AUSTRALIAN FISHES 



119 



crimson, its belly silver ; its long dorsal fin is 

 armed with formidable spines, as are also its anal 

 and ventral fins, while the old males have an 

 extraordinary bump on the top of their heads, 

 which gives them a truculent appearance. In 

 weight they run up to 12 Ibs. and even to 25 Ibs. 



At one time schnapper-fishers had not far to go 

 from town to pursue their favourite sport. Thirty- 

 three miles south of Melbourne is the township 

 of Mornington, a pleasant watering-place on the 

 eastern side of Port Phillip Bay, generally known 

 as Schnapper Point, showing that its vicinity was 

 considered a good pitch for that fish. Now anglers 

 have to go farther down the bay, as far as the bend 

 behind Point Nepean at the harbour entrance, or 

 outside the Heads, and fish in the Pacific Ocean. 



At Port Jackson schnapper used to be caught 

 just within the Heads, but now they have to be 

 sought for fifty miles up or down the coast. 

 Probably their food has failed, or the incessant 

 steamer traffic in the harbours has disturbed the 

 schools and driven them to less busy quarters. 



In South Australia, round about Kangaroo 

 Island, that shelters the Gulf of St. Vincent from 

 the ocean, the schnapper is captured for Adelaide. 

 The mode of fishing for it is the same in each of 

 the three Dominions. 



