ICETllYOLOGIC A L MISCELLAXEA. 
25 
Synanceja horrida in which the contiguous bony bosses over the eyes are 
depicted as star-like objects. Cuvier & Valenciennes regard this figure as 
representing their Scorpoena diabolus, Valentyn’s fig. 342 is a conventional 
representation of a stonefish, regarded as SynmceicMhyS verrucosus, which may 
be mentioned in passing on account of its historical interest. 
Synanceja horrida, is an Indian species which has been wrongly recorded 
from Australia. The Australian Stonefish differs from descriptions and figures 
of the true S. horrida in having the nuchal or stipratemporal crests larger, 
the preorbital stay of different architecture, and the anal spines very small 
and not pungent. There are more wart-like outgrowths on the body and the 
lower pectoral rays are simple in the Australian species, which has been named 
Synanceia trachynis by Richardson. 
Synanceja trachynis Richardson. 
Synanceia trachynis Richardson, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist, ix, July I, 1842, p. 385. Port Essington 
(Gilbert). Type in British Museum. Id. Bleeker, Verliand. Akad. Arnsterd. ii, 1855, p. 8. 
Synancidium horridum Gunther, Cat, Kish. Brit, Mus. ii, 1860, p. 144 (Australian specimens only). 
Id. Klunzinger, Sitzb. Akacl. Wiss. Wien lxxx, 1, 1879, p. 367 (Port Darwin). Id. Saville- 
Kent, Great Barrier Reef 1893, pp. 286 and 369, pi. xlvii, fig. 1 (Cooktown, Q.). 
Synanceja horrida McCulloch, Austr. Mus. Mag. ii, 5, 1 925, p. 159, figs. (Thursday I., &c„ Queensland). 
Id. Kestevcn, Rec. Austr. Mus. xv. 3, 1926, p. 225, figs. 10-15 (skull). Id. Tandy, Nat. 
Hist. Mag. ii, 2, 1929, p. 89, fig. 11 (Low Is., Q.l Id. Whitley and Boardman, Austr. 
Mus. Mag. Hi, 1929, i>. 369 and figs. 
“ Cyanceihorrida” Stevens, Amat. Fish. Assoc. Qld., Ann. Rept. 1925-26 (1926), p. 5. Error. 
Cynanceja (sic) horrida Paradice, Quart. Rev. Health Inspect. Assoc. Australia iv, 3, July, 1926, 
p. 45, fig. (Torres Strait). 
Apart from specimens met with by the British Great Barrier Reef 
Expedition, with which I hope to deal elsewhere at a later date, I have 
examined specimens of Synanceja trachynis in the Australian Museum from the 
following localities Moreton Bay, Boyne Island, Port Curtis, Endeavour 
River, Thursday Island, and Torres Strait, Queensland ; Port Darwin, North 
Australia ; Port Hedland, Western Australia, and some extralimital forms. 
The species has been wrongly recorded from Sydney by Castelnau 75 as 
Synancidium horridum , and Waite 76 has noted it from Houtmans Abrolhos, 
Western Australia. 
Poisonous Properties of the Australian Stonefish— General remarks on the 
poisonous properties of the Australian Stonefish cs, Synanceja, trachynis and 
Synanceichthys verrucosus, have been made by Saville-Kent and other writers, 
but the most recent account is by Duhig & Jones 77 who discuss in detail the 
venom, dorsal spines, variability in poison-sacs, and the effects of the poison. 
The specimens used by these authors were caught in Moreton Bay, South 
75 Castelnau, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales iii, 1879, p. 351. 
70 Waite, Rec. Austr. Mus. vi, 1905, p. 74. 
77 Duhig & Jones, Mem. Qld. Mus. ix, 2, 1928, pp. 136-148, figs 1-8; Austr. Journ. Exp. 
Biol. Med. Sci. v, 2, 1928, pp. 173-179 ; Nature, Sopt. 22, 1928, p. 454. 
