104 " THETIS " SCIENTIFIC RESULTS. 



Family COTTID^. 



PLATYCEPHALUS, Moch dh Schneider. 



PLATYCEPHALUS FUSCUS, Cuvier & Valenciennes. 



Flathead. 



Platyce-phalus f%(,SGUs, Cuv. k Val., Hist. Nat. Poiss., iv., 1829, 

 p. 241. Quoy. & Gaim , Voy. de I'Astrolabe, Poiss., 1835, 

 p. 68, pi. X., fig. 1. 



Stations 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 



26, 27, 28, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 



48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59. 



The array of stations at which this species was obtained indi- 

 cates how common it is on our seaboard. It is plentiful in our 

 rivers a long way above tidal influence ; it occurs on all the mud 

 banks and sand flats along the coast, and is found at considerable 

 depths also. We trawled it in 78, 80 and 84 fathoms. As the 

 trawling took place during the known spawning season of this 

 fish, it was not surprising to find many of the examples heavy 

 with ova, while not a few small fry were trawled, indicating that 

 breeding had already taken place. The largest example I have 

 seen measured 920 mm. ( = 36-| inches) in length. 



PLATYCEPHALUS BASSENSIS, Cuvier <k Valenciennes. 



Bass Flathead. 



Platycephahis bassensis, Cuv. & Val., Hist. Nat. Poiss., iv., 1829, 

 p. 247. Quoy. & Gaim., Voy. de I'Astrolabe, Poiss., 1835, 

 p. 683, pi. X., fig. 3. 



Stations 8, 9, 13, 39, 44. 



It was only at the above mentioned stations that I definitely 

 recognised this species, but it is more than probable that some 

 were overlooked. When the quarter-deck of the vessel was simply 

 one mass of fish, it was (|uite impossible for me to personally 

 examine every specimen of Platycejjhalus or Lepidotrigla which 

 were sometimes piled on the deck by thousands. P. bassensis, 

 although not so common as P. fuscus, is yet very plentiful in the 

 Sydney Fish Market. 



