124 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



most prized of all the herring tribe for the excellence of its 

 flavour. Day * mentions that it has been acclimatized, in the 

 Condapur tank in S. Kanara, Western India, and lives in slightly 

 brackish water, where it grows to 20 lbs. or 30 lbs. weight. It is 

 known among the Europeans in Western India as the " Milk- 

 fish " or " White Mullet." 



Family BERYCIDJE. 



Paratrachichthys trailli, Hutton. 



Hutton, A. M. N. H. (4), xvi., p. 315, 1875. 



Giinther, Chall. Rep., Zool., xxii., p. 23, pi. Iv., f. A, 1887. 



Waite, Mem. Aust. Mus., iv., p. 64, 1899. 



D. 5.12, A. 3.10, V. 1.6, P. 1. 12, C. i8f, L. lat. 56. 



Colour. — Dorsal area, extending from the head to the base of 

 caudal, pale brown, sharply defined from the sides about midway 

 between the dorsal edge and lateral line. Sides bright silvery, 

 with golden and bluish reflections ; a large brown patch between 

 pectoral and ventral fins, and a narrow orange patch along the 

 opening of the operculum. Lateral line pale brown. Opercles 

 dark brown, with bright silvery patches, particularly under and 

 behind the eye. All the fins yellow, with orange bases. The 

 bases of caudal lobes dark brown. Iris bright silvery, with golden 

 edge above and below. 



This specimen was recently obtained by Mr. A. Jenkins, who 

 picked it out from a basket of fish sent to the Melbourne market 

 from the Gippsland Lakes, and kindly forwarded it to the 

 Museum. The family to which it belongs live mostly at great 

 depths. So far as I have been able to ascertain, only five speci- 

 mens of this species have been previously recorded. Of these, 

 the type, described by Hutton in 1875, was obtained near Stewart 

 Island, New Zealand ; two others were taken in Otago Harbour, 

 New Zealand, and described by Arthur f in 1885 ; another, 

 described by Johnston j in 1881 as Trachichthys macleayi, but 

 which is no doubt this species, was taken in the estuary of the 

 Derwent River, Tasmania. Mr. Waite obtained a single example, 

 during the Thetis trawling expedition, off Newcastle, New South 

 Wales, in from 42 to 48 fathoms, and regarding which he re- 

 marks : — " When brought to the surface the membranes about the 

 eyes were inflated, and the stomach had been forced into the 

 mouth, a condition common to fishes taken from considerable 

 depths." 



Prior to 1899 it was included in the genus Trachichthys. In 

 that year Waite created a new genus, Paratrachichthys, for its 

 reception, characterized by the unusual position of the vent, which 



*Day, ?'auna Brit. Ind., Fish, i., p. 403, 1889 



t Arthur, T. N.Z. I., xvii., p. 162, 1885, pi. xiv., f. 2. 



J Johnston, P. R. S. Tas., p. 56, 1881. 



