Zoology.'] 



NATURAL HISTORY OF VICTORIA. 



[Fishes. 



To show the singular variability of the fin rays in this species, I 

 subjoin particulars of six specimens in the National Museum, all 

 about the same size, and agreeing in other respects : — 





Fin Eays. 



Scales. 



Specimens. 













Along 



Above 



Below 





Dorsals. 



Anals. 



Caudal. 



Pectoral. 



Ventral. 



Lateral 

 Line. 



Lateral 

 Line. 



Lateral 

 Line. 



Specimen drawn . . . 



9+57 



56 



30 



26 



5 



124 



18 



47 



Two stuffed 



9 + 54 

 10+52 



57 

 54 



26 



28 



23 

 22 



5 

 5 



119 

 116 



15 

 15 



31 

 36 



( 



9+48 



44 



29 



25 



5 



122 



17 



41 



Three in spirit < 



10+51 



47 



27 



24 



6 



124 



16 



40 



1 



11+48 



52 



28 



24 



5 



128 



15 



38 



The species of Pseudophysis are distinguished from those of the 

 very similar genus Lotella by the outer teeth being no larger than 

 those of the inner rows. 



This fish, not having been figured before, may " point a moral and 

 adorn a tale" apropos of the utility of having our colonial fishes 

 accurately figured and described for reference. I was called upon 

 soon after arriving in the colony to assist at a grand dinner in the 

 old Criterion Hotel of " merchants, bankers, and others," who had 

 been brought together to taste this fish, to satisfy themselves it was 

 a real Newfoundland cod, a bank of which had been discovered in 

 Victorian waters by fishermen — practical men — who proposed to 

 give the assembled gentlemen and their friends the opportunity of 

 subscribing so many thousands for a fleet of boats, so many thou- 

 sands for curing establishments on land, so much to the discoverers, 

 &c, to form a cod-fishing company. The small size of the cooked 

 fish and its inferior flavor was explained by the discoverers having 

 been so ill provided that they could only catch a few very young 

 ones. The statistics of the Newfoundland cod fisheries were quoted 

 to show the great profit which would arise from this investment, 

 and all went well, until one of the guests, who shall be nameless, 

 earned great unpopularity by giving some reason for believing that 

 the samples, 16 or 17 inches long, were not young, but adult ; and 

 referring to the title of Sam Slick's new book at the time, " How 

 many Fins has a Cod ? " showed that, as the real cod had three 



[ 30] 



