32 On the Murray River Cod. 



that several of those about six pounds weight which either 

 died, or were so much injured by the hook as not to be worth 

 preserving, were completely full of roe. And upon applica- 

 tion to Professor M'Coy, that gentleman kindly furnished 

 me with some information of a very pleasing nature indeed, as 

 leading me to look for complete fructification of my scheme 

 at a far earlier period than I had ever been sanguine enough 

 to anticipate it. Professor M'Coy says, " I have no specific 

 " knowledge of the rate of growth of the Grystes Peelii, or 

 " Murray cod-perch, but analogy would lead me to expect 

 " that one year would grow a mature fish, able to breed, and 

 " probably of the smaller size you mention in your species. 

 " But the fact bearing perhaps most directly upon the diffi- 

 " culty you allude to (of hearing of fish of 93 lbs., and 

 " finding eggs in one of 6 lbs.) is unquestionable in all fishes, 

 " namely — that, unlike warm blooded animals, there is no 

 " limit to their growth. All fishes and reptiles continue to 

 " grow larger as long as they live, and their maturity and 

 " power of breeding is usually attained in the first year, at a 

 " comparatively small size when compared with the dimen- 

 " sions of old individuals." As to the prolific properties of 

 the fish, Professor M'Coy's testimony is very cheering in- 

 deed — " No one that I know," he says, " has counted the 

 " eggs of the cod-perch, and the counting the European 

 " perch (which belongs to the different genus Percd) would 

 " not be applicable to your species. But here again a 

 " general fact may serve your .purpose — that every fish has 

 " ten or twenty thousand times more ova in the roe than are 

 " required to keep up the average number of its kind. This 

 " is to allow for the enormous destruction of young ones by 

 " voracious fishes and other creatures which live on them. 

 " The men employed by the French Government to stock 

 " the large fish-breeding ponds for supplying the poor with 

 " food in many parts of France, find a small part of the roe 

 " of one fish sufficient to fill the largest inclosures." 



If the cod breeds in the Yarra or Plenty, it seems likely 

 to be pretty safe from very destructive enemies. They eat 

 one another I am sorry to say, with great greediness ; but 

 escaping their fathers and mothers, and elder brothers and 

 sisters, their numbers do not seem likely to be greatly de- 

 creased by the few herons, kingfishers, &c, which I fancy 

 are almost the ODly enemies with which they will have to 

 contend. 



If they are a sea-seeking fish, I hope that nature will have 



