EDIBLE FISHES OF QUEENSLAND, PAET II. — OGILBY. 75 
as G. fuscus, but the effort was as futile as those previously made by McCoy. In 
1893, the writer reviewed all that was then known of the habits and distribution 
of the fish, extending among other things its northerly range in transmontane 
New South Wales to the Bell River at Wellington. No further addition to our 
knowledge transpired until Zietz recorded its presence in the Onkaparinga and 
Torrens Rivers, South Australia, thus increasing its range to some distance west 
of the Murray. Stead (1908) gives its New South Wales distribution as “the 
upland streams of the southern tableland,” while the Australian Museum, as 
recorded by McCulloch, has received examples “from Manilla on the Namoi 
River, and Rylestone on a tributary of the Macquarie.” At my request Stead has 
furnished me with the following more detailed information as to its distribution 
in the western waters of the “Mother Colony”: — “ Gadopsis marmoratus appears 
to be distributed over the greater portion of the Murray Drainage area. My 
personal experience in the Highlands of New South Wales shows that it occurs 
in the Yarrangobilly River, Jounama. Creek, Goobarragandra River, Adjungbillv 
Creek, and other feeders of the Tumut River, the Tumut itself, the Upper 
Murrumbidgee, the Upper Snowy and its feeders (said to have been introduced 
to the Craigie River from Victoria in 1883, and sent in to me for identification 
as a species of Trout in 1908) ; Fish River, Bell River, Cudgegong River, and 
other feeders of the Macquarie, as well as the upper waters of the Macquarie 
itself, and the Rocky River (a tributary of the Gwydir) at Uralla. In the plain 
country my experience of this fish shows it to be common in many places, 
particularly where the streams are sluggish, and in billabong or ‘WarrumbooU 
country, including the middle Murray, the Kyalite or Edward’s River, the 
Murrumbidgee as far as Hay, Yanco Creek, the Lachlan,* the Macquarie, the 
Namoi, and the Barwon. It seems to be more abundant in the Macquarie River 
and its feeders than anywhere else in its New South Wales habitat.” The first 
announcement of its occurrence in Queensland waters was made by me in the 
Brisbane “Observer ” of June 26, 1909. There I recorded that “ Mr. Mat. 
Colclough, who has always shown a keen interest in piscatorial matters, has 
recently forwarded to me two fishes caught in the Condamine River in the 
vicinity of Warwick.” Of these I reported to Mr. Colclough that one was a 
young example of the common Golden Perch ( Plectroplites ambiguus) , while 
the other is a much more interesting fish, being a unique and geographically 
most important addition to the fauna of Queensland, namely the Freshwater 
Blackfish (Gadopsis marmoratus) . ” After giving some account of its distribution 
and uses I wrote ‘ Previous to this record I never heard of its existence north of 
Deniliquin, so that you have a right to plume yourself on having added so many 
hundreds of miles to the geographical distribution of this extraordinary fish, 
which stands absolutely alone in the scheme of Nature, forming a monotypic 
family, without a near relative either in recent or palaeozoic times.” 
I have not yet seen it here, but have good evidence of its occurrence. — D.G.S. 
