148 FISH GALLERY. 



with the adult in' Table-case 40. Epinephelus is a large genus, 

 and many of the species do not attain to a greater size than those 

 shown in the Wall-case 13. 



The Sea-perches of the genus Serranus are interesting because 

 some of them^ such as the Comber, Serranus cabrilla, 524, and 

 fig. 67, are hermaphrodite, regularly so and not as an exceptional 

 circumstance. A few enter brackish and fresh water. 

 Bass. The Bass, Morone labrax, 511, is a form of Sea-perch common 



on the British coasts, appearing in shoals in the shallow seas and 

 estuaries between June and September. It is a voracious fish 

 with a remarkably large stomach, and it received from the ancient 

 Romans the appropriate name of " Lupus " or Wolf. The Greeks 

 and Romans esteemed the Bass very highly as a table-fish, but at 

 the present day the fish does not enjoy high repute. This is the 

 fish that Aristotle declared to be the most cunning of fishes, 

 because when surrounded by the net it digs for itself a channel 

 through the sand by which to escape. Specimens of 8 or 10 lbs. 

 are not uncommon, and authentic cases of Bass of 22 to 28 lbs. 

 are on record. 



The Stone-bass, Polyprion americanus, 513, is a fish found in 

 the open ocean ; it is sometimes called the Wreck-fish because it 

 is often met with in the neighbourhood of floating timber, to 

 which it is attracted by the Barnacles, &c. upon which it feeds. 

 Murray- Occurring plentifully in the Murray River and other rivers of 

 South Australia is the Murray-cod, Oligorus macquariensis (514, 

 Wall-case 12, floor), a fish which attains to a length of more than 

 three feet and a weight of 100 lbs. It is valued on account of the 

 excellent flavour of its flesh, as also, is the Hapaku, Hapiku or 

 Hapuku, Oligorus gigas, of the coasts of New Zealand. Another 

 genus of large fishes is Lates, represented by Lates calcarifer, 530, 

 of the coasts and estuaries of India, South China, and North 

 Australia, and a skeleton of Lates niloticus, 55 inches long (Table- 

 case 33), a well-known fish of the Nile and other rivers of tropical 

 Africa. Mesoprion and Genyoroge are large genera, represented 

 in the exhibited series by specimens 541-546 and 537-540. 

 Mesoprion bohar, 544, the " Mumea " of Samoa, is poisonous as 

 food. Genyoroge sebte, 540, is called the " Government }> Bream 

 by the Australian fishermen because of a red-brown mark on the 



cod. 



