CHECK LIST OF THE FISH AND FISH-LIKE ANIMALS OF 

 NEW SOUTH WALES. 



By Allan R. MeCullocL, Zoologist, Australian Museum. 



(By permission of the Trustees of the Australian Museum.) 



Part i. 



Though there are already several lists of the "Fishes" of New South Wales, 

 they do not enable one to identify the numerous species unless one has access to a 

 well stocked library. The purpose of the present list is to overcome this difficulty, 

 and it is hoped that the accompanying keys and illustrations will indicate the 

 identity of any recorded from the waters of this State. 



Five hundred and eighty-eight species are at present listed from both the 

 marine and fresh waters of New South Wales, though a number of them are very 

 rare here, and their inclusion is, in some cases, based upon the capture of only 

 one or two specimens. A few others will probably prove to be synonymous with 

 one another, but there are doubtless additional species now known only from 

 Queensland or Victoria, whose range will be later found to extend into New 

 South Wales. As at present known, there are about 1900 Sharks, Rays, and 

 Fishes recorded from Australian waters, so that the fish fauna of this State would 

 appear to include approximately a third of the total. 



The marine fish fauna of New South Wales is made up of two distinct ele- 

 ments, one consisting of tropical fishes which have extended their range southward 

 from Queensland, and the other of southern species ranging northward. The 

 northern forms occasionally straggle southward of Port Jackson, entering the 

 cooler latitudes by way of a warm current which sweeps down from Queensland 

 during a certain portion of the year. The general temperature of our waters, 

 however, appears to be more favourable to the southern species, which constitute 

 the greater portion of our fish fauna. 



Illustrations. — The illustrations are in almost every case miniature reproduc- 

 tions of the figures quoted ; with few exceptions a typical species of each genus is 

 figured, and when a genus includes several and varied species, two or more figures 

 are supplied. A reader wishing to identify any specimen may therefore turn 

 over the plates until something resembling it is found ; he can then refer to the 

 number in the text corresponding to that of the illustration, which will direct him 

 to simple keys indicating the specific characters of the allied species. 



Acknowledgments. — For the preparation of the excellent photographs which 

 compose the plates I am greatly indebted to Mr. T. C. Roughley, who lias 



