EDIBLE FISHES OF QUEENSLAND, BAFT I.—OGILBY. 
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pupil before or behind ; anterior nostril ovate, posterior arcuate and much wider. 
Jaws equal ; maxillary extending far beyond the eye, the width of its rounded distal 
extremity 7*4 to 7-75 in its length. 
Scales 10 to 12/75 to 77/12 or 13. Axillary scales of pectoral and ventral 
subequal, as long as or longer than the snout. Lateral line varying from a rather 
long and shallow curve, which extends far beyond the tip of the pectoral, to a much 
shorter and deeper one, which just reaches that point. 
D. iv 16 to 18 ; A. iii 26 to 30. Origin of dorsal fin *15 to *25 nearer to the root 
of the caudal than to the tip of the snout ; spines rather strong and pungent, the last 
1*3 to 1*4 in the first ray. Middle caudal rays 1-55 to 1*75 in the upper and slightly 
longer lobe. Anal fin as high as or slightly lower than and from *5 to *66 longer than 
the dorsal, originating in advance of the middle of the body. Pectoral with 17 rays, 
as long as or longer than the head without the snout, the fourth ray longest. Ventral 
spine long, but weak and flexible, the outer ray longest, 1*85 to 2 in the length of the 
head and 1*9 to 2-15 in its distance from the anal, which is 1-05 to 1-25 in that from 
the tip of the mandible. 
Gill-rakers 3 or 4 + 6 or 7, with one or two rudiments on each branch, the 
longest 1*9 to 2*3 in the eye-diameter and 1*33 to 1*6 in the longest fringes. 
Silvery, with the back steel-blue, the line of demarcation well defined. Fins 
dusky, the produced portion of the dorsal lobe with or without a black or dark 
chestnut brown blotch. (Named after Baron Ferdinand von Muller, a celebrated 
Australian botanist.) 
Variation : — So far as our limited series ot specimens goes the two forms of 
this fish, which may be distinguished by the spotted or uniform dorsal fin, vary 
constantly in the following characters, which will, I believe, eventually prove to be 
sexual. In the spotted form, which I take to be the male, the body is noticeably 
more slender, the pectoral shorter, the forehead wider, the lateral line longer and less 
arched, etc. 
Total length : — 300 millim. 
Range : — Coasts of Australia and Southern New Guinea, occurring sporadically’ 
The localities from which specimens have been recorded are — Coast of Queensland 
(Steindachner) ; Rockingham Bay, Q. (Macleay) ; Moreton and Keppel Bays, Q,. ; 
Fremantle, W.A. (McCulloch) ; and Aird River, B.N.G., 30 miles above its mouth 
(Ramsay and Ogilby, fide Bevan). 
Described from four specimens (Keppel Bay, one male, 270 millim., presented 
by Mr. W. N. Jaggard, and Moreton Bay, three females, 206 to 266 millim., of which 
no data are obtainable) in the collection of the Queensland Museum. I had previously 
examined Macleay’s type, and of course that of Neopempheris pectoralis . 
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