212 
RECORDS OF THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM. 
Periopthalmus koelreuteri, Pallas. 
The occurrence of this species in such a comparatively high 
latitude as Perth, is another instance of the more tropical charac- 
ter of the west than the east coast of Australia. On the east, 
Castelnau records it* from the entrance of the Brisbane River, 
south of which it has not been observed. P. australis , Cast., is 
said to be found on the mud flats of the Richmond River, New 
South Wales. f Saville Kent, in his paper on the Marine Fauna of 
Houtman’s Abrolhos Islands, | shows how the Abrolhos support a 
wealth of tropical life, such as Holothurians and the more 
brilliantly coloured Labroids, familiar to him from Torres Straits 
and the more northern regions of the Great Barrier Reef. 
Houtman’s Abrolhos are of coral growth, a formation met with 
on the eastern mainland only in much lower latitudes, and in 
explanation Mr. Saville Kent writes: — “ The anomalous character 
of the marine fauna of Houtman’s Abrolhos, as herein defined, 
can only be accounted for by the assumption that an ocean current, 
setting in from the equatorial area of the Indian Ocean, penetrates 
as far south as this island group, and has borne with it the float- 
ing embryos of the Holothuridse and Cmlenterates, etc., that so 
characteristically distinguish it. A reference to the Admiralty 
charts, dealing with the ocean currents of this region, supports 
this interpretation to a considerable extent ; indicating as a 
matter of fact, a prevailing northerly set along the western coast 
of Australia, but at the same time a distinct southerly intrusion 
of the waters of the Indian Ocean at some distance off shore, down 
towards and closely approaching Houtman’s Abrolhos.” 
Hoplegnathus woodwardi, sp, nov. 
(Plate xxxvii.) 
B. v. D. xi. 11. A. iii. 2. V. i. 5 P 17. C. 17. L. 1. 62. 
L. tr. 25 - 60. 
Length of head 2*57, of caudal fin 5 '76, height of body 2*31, in 
the total length (caudal excluded). Eye very large, 3 '63 in the 
length of the head, T25 in the snout, and 1*13 in the interorbital 
space, which is slightly convex. Nostrils approximate, the anterior 
round, the posterior elongate, its own length in advance of the 
margin of the eye. The upper profile of the head with a pro- 
nounced swelling above the anterior nostril, and forming a sharp 
bony keel on the occiput. Dorsal and ventral profile a gentle 
curve. Upper jaw the longer. Cleft of mouth medium, almost 
horizontal, the maxilla extending to within the anterior margin 
* Castelnau — Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., ii., 1878, p. 2B1. 
+ Ten.- Woods — Fish and Fisheries N.S.W., 1882, p. 27. 
J Saville Kent — Rep. Brit. Assoc., 1895, p. 732. 
