135 



NANDID.E. 



" Body oblong, compressed, covered with, scales. 

 Lateral line interrupted. Dorsal fin formed by a 

 spinous and a soft portion, the latter being the less 

 developed ; anal fin with three spines, and with its 

 soft portion similar to the soft dorsal. Ventral fins 

 thoracic, with one spine and four or five soft rays. 

 Dentition more or less complete, generally feeble. 

 Five or six branchiostegals ; gills, four or three and 

 a-half; pseudobranchise present in the marine, 

 absent or hidden in the fresh-water genera. An 

 air-bladder. No superbranchial organ. 



" Carnivorous fishes." 



I have observed no sorts of these fishes in Victoria, but Plesiops 

 cceruleo-lineatus and Trachinops Tceniatus are found on the Aus- 

 tralian coast. 



ATHEBINID.^]. 



" Body more or less elongate, subcylindrical, and 

 covered with scales of moderate size ; lateral line 

 indistinct. Cleft of the mouth of moderate width, 

 with the dentition feeble. Eye lateral, well de- 

 veloped. Gill-opening wide ; four gills ; pseudo- 

 branchiae ; five or six branchiostegals. Two dorsal 

 fins, the spine of the first feeble ; the second of 

 moderate length ; anal like the soft dorsal, or 

 rather longer. Ventral fins abdominal, with one 

 spine and five rays. Vertebrae very numerous in 

 the caudal and abdominal portions. 



