FISH ON THE REEF 31 



a 



which would be monotonous to the ordinary reader, no 

 good idea of the animals could be given without the 

 assistance of coloured plates. 



The fishes on and about the reef are very numerous. 

 Some are migratory, others are found at all seasons of 

 the year, and many use the protection of the weed and 

 coral forests during the breeding time. The fact that 

 sharks attach their curious four-cornered, packet-like eggs 

 to the coral branches has been already noticed ; and it 

 may now be added that the reef seems to be a favourite 

 breeding-ground of all the sharks known on the Australian 

 coasts, including the blue shark [Carcharias glaucus), the 

 Port Jackson shark {Cestracion philippi), the common white 

 shark, and two species of the Crossorbinus genus. 



Albicores and bonitoes are very common on all parts 

 of the reef, and perhaps the commonest of all the fishes 

 frequenting this part of the east coast of the continent is 

 the barracuda, which, growing to a length of about fifty 

 inches, may be seen in shoals which rival those of the 

 herring or mackerel for numbers and denseness. 



Amongst the most curious fishes is one known to the 

 local fishermen as the rasper. This is the common knife- 

 jaw {Hoplognathus conwayi), a fish which seldom exceeds 

 a foot in length, and is in shape somewhat tench-like. The 

 jaws resemble a short beak, are very distinctly marked, 

 and are knife-edged, with but a few sharp teeth. The fish 

 has acquired its local name from its habit of rasping the 

 coral, on the polyp of which it feeds. It also eats young 

 shell-fish, and is particularly destructive to the young of 

 the pearl oyster ; yet the fish is not known about Torres 

 Strait — or at least not well known. It seems to be most 

 plentiful between latitudes i6° and 20 S., and is found in 

 shoals of varying sizes. Sometimes about twenty fish 

 were seen together, and occasionally as many as six 

 hundred ; but the fish do not keep very close together, 

 and it is difficult to guess the exact number at a given 

 spot. I have caught a few with hook and line, using a 

 very small mussel with broken shell as a bait, but as a rule 

 they are only captured in nets, They are excellent food, 



