Zoology.] NATUKAL HISTORY OE VICTORIA. [Fishes. 



Plate 4. 



CHRYSOPHRYS AUSTRALIS (Gunth.). 

 The Australian Bream. 



[Genus CHRYSOPHRYS (Cuv.). (Sub-kingd. Vertebrata. Class Pisces. Order Acanthop- 

 terygia. Fam. Sparidge.) 



Gen. Char. — Four or six conical teeth in front edge of the mouth, and three or more rows 

 of rounded, nearly hemispherical, crushing teeth in upper and lower jaws. Cheeks scaly. 

 The dorsal fin with about eleven or twelve spines, fitting into a deep channel along the insertion 

 of their bases. Anal fin, with the three anterior rays spinous, very strong. Scales moderately 

 large. Six branchyostegal rays. Air-bladder usually notched or lobed. Extends from Atlantic 

 coast of America to Europe and Africa, the Indian Ocean and Pacific] 



Description. — Fin-rays: dorsal, 11 spinous, fourth longest, and 11 branched, 

 the two last united at base ; anal, 3 spinous, first very short, second longest, and 

 9 branched (two last united at base) ; ventral, 1 spinous, 5 branched ; pectoral, 

 14; caudal, 18. Scales: lateral line, 55 to 58, 5 rows above and 17 below the 

 lateral line ; 5 rows of scales on cheek to angle of preoperculum, 6 rows to angle 

 of operculum from edge of preoperculum. Proportions : body ovate, compressed ; 

 head small, profile arching gradually from origin of dorsals to tip of snout with slight 

 convexity, and tapering from same vertical of greatest depth gradually to the tail ; 

 usual length (of specimen from Gippsland), 12^- inches to end of caudal fin ; greatest 

 depth at base of fourth dorsal fin-ray, 4 J inches ; thickness, 1 J inches ; length of 

 head, 3 inches 1 line ; diameter of eye 8 lines (about 4§ in length of head) ; 

 greatest height of dorsal fin, at fourth spine, 1 inch 4 lines, equal to length from 

 anterior edge of orbit to end of snout ; length of third spine, 1 inch 3 lines ; length 

 of second, 10 lines; of first, 5 lines ; length of pectoral fin, 3 inches 11 lines; first 

 anal spine, 3 lines ,• second longest, equalling the fourth dorsal. Teeth : there are 

 6 large conical teeth projecting in front of the upper jaw, and 6 slightly smaller 

 below ; the outer lateral row above and below more conical than the inner rows, 

 which are hemispherical, about 3 rows below and about 4 rows above, the inner and 

 posterior teeth largest below, the third row largest above. Color : the scales of the 

 cheeks, back, and sides, are each minutely dotted with black points on a changing 

 ground of beautifully lustrous green and gold bronze, with occasional bright-blue and 

 copper-red reflections fading into purple, the reddish and blue being predominantly 

 on the cheeks, and the purple on the top of the head ; the scales of the belly are of 

 a yellowish pearly -white; there are faint longitudinal streaks of purple or gold, 

 darker or brighter according to the light, extending from head to tail through about 

 the middle third of each scale of the longitudinal lateral rows ; dorsal fin yellowish 

 behind, the membrane clouded and freckled with purplish, the margin darker, the 

 spines minutely dotted with brown; anal fin yellowish behind, anterior two-thirds 

 purplish-grey clouded with dark ; ventral fins, rays yellowish, minutely freckled with 

 darker, membrane nearly colorless ; pectoral fin, rays brownish, membrane nearly 

 colorless ; caudal fin, yellowish-olive, with a blackish terminal margin ; iris of a 

 gold bronze, with a narrow orange line, and freckled with minute black dots. 



Reference. — Gunther, Cat. Acanthop. Fishes, vol. 1, p. 494. 



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