, while some will have often seen, those 

 curious little fishes which hop and skip about the mud- and 

 mangrove-flats on the coast of Northern Queensland ; often, 

 even climbing the sloping boughs and exposed roots of the 

 mangroves themselves. This is the "Mud-Skipper," known 

 in some parts of Queensland as the "Climbing Fish." Upon 

 examination, two points will at once strike the observer; 



