EDIBLE FISHES OF QVEEF SLAED.—OGILBY. 
71 
of the species, biit lie extends its rjinge to Yanikorod' tlie j)rincipal island of the 
Santa Cruz (4roni) (notable as the place where the intrepid French navigator, 
La Perouse. met disaster and di-ath). and New ITolland, whence it Avas first 
obtained by l^iissenil, the natu)*alist atta<'ht‘d to tlie French Expedition in the 
“Thetis’’ and “ Es]>th‘an('e ” under the c(unmaml of the younger ]3ougainville 
about 1825. Some time later Isidore GeolTniy St. Hilaire described tlie same 
species as ne\v from a specimen taken at Sui‘Z. ITie next noteworthy feature of its 
history was tlie figuring by liichardson in 1848 of a very young specimen, 
measuring about 70 millim. ; tlie transverse bands and caudal spots are well 
shown in this figure, but according to my observations the l)ody is too deep and 
the head too large. Cbuitor, who followed l)im, gavi‘ a very accurate account 
of the colors of a 225 millim. example. The iK'xt year, 1851. is an interesting 
one in its history, for it was then Hliieker, rejecting the name (kivanx, furnished 
it with a distinct generic title, a proceeding Avhich. though followed 
by certain authors, chiefly American, is quite unnecessary, since Commerqon, 
the original creator of Caranx, directly associated the name with this hsh; this, 
however, was entirely in accord with Bleeker’s peculiar taxonomic methods. 
Bleeker mentions the s])(‘cies in no less than twenty-seven papei’s. but in not one 
of the nine to wluch wi* have access is there a description, nor need any of them 
concern us here save one published in 1855, in which he (*laims to have received 
a specimen from Tasmania ; in this we are sure there is some error for, as we 
have had occasion to point out with regard to another species included therein, 
this trevally is a purely warm water form, and is not in any ('as(‘ likely, if there, 
to have been overlooked by such observers as Allport, dohnston, Kent, and others. 
Peters about the same tinu; im-reased its range to ^Mozambique, while the next 
notable accession to its distribution came from the very o]>po.site axis of its 
wanderings Ihrough Gill, who in 18(>8 described it as new from the Pacific 
Coast of Panama, a ])roceeding which was called in question some years later by 
Gunther, who a.ssei'ted Ihe identity of (\ jxniamenHis with C. spedosus, in 
which opinion he was subsequently sur)p(>rted by Jordan and Gilbert. IMeanwhile 
Playfair had added the Seychelles to its list. In 1877 the only definitely 
recorded Australian locality was TIoulman s Abrolhos, W.A., referred to by 
Richardson but (tverlooked by Jhadeay, but in that y('ar Alleyne and Maeleay 
described it under a new name from the Queensland Coast, to which the junior 
author afterwards added Torres Strait and Port iMoresl)y. 
Considering the large size and wide distribution of this fine fish 
information regarding its edible qualities is decidely meagre. Cantor dismisses 
it with the remark that “ they are eaten by the natives,” which recalls to mind 
Pope’s famous cynicism “ damned with faint praise.” Beyond this there is 
^M'alencienney, witli admirable impartiality, refers to this island as Vaiiicolo or 
Vanikoro. My colleague, Mr. Bouglas Uannie, whose knowledge of the Western Pacific Islands 
is unequalled, assures me that they are one and the same. 
