FEB 3 1900 



INTRODUCTION. 



By Ei)(;ar 11. Waite, F.L.S., 

 Zoologist, Australian Museum. 



South of the eciuator, few waters, if any, have been as thorouffhly 

 investigated as those of Port Jackson, and it has been pvovvA that 

 its fauna is an extremely rich one. 



On the other hand, the fauna of the waters which break upon 

 the Australian coasts as a whole has been but little examined, and 

 while the seas of New South Wales have been better searched 

 than those of any other part of the Continent, it needs but the 

 slightest dip into our literature to become awai'e that such investi- 

 gations have, for the greater part, been made immediately outside 

 Port Jackson. 



The only observations made in our coastal waters for scientific 

 purposes have resulted from the visits of foreign equipped 

 expeditions making Sydne}" a port of call. All local ventures have 

 had a commercial basis, that is, they have been made in connec- 

 tion with the fishing industry, and even these are very limited in 

 number, and for some reason or other so unsuccessful, that to-day 

 not a single boat is engaged in trawling. 



It is constantly remarked that trawding can never be a com- 

 mercial success here, because either the fish cannot be obtained in 

 payable quantities, or those taken are not of suflicient quality 

 for table use. It is not my purpose to discuss this aspect of the 

 question, but I would pertinently point out that we know 

 practically nothing of the habits of the fish we wish to secure, and 

 that small chance of supplying the deficiency exists until we have 

 established a Biological Research Station with necessary corollaries. 

 Many of the countries of Europe, and America, richly endow such 

 institutions, and one need but look to the publications of their 

 stafi's to realise the amount of valuable work accomplished. To 

 those interested I would recommend a perusal of the admirable 

 work by Mr. J. T. Cunningham, M.A., published by the Marine 

 Biological Association.* 



Another cause of failure may be traced to the haphazard manner 

 in which the experiments have been conducted. No complete 

 submarine survey has been made, but in September and October, 



* Cunningham — Marketable Marine Fishes, 1896. 



