PISHICS — WAITK. H3 



Olio JiliU'k lin^ain ;it liNisf, would have Ikhmi trawled ; such was, 

 liowcvor, not the casi\ On tlio other haiul, this experience is 

 ([uit(^ in accord with the known liabits of th(> spetiies, frequenting;' 

 the coastal and estuary areas ratliiM- than the more open seaway. 

 Lines put down on the recogniscMl Schnapper ,L(rounds failed to 

 secure thein, and the}'' were obtainecl only in the slieltei'c*! luiihour 

 of Port Stephens. 



Familij GERRID^. 



X Y S T ^ M A, Jordan d- Evermann. 



XYSTJ^.MA OVATUM, Giinther. 



Silver Belly. 



(Plate xiii.) 



Gerres ovatus, Giinth., Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., i., 1859, p. 343, and 

 iv., 1862, p. 257. 



Station 2o. 



The only specimen secured was taken off Newcastle, in 16-19 

 fathoms. It is a very common fish in shallower water, where it 

 frequents the long sandy reaches. 



An examination of all the specimens available to me shows 

 that the species is referable to the genus Xi/stce.ma, characterised 

 by having the second interhjemal spine solid (and therefore not 

 receiving a horn of the air bladder as in Gerres), and by the pre- 

 opercle being entire. 



The fish taken is that commonly identified as Gerres ovalics, 

 Giinth. Although it very generally agrees with the desci'iption 

 of that species, there are one or two points of difference which 

 call for remark. In G. ovatus the anal fin terminates behind the 

 dorsal ; in our example, in advance of it. The suborbital groove 

 in Giinther's species does not extend beyond the anterior margin 

 of the eye ; in our form considerably beyond it. In Ogilby's 

 description of G. ovatus'^' the dorsal and anal fins are said to be 

 without scaly sheaths. This sheath is present in our specimens, 

 which in such particular agree with the original description. The 



* Ogilby— Edible Fishes, N.S.W., 1893, p. 147. 



