2l8 NEW SOUTH WALES. 



consumption^ and tlius cliock tlie annual outflow of money now ex- 

 pended in tlie importation of tliese luxuries, even if we fail to reverse 

 tlie process by becoming in our turn exporters. 



The only other species which bears any external resemblance to and 

 is, therefore, likely to be mistaken for the Pilchard is the Maray, 

 Etrumens jachsoniensis, and it may be easily distinguished by the 

 character of the ventral profile which is rounded, broad, and smooth to 

 the finger, whereas in the genus Cliqjen the same part is compressed, 

 sharp, and carinated. The Maray is said to pass northwards about the 

 same season of the year as the Pilchard, and in the same prodigious 

 shoals, and if this be the case it would, of course, be liable to capture 

 and utilisation for the same purposes as that fish. In habits also it 

 appears to be very similar, both species being exceedingly unwilling 

 to approach the shore too closely, indeed so marked is this aversion 

 in the Maray that the writer only knows of three examples in the two 

 Sydney Museums. On their approach to the Queensland coast the 

 shoals deflect in the direction of the open sea, and to insure the success 

 of any fishery carried on beyond our borders, the fishing craft would 

 have to be prepared to venture further afield, and to bo provided with 

 ice or salting chambers for the necessary preservation of the take; 

 this deflection is doubtless due to the influence of warm currents 

 setting in a southerly direction from inside the Great Barrier Reef. 



Several other species of edible clupeiform fishes are found more or 

 less numerously in our waters, among which may be mentioned the 

 Big-eyed Herrings, Elops saurus and Megolopft cyprin aides [Elopidx) , 

 both of which attain a length of three feet, and the Salmon Herring 

 or Sabalo, Chanos sabnoneus [Chanidfe), which grows to at least afoot 

 more ; the two latter species, probably also the former, thrive well when 

 kept in fresh- or brackish-water ponds or tanks. The Bony Bream, 

 Dorosoma richardsoni {Dorosomatidcv) of our western rivers is said to 

 be of good flavor, but so phenomenally full of bones that the flesh is 

 not worth the trouble of separating from the framework, though it 

 is said that by soaking them in vinegar prior to cooking this difficulty 

 may be removed. 



Iniomi. — Only one species, the Sergeant Baker, Aulupiis purpuris- 

 satus, is worthy of inclusion among our food fishes, and as it is only 

 taken by hook and line, and is of superior quality for the table, the 

 demand is always in excess of the supply. The Cucumber-fish, 

 Cldorojjhthalmns nigripinnis, is abundant at moderate depths outside, 

 and might be taken plentifully by the trawl net, but is not of sufiicient 

 size to command a market, though they would probably be delicious 

 if preserved like sardines. One or tAvo species of Lizard-fishes {Sgnodus) 

 are occasionally to be found in the market, but they cannot be con- 

 sidered further than in the light of stragglers. 



Teleocephali. — In the suborder Synentognatlti we find some of our 

 most valuable food fishes. Among the Halfbeaks {Hemirhamphidse) 

 six species have been recorded from our waters, but two only can 

 at present be considered with propriety as possessing an economic 

 value; these are the Sea Gai'fish, licmirhainplins intermedins, and the 

 River Garfish, H. regnlaris, the latter of which, though the smaller, 

 is generally considered the more delicious of the two. Both species 



