1887.] A NEW GENUS OF PERCID^. 617 



has received from different sources two perfect specimens agreeing 

 in every respect with Castelnau's description, both of them having 

 been caught in the Gulf of St. Vincent. These two examples, from 

 which the description is taken, measure respectively 4 J and 51 inches, 

 and the type specimen is about the same length, which seems to be 

 the full size to which it grows. It is worthy of mention that Count 

 Castelnau's original type, a dried half skin, was presented by him to 

 this Museum, where it is still preserved. Appended is a full de- 

 scription of the species. 



Chthamalopteryx melbotjrnensis. 



Gerres melbouniensis, Casteln. Proc. Zool. Soc. Vict. i. 1872, 

 p. 158 ; Macleay, Descr, Catal. Austr, Fish. i. p. 80. 



B. vi. D. 9/17. A. 3/17. V. 1/5. P. 14-15. C. 17. 

 L. 1. 37. L. tr. 4/10? 



Length of head 4 to 4|, of caudal fin 4|- to 4|^, height of body 

 2f in the total length. Eye : diameter -f of the length of the head, 

 I of a diameter from the end of the snout, and |^ of a diameter 

 apart. The groove for the process of the intermaxillary bones is 

 ovate and short, extending but little beyond the anterior margin of 

 the orbit. The interorbital space is slightly convex ; the upper 

 profi.le of the head is concave, the snout, however, being obliquely 

 flat, while there is a slight protuberance above the middle of the 

 eye. The maxilla reaches to the vertical from the anterior margin 

 of the orbit ; its posterior edge is concave. Preorbitals with a bony 

 point directed forwards. Teeth : a broad band of minute curved 

 teeth in the jaws, the outer row somewhat enlarged. Fins : Dorsal 

 fin scarcely notched ; the length of the base of the spinous portion 

 is three fourths of that of the soft, and the space between the dorsal 

 and caudal is one third of that between the dorsal and snout, its 

 origin is above the last quarter of the opercle, and its termination a 

 little in front of that of the anal fin. The spines are of moderate 

 strength and gradually increase in height to the last two or three, 

 which are equal, and about half the length of the head ; the rays 

 are subequal in height to the posterior spines. The anal fin com- 

 mences beneath the anterior dorsal ray, and the length of its base is 

 one fourth more than the length of the head ; the spines are much 

 stronger than those of the dorsal, the third the longest, rather more 

 than a third of the length of the head. The origin of the ventral is 

 beneath the posterior angle of the base of the pectoral ; it does not 

 quite extend to the vent, and is four sevenths of the length of the 

 head, while its spine is five sixths of the length of the adjacent ray. 

 The pectoral fin is elongate, the fourth and fifth rays being the 

 longest, extending to the vertical from the third anal spine, and 

 slightly shorter than the head. Caudal forked. Scales : interorbital 

 space, snout, and preorbital absolutely scaleless, punctured by nu- 

 merous small round pores ; posterior nostril twice the size of anterior, 

 placed very close to the eye. Scales of the cheek rather smaller 

 than those of the body, extending on to the mandible. Colours : 



