30 



localities. During several years, not only did I visit several times 

 a day the Fish Market of Cape Town, but the Malay fishermen 

 were most active in endeavouring to obtain specimens for me. 

 Sir A. Smith himself, in his " Illustrations of South Australian 

 Zoology,'' mentions a number of sorts of fishes much smaller 

 even than the one I obtained myself (about 40) ; and Dr. Pappe, 

 after ten years' study of the fishes of the Cape, only mentions 

 45 sorts of edible ones. (" Synopsis of the Edible Fishes of the 

 Cape of Good Hope'" 1 Cape Town, 1853.) As a general rule, 

 I believe that the great Antarctic Sea will be found to con- 

 tain less sorts of fishes than most others, and that this will 

 also be the case with the rivers and lakes of the same regions. 

 "With few exceptions, the fishes of the southern parts of Aus- 

 tralia are peculiar to the region they inhabit, as of 142 sorts 

 (exclusive of a doubtful sort of cyprinidce), 11 only are found in 

 other regions, that is, 5 of the 123 sorts of Teleostei, and 6 of the 

 19 species of cartillaginous fishes. The five of the first are — 

 1. Temnodon Saltator, which is very widely spread over almost 

 all the tropical and temperate seas of the globe. 2. Thyrsites 

 Atum, found also at the Cape of Good Hope. 3. Tetraodon 

 Hispidus, found in the Red Sea and all over the Indian Ocean. 

 4. JDiodon Spinosissimus, from the Cape of Good Hope and the 

 Indian Sea. 5. Orthagoriscus Mola, from the European seas. 

 To this I ought, perhaps, to add Mugil Waigiensis, first dis- 

 covered in New Guinea ; but this large island may be considered 

 as belonging to the Australian zoological zona. 



Amongst the cartillaginous fishes, we find Sygcena Malleus, 

 Galeus Cams, Jtliina Bquatina, Haya Oxyrhynchus, and Myliobates 

 Aquila, all found in the European seas ; and Chimosra Antarctica, 

 from the Cape of Good Hope. It would seem as if the more the 

 bones take a cartillaginous nature, the more the animal would 

 be able to support the changes of climate, &c. ; but it must als© 

 be observed that some of these last sorts have not been suffi- 

 ciently well compared with European specimens. 



The fact that not one single true Serranus seems to inhabit 

 the southern shores of Australia (S. Basor beiug very distinct in 

 general appearance) is also remarkable, as I had already observed 

 the same fact at Table Bay; and here also, on the eastern coast, as 

 at Natal and Algoa Bay, several sorts of real Serranus are found. 



