Zoology.'] 



NATURAL HISTORY OF VICTORIA. 



[Fishes. 



The following are the dimensions of two moderate-sized speci- 

 mens and a young one : — 



Measurements. 



Male. 



Female. 



Young. 





ins. 



lines. 



ins. lines. 



ins. lines. 



Length from snout to distal end of caudal 



30 



6 



30 



15 3 



„ of caudal 



1 







1 



7 



„ from snout to anterior edge of orbit 



1 



3 



1 1 



8 



„ of orbit 







101 



101 



6 



„ of head from snout to end of operculum ... 



6 



10 



6 3 



3 4 



„ from snout to anus (measured along ventral edge) ... 



15 







14 3 



7 



„ from anus to end of caudal 



16 







15 9 



8 7 



„ from snout to base of pectoral ... 



6 



5 



6 



3 21 



„ from snout to origin of dorsal ... 



7 



3 



7 



3 6i 



„ of pectoral 



2 



1 



1 9 



1 2 



Height of dorsal 



1 



5 



1 5 



7 



Length of anal 



15 



6 



15 6 



7 



„ of posterior ventral filament 



2 



5 



2 1 



1 2J 



„ of anterior ventral filament 



2 







1 9 



I 



Width between eyes ... 







9 



1\ 



6 



Depth of body in front of dorsal 



5 







5 6 



1 10 



Thickness of body in front of dorsal 



4 



3 



4 6 



1 3 



Five scales in six lines at middle of body of the above large specimens, and nine in same 

 space of the young one ; number of rows of scales above the lateral line the same in all. 



I much doubt the propriety of separating this fish specifically 

 from the G. blacodes of Foster. 



Captain Hutton informs me, in reply to my enquiry, that the 

 proportions given in his " Catalogue of the Fishes of New Zea- 

 land " for the large Genypterus blacodes of the southern coast of 

 New Zealand, are erroneously printed as " length seven times that 

 of the head," instead of four and two-thirds, and the length as " ten 

 times the height of the body" instead of six times; which corrected 

 proportions more nearly agree with the Melbourne fish. Dr. 

 Giinther's description of the G. blacodes being from such a small 

 specimen would account for the greater size of the head and orbit 

 in proportion to total length and length of head. 



The lateral line ceases at about 2^ inches from the posterior end 

 of the body in specimens of the above size (about 2^ feet) in the 

 Melbourne examples. The stomachs of those opened were full of 

 shrimps as in the European Rocklings (Motella), with which the 

 colonial fisherman see some relation. It is not known whether our 

 Genypterus makes the curious nest for preservation of its eggs, 

 well known in the 5 -bearded Rocklings of England. 



[38] 



