98 
MEMOIBS OF THE QVFFNSLAE'V m:SEUU, 
as Lake Macquarie, whence consi^iinients frequently find their way to the 
Sydney markets, that it becomes a tolerably well known fish. Northward from 
thence it increases ra]>idly in numbers and importance as a food fish, and on the 
coasts of Northern New Houth Wales and Queensland it is abundant, though 
curiously enough Ketd makes no mention of either it or its congeners in his 
chapters on Queensland food-fishes. On the >South Queensland Coast it is common 
at all seasons, l)ut (*spe(*ially during the winter months, when large shoals of them 
accompany the vast schools of sea mullet {Mugil cephalns) at that time skirting 
our shores on the way to their i)reeding grounds, though unlike them the swallow- 
tails shoAvn no indi<'ations of spawning. The association in fact seems to be 
purely fortuitous, or it may be simply caused l)y a ccmlain similarity of habit, 
which induces two species so dissimilar in their mode of life to herd togetiier 
for mutual protection. Ikn-sonally we have collected the species at Coolangatta, 
Southport, iMoreton Ihiy, and Great Sandy Strait, but further north ''.re only 
kn()\v of it from hearsay, no example having been included in any collection, 
nor did it once occur during the cruises of the Endeavour.” Macleay (1881) 
records it from “ Torres Straits (Ghevert Expedition),” l)ut this is pa]])ably a 
mistake, the Chevert exnmples having, as i)reviously stated, been taloni at the 
Eercy Islands. Without an examination of the specimen it is impossible to 
determine to whhdi si)ecies Macleay s i*ort Aloresby fish belongs, .since McCulloch 
(foe. cii.) records the occurrence of the true T. bailloni at .Murray Island, this 
l)eing the only authentic (^m^iaisland locality at [)resent known to us. Turning 
westward to the Archipelago we Hud that it was unknown to Cantor, while 
Lleek(n* only obtained it at Java, whence it had been sent previously i)y Kuhl and 
van llasselt to Paris, as report(‘d by Valenciennes under the name T. oblongus. 
The British iMuseum poss(‘Sses an exanq>h‘ from Sumatra; Day. howevc'r, failed 
to obtain it at the Andanunis, l)ut records it as common on both sides of the 
jjidian Peninsula, uliile Bouhmger subse(piently increased its western i*ange as 
far as IMaskat on the Persian Gulf. Taken altogether the distribution of the 
s[)ecies as sketched out above is unsatisfactory, for the immense hiatus between 
India and Eastern Australia, denoting an area whicdi has Iieen so thoroughly 
exploited, can not l)e regarded as having been sati.sfactorily filled, nor can the 
cause be satisfactorily accounted for. 
Dimensioo :^: — The usual size of specimens seen in the Brisbane mai^kets 
may average from 800 to 850 juillim., ])ut we have seen a specimen taken in 
Nerang Creek whh'h measured 525 mi Him., and Day records a Canara specimen 
of 560, but these sizes are. we imagine, unusual in this species. 
llhisf ration : — Our figure is taken from a magnificent example, measuring 
328 millim., and captured at i\lud Island, Moreton Bay, by Mr. T. Jolliffe, to 
whose liberality we are indebted for the specimen. 
