48 NOTES ON THE IDENTITY OF CERTAIN TASMAIN FISHES. 



Tasmaniaa form. As will be at once recognised, the propor- 

 tions of the two fish essentially differ, for while in the typical 

 Ghilodactylus jibhosus the body is comparatively elongate, its 

 total length being equal to about three and-a-half times that 

 of its greatest depth, in the shorter and thicker Tasmanian 

 species the length is equal to only two-and-a-half times that 

 of the maximum depth. The colours, or rather the arrange- 

 ment of the colours, in the two forms is also very distinct. 

 In both species the ground colour is pearl-grey or nearly 

 white, variegated with bands of dark brown or black. In the 

 typical Ghilodactylus jibhosus these bands are comparatively 

 narrow, and' are developed in an oblique or longitudinal 

 direction; the most conspicuous of these bands originate near 

 the anterior region of the dorsal fin, and passes obliquely and 

 longitudinally backwards into and throughout the lower boll 

 of the caudal fin ; a second band is developed from the 

 anterior edge of the dorsal, and is continued obliquely 

 downwards to the ventral fin. A third band passes in a 

 similiar direction immediately behind the head and through 

 the root of the pectoral fin, and a fourth, bifurcated at its upper 

 extremity, passes obliquely downwards and backwards 

 through the eye, meeting the one last described in the 

 ventral region. A short, imperfectly developed band crosses 

 the upper region of the snout. 



In the Tasmanian " Magpie Perch," the dark brown or 

 blackish bands are fewer in number, and are developed 

 girdle-wise, almost at right angles to the principle axis of the 

 body, and are so broad as to occupy nearly as large an area as 

 the intervening white or colourless spaces. Two only of 

 these broad bauds encircle the body, a third narrower one 

 passing across the eye and cheek. The tail is usually 

 coloured light red, and the tips tinged with the same hue. It 

 being apparently desirable to associate a new specific title 

 with this Tasmanian species, I propose, with reference to the 

 broad bands that encircle its body, to distinguish it provision- 

 ally, the title of Ghilodactylus vizo7iarius. 



Among the rarer fish that have been recently taken in 

 Tasmanian waters, I may make mention here of an example 

 of the JSTew Zealand Frost Pish, or Scabbard Fish, 

 Lipidopus Gandatus, that was brought to me on Saturday, 

 the 12th inst, and which was captured struggling on the 

 surface of the water in the Fishermen's Dock. The specimen 

 has been remitted to the Museum for preservation. 



