70 



PAGBTJS TTNICOLOE. 



Chrysophrys unicolor, Quoy et Gaimard, Voyage de V Uranie, 



p. 299. 

 Pagrus unicolor and guttulatus, Guv. Sf Val., vi., p. 162, 160. 



(The Snapper.') 



The Snapper is one of the largest and handsomest of the fish of 

 the Melbourne Market. It is found all the year round, but the 

 specimens caught in the cold months of the year are generally 

 small ; in November and December it becomes much more 

 abundant, and the very large specimens are common. It is a 

 good article of food. 



As I had already observed at the Cape of Good Hope, with 

 respect to Chrysophrys, the specimens of this sort are subject 

 to very remarkable changes in their form. The female has 

 always a rather oval profile, and the young male has the same ; 

 but in this sex, age brings on the developement of a curious 

 crest on the nape of the head, and of a protuberance which, in 

 very old individuals, takes the appearance of an enormous nose, 

 and gives to some of these individuals a most remarkable re- 

 semblance to the human face. 



The Snapper is of a beautiful silvery pink, with the lower parts 

 of the body white and silvery ; dorsal pink, with sometimes 

 white spots on the membranes. The caudal becomes blackish 

 towards its end ; all the fins are pink, with the exception of the 

 anal and ventral, which are white. 



The young specimens are covered with wbite and sometimes 

 with blue spots, which disappear with age ; these appear to be 

 the Pagrus Guttulatus of Cuvier. Some old specimens take a 

 beautiful red colour. This sort attains large proportions, and 

 sometimes weighs up to fifty pounds. 



CHRYSOPHRYS. 



This genus of Cuvier only differs from Pagrus by the upper 

 molar teeth, which are here in at least three series, when in 

 Pagrus they are only in two. 



