THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 113 



present they are taken by seine and set nets at Geelong, Western 

 Port, and Port Albert, but practical fishermen suppose there 

 exist in the neighbourhood of our coasts great banks infested 

 with iiounders and other excellent flat fish, which it is hoped 

 trawling operations may discover. 



Trevalla or trevalley (Caranx georgianus ) fetch ids. per half- 

 dozen. They are a very choice and delicious fish, and about the 

 dearest in the market. They aftbrd good sport for a line fisher, 

 and are taken by that method on the trevalla grounds off the 

 Heads. Numbers are secured in winter also by the aid of set 

 nets at Portland. 



That energetic officer of the civic council, the fishmarket 

 inspector, emerges from the crowd with a seized basket of sand 

 mullet. He had espied one or two under the legal weight (6 ozs. 

 for sand mullet, I think), and, according to law, confiscates the 

 contents of the whole basket. I ask the inspector what becomes 

 of seized fish. "Give them to the charities," he replied. Re- 

 membering that charity commences at home, I secure half a dozen 

 excellent samples for breakfast. 



Some fine bream ( Chrysophrys australis) from ^the Gippsland 

 lakes are sold at 13s. per basket. How their silver sides gleam in 

 the soft packing of Melaleuca foliage ! Bream form a very regu- 

 lar supply, and are a moderately good food fish. They frequent 

 brackish water and sea estuaries, and go down to the ocean in 

 winter season. 



There are Gippsland perch (Lates colonoru/n), artistically and 

 comfortably laid out in bracken ferns, looking as fresh as if just 

 taken from the seine or set net. They average 14s. The sand 

 mullet, or poddy ( Mu^il grandis), from the lakes, when full-grown 

 attains about 7 lbs. weight, and is said to be unsurpassed by any 

 other Australian fish in richness of flavour. It is a most beautiful 

 and shapely fish, with large scales encasing its brilliant silvery 

 sides, which distinguishes it from the common mullet with smaller 

 scales, and technically termed Agonostoma diemensis. The lakes 

 also supply the market with ludrick (native name), but scientifically 

 known as Girella simplex. It is an oval, sombre-looking creature, 

 and deemed by epicures to be one of our best eating fish. It 

 abounds in the lakes and is herbivorous. 



Pike (Sphyrmia novce hollaiidm) and whiting (Slllago 

 punctata) bring rare prices — i8s. and upwards to 30s. per 

 basket. The whiting is preferred for its deliciously-flavoured 

 flesh. Both are taken at Port Albert and Western Port by seine 

 and set nets, and are in better condition in summer, when they 

 return from the sea in great numbers. They are fond of rocky 

 bottoms as well as grassy patches, where the young take refuge. 



Amongst some of the mixed baskets are the dark-coloured 

 butterfish ( Chilodactylus ) and the vermilion-tinted red mullet 



