48 ‘NEW SOUTH WALES 
a sedentary life, lying hidden in the sand or between rocks covered 
with seaweed, watching for their prey, which chiefly consists of small 
fishes, Their strong undivided pectoral rays aid them in burrowing in 
the sand and moving along the bottom. Their colour is very much the 
same in all species, that is an irregular mottling of red, yellow, brown, 
and black, but the pattern varies exceedingly in the same species, and 
even in the same individuals, They never exceed a length of 18 
inches, and even that size is rare. The flesh is much liked by some. 
Wounds inflicted by their fin spines are exceedingly painful, but not 
followed by serious consequences. (G.S.F.) 
We have four species of this genus in Port Jackson. Plate IX re- 
presents 8. cruenta, Richardson. The colour of this species is a beautiful 
scarlet, sometimesmarbled with grey ; belly, whitish; sides, with rounded 
dark blotches ; fins, reddish pink variegated with white ; the spinous 
dorsal has a large black blotch covering the upper half of the posterior 
portion, the soft dorsal is thinly spotted, and transversely marked with 
white and red ; ventrals, pink ; pectorals, marbled with pink, white, 
and brown. 
At Plate XIV. a figure is given of Sebastes percoides, a fish of a closely 
allied genus of the same family. It is caught at times in Port Jackson, 
but has no local name. In Victoria it is called the Red Gurnet Perch. 
The Bull-rout. 
This is the name given by the fishermen of ‘the Hunter River to a fish 
belonging to the family Scorpanip#, known to naturalists as Centropogon 
robusta. It is a small fish, seldom attaining 7 inches in length or 
exceeding 5 or 6 ounces in weight. Like all the scorpion-fish it is 
very ugly, with prominent gaunt ghost-like eyes set in large hollow 
sockets. Its colour also is dull and dirty-looking, as like as possible to 
the brown, green, and black slimy weeds in which it hides with security. 
There are two remarkable peculiarities about this fish. One is that it 
emits a loud and harsh grunting noise when it is caught, so that if by 
chance it takes a bait, the fisherman knows what he has got by the 
noise before he brings his fish to the surface of the water. When out 
of the water the noise of the Bull-rout is loudest, and it spreads its gills 
and fins a little, so as to appear very formidable. Another peculiarity 
ig that that the spines about the head are venomous, and inflict most 
painful stings. If a Bull-rout is taken (when dead of course for safety 
sake) and held up to the light with its back towards you, a long curved 
stout spine will be noticed on each side of the snout just above the 
mouth, There is also a little spine on each side in front of this. Then 
“on the preoperculum there is « row of four spines, increasing in size as 
they go backwards. Now if any of these spines chance to wound you, 
which they may easily do, for they are as sharp as needles and very strong, 
the pain is intense. It runs through the whole limb like fire. The 
injured part becomes red and inflamed. But except the pain, which all 
victims assert is very agonizing, there are no serious occurrences. There 
is also a constant testimony that the pain usually ceases at sunset, and . 
however strange it is, the fact is confidently asserted by those who have 
had experience. The Bull-rout is never caught, except accidentally, as 
