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Memoirs of the 
Queensland Museum. 


VOL. X, PART L 

Issued August 2Sth, 1930. 


EDITED BY THE DIRECTOR, HEBER A. LONGMAN, F.L.S., C.M.Z.S. 



ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR 
QUEENSLAND, THE HON. A. E. MOORE. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 


.Kronosaurus queenslandicus : A Gigantic Cretaceous Pliosaur — Heber A. Longman, F.L.S., C.M.Z.S. 1-7 
Text -figures 1-5 

Ichthyological Miscellanea — Plate I ----- - Gilbert P. Whitley - - - - 8-31 

Wasps of the Genus Cerceris in the Queensland Museum - - Professor T. D. A. Cockerell - - 32-36 

New Australian Bees _ — — Professor T. D. A. Cockerell - - 37-50 

Notes on a Fatal Epidemic Intestinal Disease of Goldfish — R. Hamlyn -Harris, D.Sc., and J. V. 

Plate II Duhig, M.B. 51-54 

The Marsupials of Queensland _______ Heber A. Longman, F.L.S., C.M.Z.S. 55-64 

The Glenormiston Meteorite — Plates III-VIII - — — - Professor H. C. Richards, D.Sc. - 65-72 

Queensland Moliuscan Notes, No. 2 — Plate IX - - - - Tom Iredale 73-88 


MEMOIRS OF THU QUEENSLAND MUSEUM, Vol. X., Part I. 


KRONOSAURUS QUEENSLANDICUS. 

A GIGANTIC CRETACEOUS PLIOSAUR. 

By Heber A. Longman, F.L.S., C.M.Z.S. (Director). 

(Text-figures 1-5.) 

In 1924 a new gigantic marine reptile from the Queensland Cretaceous was 
described by the writer under the name Kronosaurus queenslandicus. * 1 The type 
material consisted of a fragment of a very massive sauropterygian mandible, 
svmphyseal region, with the remains, largely alveolar, of six very large thecodont 
teeth. These teeth had a maximum diameter of 40 mm., and it was suggested 
that they attained at least 250 mm. in total height, being comparable 
•with those of Pliosaurus grandis. This fragment was forwarded from 

Hughenden, Central-western Queensland, by Mr. Andrew Crombie in 1899. 

It is pleasing to be able to record that, through the kindly interest and 
enthusiasm of Mr. H. A Craig, Mr. W. Charles, Head Teacher of the Hughenden 
State School, and Mr. N. E. Anderson, additional material of this marine reptile 
has been found. This was discovered in August, 1929, by these three gentlemen 
near a locality in which Mr, Charles had previously found fossils “ two miles 
south of Hughenden.” In all lifteen fragments were forwarded, but some of 
these were small specimens that were so much abraded that none of the 
original contours were preserved. The two largest fragments consisted of the 
proximal ends with portions of shafts of two long bones, which are of out- 
standing significance, as they apparently represent the largest marine reptile 
yet recorded. As will be seen, the dimensions of the preserved portions are 
in excess of the corresponding measurements for M egalneusaurus rex (Knight) 2 
from Jurassic beds, Wyoming, America, previously regarded as the largest known 
Pliosaur, first described as Cimoliosaurus rex . 3 

When the type of Kronosaurus was described it was realised that it 
represented a gigantic form, and although these later fragments from Hughenden 
arc disappointing in their state of preservation they add much to our knowledge 
of this Cretaceous Pliosaur, especially in regard to its dimensions, although mere 
size is not, of course, an index to importance. 


Note. — In Greek mythology Kronos, son of Uranos, swallowed his first five children, lest 
they should livo to depose him. The sixth child, Zeus, was saved by his mother, Rhea, and 
ultimately deposed his father from the Olympian throne. — A. S. Murray’s “Manual of 
Mythology.” 

1 1924 : H. A. Longman, Mem. Qld. Mus., viii, pp. 26-28. 

: 1895 : W. C. Knight, Anver. Journ. Sci., 4th ser., vol. v, p. 378. 

* 1895: W. C. Knight, “Science,” vol. ii (n.s.), p. 449. 



2 MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

In this connection, however, it is of interest to quote the words of Dr. 
F. W. Whiteliouse in regard to our Ammonites in the Family Aconeceratidse : 
“ The outstanding feature of these Australian forms is their enormous size. 
Each species is represented by individuals far larger than any known member of 
the family in the other continents.” 4 


Text-figure 1 . — Kronosaurus queenslandicus . Fragment of Left Humerus, Posteroexternal view, 
with massive trochanteric buttress. (Approximately I natural size.) 


Cratochelone berneyi, a giant turtle described by the writer in 1915, is 
also an exceptionally large form, and it is suggested that the probable 


4 1927 : F. W. Whitehouse, Mem. Qld. Mus., ix, pt. 1, p. 113. 


KMONOSA UHUS QUEENSLAND1CUS. 


3 


mediterranean nature of our ancient Cretaceous sea was suitable for the development 
of a few megalomorphic species, perhaps owing to lack of competition. There is 
an alternative suggestion that these forms were approaching extinction, a phase 
which is often associated with megalomorphism. 

In addition to these long bones, there is a fragment of the proximal end 
of a mandible, an incomplete centrum and two distal fragments of a long bone, 
but these are too abraded to yield much evidence. 



Text-figure 2 . — Kronosaurus queensUmdicus. Section through abraded head and trochanteric 

buttress of Left Humerus. 

The incomplete limb-bones have evidently been subjected to colossal 
strains. In the first place, the fracture of the massive cylindrical shafts, which, 
when unabraded, attained at least eight inches in diameter, must have been the 
result of tremendous pressure. Apart from the fractures, the areas of abrasion 
are very considerable, and in the longer specimen much of the articular surface 
of the head has been lost. When the two bones are placed in juxtaposition, 
however, making due allowance for abrasion, there is so much similarity between 
the contours of the articular surface and the buttress for the attachment of 
muscles that they have been interpreted as right and left humeri. In view of 
their incompleteness, and also of the lack of outstanding distinctions between 
the femora and humeri of these paddle-limbed reptiles, the possibility of an error 
is here recorded, and additional material may show that one or both of these 
fragments may be femora. 


4 


MEMO IKS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


Text-figure 



3 .—Kronosaurus queenslandicus. Fragment of Right Humerus ; 
(Approximately J natural size.) 


inner aspect. 



Text-figure 4. — Kronosaurus queenslandicus. Section through abraded head and trochanteric 

buttress of Right Humerus. 


kronobavrus queen slandicus. 

As long ago as 18715 John Phillips pointed out that isolated femora and 
humeri were not always easy to distinguish. With a complete hone, distincti\e 
diagnosis is usually gained from the contours of the distal region. 

Dimensions of fragments : — 

Left humerus, 480 mm. in length to fracture. 

Maximum antero-posterior diameter of head (very incomplete), 234 mm. 

Maximum diameter across head and trochanteric buttress (abraded), 292 mm. 

Diameter of shaft, taken ten inches from proximal surface, 200 mm. , 
circumference, 585 mm. 

The contour of the shaft near the region of fracture is somewhat 
oval, indicating the usual compression of the distal region. 

Right humerus, 340 mm. in length to fracture. 

Maximum antero-posterior diameter of head (abraded), 281 mm. 

Maximum diameter across head and trochanteric buttress, 275 mm. 

Owing to the differential abrasion the diameters of the head are markedly 
different in the two specimens, but this is obviously due to bad preservation. 
In the second or shorter fragment the antero-posterior contours of the head 
appear to be almost complete, and the maximum diameter is 281. 

In so far as comparisons may be made, the measurements of the long 
bones of Kronosaurus queenslandicus slightly exceed those tabulated for 
Meijalneusaurus rex by Knight (loc. cit.). The length of the complete humerus 
of the Wyoming specimen was 991 mm., and if the robustness of the Hughenden 
limb-bones was also reflected in their length the complete bone of Kronosaurus 
exceeded a metre. 

In these Hughenden bones the convex articular surfaces slope outwards 
and downwards towards the massive buttress of the trochanter, which is 
centrally situated on the main axis of the bone and forms a projecting ridge. 
The contours are shown in Text-figures 1 to 4, but it should be emphasized 
that, owing to prolonged abrasion, the dorso-ventral diameter of the head in 
the longer specimen, or left humerus, is considerably greater than that of the 
convex articular surface in its antero-posterior extent. In the shorter specimen, 
or right humerus, where the abrasion has been more uniform, the two diameters 
are subequal. 

When viewed from above the massive trochanteric process is almost 
quadrangular, owing to the pronounced projection of its upper part, below 
which it slopes sharply away on the external surface, subsiding into the sub- 
circular shaft. 

In his first description of Plesiosaurus trochanter ius, 9 subsequently 
transferred to the genus PUosaurus , 5 6 7 Richard Owen pointed out that the long 


5 1871: John Phillips, Geology of Oxford, p. 362. 

6 1839 : R. Owen, Rep. Brit. Assn., p. 85. 

7 1861 : R. Owen, Mon. Foss. Rept,., Kimmeridge Clay, p. 7. 


MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


6 

bones of this gigantic . Plesiosauroid species “deviate from the usual structure of 
the humerus and femur in that genus ( Plesiosaurus ) in having a strongly 
developed trochanterian ridge projecting from the outer side of the head of the 
bone : this process is of considerable breadth, stands well out from the surface 
at its upper part, then gradually subsides, and is lost in the upper third of 
the humerus ” (p. 85). 



KIIOKOSA VliXJS Q L ' KEN SLA NDICUS. 


The buttress-like process in these bones of Kronosaurus, whether inter- 
preted as a trochanter or as a tuberosity, appears to have been more prominent 
than the corresponding structures in Megalneusaurus, Pliosaurus, or Peloneustes. 

A pronounced depression on the postero-external surface of the longer 
specimen, below the buttress-like process, probably marks the insertion of 
powerful coraco-brachiales muscles, which pulled the humerus backwards and 
downwards. 

The abraded surfaces are somewhat coarsely cancellous in appearance, and 
when viewed under a lens a curious irregular honeycombed effect is noticeable. 

There are two fragments, over 200 mm. in length, in this series, which 
come from the distal end. These have been cleft in the median line of the 
main axis. Probably they represent the distal end of the same long bone, but 
since the initial cleavage so much abrasion has taken place that this cannot be 
positively stated. When placed in juxtaposition these two fragments present a 
distal end of about 400 mm. in antero-posterior width, with a maximum 
thickness of 134 mm. in the central region. In cross-section the bone is a 
flattened oval, and towards the anterior and posterior borders the thickness is 
much reduced. The articular area is fairly complete, but the fractures on the 
shaft are very irregular. 

Embedded in a mass of matrix on the articular surface are the proximal 
remains of two bones, the radius and ulna, assuming the fragments to represent 
a humerus. Prolonged abrasion has so reduced these antebrachial elements that 
no useful information can be gained from them, but the ventral surface of the 
radius may have been very concave. 

D. M. S. Watson in his interesting studies of the Elasmosaurid Shoulder- 
girdle and Forelimb. 8 and his reconstruction of the musculature from relatively 
well-preserved bones, points out that the Plesiosaur limb “ is essentially a rigid 
oar.” In the large-headed types with elongated humeri, the structure of the 
fore-limb and girdle provided the mechanism for swift movement in ocean 
waters. Watson suggests that these large-headed forms, with their enormous 
gape, fed on large animals which were captured by superior speed. 

C. W. Andrews’s restoration, of the skeleton of Peloneustes philarchus, 
from his valuable Catalogue of the Marine Reptiles of the Oxford Clay, 
published by the British Museum, has been reproduced (Text-figure 5) to illustrate 
the general structure of a Pliosaur. 9 

Acknowledgments. 

I am indebted to Dr. Anderson, of the Australian Museum, Sydney, for 
a transcript of W. C. Knight’s paper on Megalneusaurus from the American 
Journal of Science, and to Mrs. Estelle Thomson for her excellent drawings. 


1924 : D. M. S. Watson, P.Z.S., p. 914. 

1913: C. W. Andrews, Catal. Mar. Kept. Oxford Clay, pt,. 2, Brit. Mus. 


8 


MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


ICHTHYOLOGICAL MISCELLANEA. 

By Gilbert P. Whitley, Ichthyologist, The Australian Museum, Sydney.* 

(Plate I.) 

The Director of the Queensland Museum has kindly submitted for 
determination an interesting collection of fishes from that institution. With 
the exception of a fine specimen of Chcetodon ( Citharcedus ) meyeri (Bloch & 
Schneider) from Ivaewieng, New Ireland, and a Triorus reipublicm (Ogilby) 
labelled Papua, all the .specimens came from Queensland, and a selection from 
them forms the basis of this paper. Some nomenclatorial notes which more or 
less directly concern Queensland fishes are also included and a few allied 
Western Australian forms have been compared with the eastern species. Fishes 
from Low Isles, North Queensland, will be dealt with in a forthcoming report 
on the fishes collected there in association with the British Great Barrier Reef 
Expedition, and it is hoped that the taxonomic notes in the present paper will 
help to lighten the burden of synonymy in the Low Isles report. Some of 
these notes may seem to be rather brief, but are nevertheless the result of close 
study of specimens and literature and may be amplified in future ; it is 
necessary to introduce them in their present form to provide for various 
hitherto unrecognised items " a local habitation and a name.” 

The work on the ichthyology of Queensland performed during the last 
five years may be here reviewed, so that those who desire to keep the list of 
Queensland fishes up to date may have the means at their disposal. A list of 
the fishes recorded from Queensland waters was provided in the eighth volume 
of these Memoirs in 1925, and a bibliography containing 174 references was 
appended thereto. This list was mainly concerned with the period from about 
I860, when Gunther’s Catalogue was being produced, to modern times,' so that 
it is probable that an analysis of literature anterior to the Guntherian period 
would bring to light interesting early records of Queensland fishes. The fish- 
fauna of this State is so rich and varied that additional species, both endemic 
and extralimital, will doubtless be recorded from its waters for many years to 
come, and much careful research will have to .be undertaken before any sort 
of coup-d mil of its fauna can be obtained. The troublesome noniina nuda of 
Saville-Kent will have to be disposed of with care, preferably by being relegated 
to the synonymy of known Queensland species, and the types of the less known 
species of De Vis, Castelnau, and others must be re-described and figured before 
much original w T ork can safely be performed. 


By permission of the Trustees of the Australian Museum. 


ICKTH VO LOGICAL M IS( 'ICLLANEA . 


9 


The late A. R. McCulloch’s Check-List of the fishes recorded from 
Australia, recently issued as a Memoir of the Australian Museum, embraces the 
Queensland fish-fauna and serves as an up-to-date basic catalogue. Several 
expeditions and groups of private individuals have made extensive collections 
in Queensland, notably on the Great Barrier Reef, in the last five years, and 
reports on them bv various authors have appeared in the Memoirs of the 
Queensland Museum and the Records of the Australian Museum. An account 
of the fishes of the Capricorn Group was given in the fourth volume of the 
Australian Zoologist. In 1926, two parts of the Biological Results of the 
Fishing Experiments carried on by the F.I.S. “ Endeavour” were published, a 
number of Queensland fishes being dealt with in them. Amongst the smaller 
contributions to Queensland ichthyology should be mentioned the description, 
by Nichols & Raven, 1 of a new Rhadinocmtrus from the Babinda district and 
the renaming of an Aseraggodes by Chabanaud. 2 In Australia, Hamlyn- Harris 3 
has discussed the efficacy of mosquito-controlling fishes in Queensland, and 
Bancroft 4 has continued his valuable observations on the Lungfisb. In addition 
to these technical accounts, popular articles have appeared in the Australian 
Museum Magazine, wherein Hhnantura granulate, (Macleay) was recorded from 
Queensland. Passing references to fishes from Queensland are made in the 
excellent work on the ichthyology of the Philippines and Oceania being done 
by Fowler 5 and his associates, and also in the latest volume of Weber & 
Beaufort’s Fishes of the Indo -Australian Archipelago. Several Queensland 
Chsetodontidse are included in Aid’s monograph 6 of that family, and the 
Rhinobatidse have been revised by Norman. 7 

Family ATHERINID.E. 

Pranesus ogilbyi gen. et sp. nov. 

Eye very large. Head with scales above and on cheeks. Rami of 
mandibles not elevated posteriorly. Premaxillaries slender, not dilated posteriorly, 
and without a notch along their sides. Premaxillary processes short, their 
length less than half diameter of eye. Fine teeth on jaws and vomer. Gill- 
rakers slender and numerous. Body moderately robust, completely scaly. Anus 
situated between adpressed ventral fins. Dorsal fins widely separated. One 
anal spine. Caudal forked.. 

This new genus is practically identical with Hepsetia as defined by 
Jordan & Hubbs, 8 but their conception of Hepsetia Bonaparte 9 does not appear 

1 Nichols & Raven, American Museum Novitateg 2!)(S, Feb. 1. 1928, pp. 1-2, fig. I. 

2 Chabanaud, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (10) v, Feb. 1, 1930, pp. 241-243. 

3 Hamlyn-Harris, Proe. Roy. Soc. Qld. xli, 3, July 26, 1929, pp. 23-38, pis. i-viii. 

4 Bancroft, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales liii, 3, July 16. 1928. pp. 315-317. 

5 Fowler, Mem. Bern. Bish. Mus. x, 1928 ; Fowler & Bean, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. 100, 1929. 

6 Ahl, Arehiv. Naturg. Ixxxix, A, 5, May 1923, pp. 1-205, pis. i-ii. 

7 Norman, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1926, pp. 941-982. 

8 Jordan & Hubbs, Stud. Iclith., Monogr. Atherin. 1919, pp. 14, 31. 

s Bonaparte, Icon. Faun. Jtal. iii, Atherina hepsetus, e. 1836, p. 2 ( fide Sherbom). 


10 


MEMOIltS OF THE QUEEN SLANT) MUSEUM. 

to be accurate. Sherborn, in his Index Animalium, considers Hepsetia Bonaparte 
as a possible error for Hepsetus Swainson. 10 The latter genus has been over- 
looked by most ichthyologists and is apparently based on Hydrocyon hepsetus 
Cuvier, which is not an atherine, so that Swainson’s name may be dismissed 
from further consideration here. Jordan & Hubbs regarded Atherina boyeri 
Risso * 11 as the genotype of Hepsetia Bonaparte, but Sherborn’s citation of the 
original reference, which is not accessible to me, strongly suggests that Atherina 
hepsetus Linne is the tautotype, in which case Hepsetia becomes an absolute 
synonym of Atherina Linne. 

Under these circumstances, 1 consider it necessary to provide the new 
name Pranesus ogilbyi for the Australian atherine hitherto known as Atherina 
pinguis or Hepsetia pinguis Lacdpede. Ogilby 12 suggested that the Queensland 
form might be distinct from the typical Mauritius species, so I propose the specific 
name in honour of that accomplished ichthyologist. The type of the species is 
the Moreton Bay specimen in the Queensland Museum figured in his paper. 

Family A LOG ON I ILL. 

Genus LOVAMIA nov. 

Orthotype, Muttus fasciatus White. 13 

Preopercle serrated on vertical limb and angle. Orbit entire. Jaws 
without distinct canine teeth. Small teeth in jaws and on vomer and palatines ; 
none on tongue. A flat opercular spine. Maxillary not reaching vertical of 
hinder margin of eye. 

Scales large, ciliated, in about 25 transverse series on body and in two 
rows between the complete lateral line and the back. Depth about one-third 
standard length and not much less than length of head. Body with dark 
longitudinal bands. No subcutaneous peritoneal tube above anal fin. 

Seven smooth, pungent spines in anterior dorsal fin, which is separated 
from the posterior dorsal. Vent not far in advance of anal fin, which is short, 
with two spines and eight or nine rays. Caudal bilobed, without pungent 
spines. 

The species accommodated by the genus Lovamia have been dealt with 
by Radcliffe 14 and by McCulloch. 15 A useful key to some genera of Apogonidse 
has been compiled by Jordan & Jordan. 16 Apogon endekatcenia Bleeker 17 is 
a species of Lovamia. 

10 Swainson, Nat. Hist. Classif. Fish. Amphib. Rept. i, Oct. 1838, p. 259. 

11 Risso, Ichth. Nice 1810, p. 338, Mediterranean Sea. 

12 Ogilby, Mom. Qld. Mus. i, 1912, pp. 37-38, pi. xii, fig. 1, and text-fig. a. 

13 White, Voy. N. S. Wales, 1790, p. 2G8 and plate. Ex Shaw MS., Port Jackson, N.S.W. 

14 Radcliffe, Proc. XT. S. Nat. Mus. xli, 1911, pp. 245-261, pis. xx-xxv. 

15 McCulloch, Biol. Res. Endeavour iii, 3, 1915, pp. 115-120. 

16 Jordan & Jordan, Mem. Carnegie Mus. x, 1, 1922, pp. 43-44. 

17 Bleeker, Nat. Tijdschr. Ned. Ind. iii, 1852, p. 449. 


ICHTHYOLOGICAL MISCELLANEA. 


11 


Lovamia is related to A pogon Lachpede, 16 but may be distinguished by 
the larger scales, more denticulate preoperculum, dark longitudinal bands on 
body, shorter maxillary and bands of teeth in jaws. Ma&rolepis Rafinesque 19 
and Aplogon Agassiz 2 ' 1 are regarded as synonyms of Apogon Lacepede. 

Amia was the generic name given by Gronow 21 to a fish from the East 
Indies. Gronow’s work is non-binomial so his generic name is not available for 
use. Gray 22 later revived Gronow’s name in a binomial form and he named the 
East Indian species Amia percceformis from Gronow’s manuscripts. But Amia 
Gray is preoccupied by Amia Linne, 1766, a different genus of fishes, and by 
Amia Gistel, 1848, a genus of Coleoptera. The tvpe-species, Amia percceformis 
Gray, is a synonym of Apogon mohccensis Valenciennes 23 according to Bleeker, 24 
but as that species has maxillary reaching vertical of hinder margin of eye, 
weaker dorsal spines, and no longitudinal bands on body, it also may be easily 
distinguished from Lovamia. Meuschen 25 gave the binomial name Amia calva 
to Gronow’s non-binomial genus and species, but his identification was incorrect, 
as Amia calva Liime 26 is the American Bowfin, an entirely different fish. The 
best course to pursue under these circumstances is to use the generic name 
Gronovichthys for the unstriped Indo-Pacific species of “Amia.” 

Genus GRONOVICHTHYS Whitley, 1929. 

Gronovichthys Whitley, Rec. Austr. Mus. xvii, 6, Nov. 28, 1929, p. 302, footnote. 

Orthotype, Amia percceformis Gray. 

Similar to Lovamia, but with the maxillary reaching vertical of hinder 
margin of eye ; no longitudinal bands on body ; dorsal spines weak. 

Gronovichthys replaces Amia Gronow, 1763, non-binomial = Amia 
Meuschen, 1781 and Gray, 1854, preoccupied by Amia Linne, 1766 {vide supra). 

Genus VINCENTIA Castelnau, 1872. 

Another genus of fishes which claims attention here is Vincentia Castelnau. 27 
The haplotype is the South Australian V. waterhousii Castelnau, which is a 


18 Lacepede, Hist. Nat. Poiss. iii, 1802, p. 411. Haplotype, A. ruber Lacepdde = Mullus 
imberbis Linnd. Bibron (Diet, pittoresq. hist. nat. i, 1833, p. 237) remarked “ C’est fort mal a 
propos que Lacepede a considers le poisson qu’il a pris pour type do ce genre, le Mulle imberbe 
( Mullus imberbis) d’ Artedi et de Linne.” 

19 Rafinesque, Analyse Nat. 1815, p. 86. Nomen nudum. 

20 Agassiz, Nomencl. Zool., 1846, Index. Univ. 

21 Gronow, Zoophylac. Gronovianum, 1763, pp. 11 and 80, No. 273, pi. ix, fig. 2. 

22 Gray, Cat. Fish coll. Gronow Brit. Mus., 1854, p. 173. 

23 Valenciennes, Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat., Paris, 1832, p. 54. 

24 Bleeker, Atlas Ichth. vii, 1876, p. 93, pi. eocxxvii, fig. 1, as A. monochrous. 

25 Meuschen, Index Zoophylac. Gronov. 1781, No. 273; Whitley, Rec. Austr. Mus. xvii, 
1929, p. 302. 

28 Linne, Syst. Nat., ed. 12, 1766, p. 500. 

- 27 Castelnau, Proc. Zool. Acclim. Soe. Viet, i, July 15, 1872, p. 245, St. Vincent’s Gulf. 


12 


MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

synonym of Apogon conspersus Klunzinger 28 which was described earlier (fide 
Zoological Record). Vincentia may be distinguished from Lovamia and Grono- 
vichthys by its united dorsals and much greater depth of body, the depth being 
greater than length of head or about one-third total length. 

Genus YARICA nov. 

Orthotype, Apogon hyalosorna Bleeker, var. torresiensis Castelnau. 

Preoperculum weakly serrated. Orbit entire. Jaws without canine teeth. 
Small teeth on jaws, vomer, and palatines ; none on tongue. Profile concave 
over eyes. Maxillary reaching to below hinder half of eye. Scales large, 
ciliated, in less than thirty transverse series on body and in two rows between 
the complete lateral line and the back. Depth about one-third total length. 
Six smooth strong spines in first dorsal, which is separate from the second. 
Vent not far in advance of anal fin which has two spines and eight rays. 
Caudal bilobed with somewhat pungent upper and lower spines. 

Yarica hyalosorna torresiensis (Castlenau). 

Apogon hyalosorna Bleeker, Nat. Tijdschr. Ned. Ind. iii, 1852, p. 63; et ibid.v, 1853, p. 329. 
Amboina, Batavia, Sumbawa, and Sumatra. 

Amia hyalosorna Bleeker, Atlas Ichth. vii, 1873, p. 96, pi. cecix, fig. 1. Id. Weber & Beaufort, 
Fish. Indo-Austr. Archip. v, 1929, pp. 283 and 341. 

Apogon torresiensis Castlenau, Offic. Rec. Philad. Exhib., Melbourne, 1 875, Intercolonial Exhibition 
Essays ii, p. 9. Cape York, Queensland. 

One (I. 4576) from Townsville, North Queensland. Presented by F. H. 
Taylor. The range of Bleeker’s species may be extended to include Queensland. 
Apogon torresiensis Castelnau is apparently conspecific but may be regarded as a 
variety for the present, as the Queensland form appears to have a narrower 
preorbital than that shown in Bleeker’s figure and other differences may be 
found when comparison of series of specimens can be made. 

Genus PRISTIAPOGON Klunzinger, 1870. 

Pristiapogon Klunzinger, Verh. Zool.-Bot. Ges., Wien, xx, 1870, p. 715. Haplotype, Apogon 
frcenalus Valenciennes. 

Preopercle distinctly serrated on both limbs. Jaws without distinct 
canine teeth. Seven dorsal spines. 

Pristiapogon frsenatus (Valenciennes). 

Apogon frcenatus Valenciennes, Nouv. Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat., Paris, i, May 1, 1832, p. 57, pi. iv, 
fig. 4. New Guinea and Guam. 

Three specimens (Austr. Mus. Regd. Nos. I A. 3987-3989 ) from Rat Island, 
Port Curtis, Queensland, were collected by Messrs. Melbourne Ward and 
William Boardman. 

This species has not hitherto been recorded from Australia. 


28 Klunzinger, Arch. Naturges, xxxvui, 1, early 1872, p. 18, Hobson’s Bay ? 


ICHT1I VO LOGICAL MISCELLANEA. 


13 


Family LUTJANID/E. 

Lutjanus erythropterus annularis (Cuvier & Valenciennes). 

■ Lutjanus erythropterus Bloch, Nat. ansi. Fischo iv, 1790, p. 115, pi. ccxlix. “ Japan.” 

? Mesoprion ruhcUus Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poise, ii, Oct. 1828, p. 475. Pondicherry. 
Mesoprion annularis Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poise, ii, Oct. 1828, p. 484. Java. 

? Mesoprion chirtah Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss. ii, Oct. 1828, p. 488. Based on 
“ Chirtah ” Russell, Fish. Vizag., 1803, pi. xciii. Vizagapatam. 

IHaeope. met alliens Bleaker’, Nat. Gen. Arch. Ned. Ind. ii, 1846, Topogr. Batav. p. 524. Ex Kuhl 
& Van Hasselt MS. Java (fide Weber & Beaufort, 1911). 

Lutianus erythropterus Day, Fish. India, 1875, p. 32, pi, x, figs. 1-2. Id. Jordan & Thompson, Proe. 

II. S. Nat. Mus. xxxix, 1911, p.453. Id. McCulloch, Biol. Res. Endeavour iii, 1915, p. 141 
(Queensland). Id. Paradice & Whitley, Mem. Qld. Mus. ix, 1927, p. 85 (Pellew Group, 
Gulf of Carpentaria). 

One specimen (I. 4671) with D. xi/15 ; A. iii/ 10 ; P. 16 ; Sc. 48, six 
rows of scales on notched preoperculum and more than ten oblique rows of 
scales above lateral line. It was labelled as Lutianus sp., from “ Bribie Island, 
Moreton Bay, Queensland. Pres. J. Freese. Colours in life : — Bright rosy red, 
with numerous oblique golden lines.” It also has a dark blotch on upper half 
of caudal peduncle, preceded by a contrasted light blotch, but no dark band 
from eye to dorsal is distinguishable. 

From Bloch’s figure of a slender fish with red fins and less than ten 
rows of scales over a fairly straight lateral line, one would not identify this 
specimen as Lutjanus erythropterus, but as Day saw Bloch’s type, and bearing 
in mind the remarks of Jordan & Thompson on this species, I feel obliged to 
use Bloch’s name for the species. The name Mesoprion annularis applies best to 
the Queensland form ; it was proposed by Cuvier and Valenciennes for a 
Javanese fish collected by Kuhl and Van Hasselt, whose manuscript name, 
introduced by Bleeker, is a synonym. 

The Queensland specimen resembles Lutjanus dodecacanthoid.es Bleeker 29 
but has more oblique lines on body and the blotches on the tail, and agrees 
better with Blcekcr’s figure 30 of L. chirtah, which is said to be a synonym of 
L. erythropterus. The “ Chirtah” of Russell has very dark edges to fins. This 
form is near L. malabaricus (Bloch & Schneider), from which the Queensland 
specimen is distinguished by having more fin-rays, more oblique rows of scales 
above lateral line, and a bald area around scales on temples. 

Subfamily PA RADICIC HTHYIN/E nov. 

Paradicichthys venenatus gen. et sp. nov. 

(Plate I, fig. 1.) 

“ Chinaman Fish” Paradice, Medical Journ. Austr. ii, 25, 1924, p. 650, fig. 1. Great Barrier Reef, 
Queensland. Id. Paradice, Quart. Rev. Health Inspect. Assoc. Austr. iv, 3, July 1926, 
p. 44, pi. i, fig. 5. 

23 Bleeker, Atlas Icbth. vii, 1872, pi. ccxcvi, fig. 2. 

30 Bleeker, Atlas Ichth. vii, 1872, pi. occi, fig. 1. 


] 4 


MEMOIRS OF TUB QUEEN SLANT) MUSEUM. 


The following is a preliminary diagnosis of a new Lutjanoid fish from 
North Queensland popularly known as the Chinaman Fish. It is hoped that 
an extended description will be published later with an account of the skull 
which has been prepared by Dr. H. L. Kesteven. The holotype is a large 
specimen (7.4. 1554) from Townsville in the Australian Museum, and easts of 
it are also exhibited in the Queensland Museum and in the Townsville Institute 
of Tropical Medicine. Dr. Kesteven states (in MS.) that “ The skulls of 
Paradicichthys and Etdis differ from the Lutjanoid skull in the peculiar shape 
of the basioccipital bone, and in the form of the prefrontal bone and the 
acrartete condition of the maxilla. This last feature is, perhaps, the most 
important difference and fdone would justify the segregation of these and other 
forms with similar skulls from the Lutjanidac.” Paradicichthys is, however, 
nearer the Lutjanidse than the Sparidae, from which it differs mainly in having 
a small patch of teeth on each palatine. It also has a subocular shelf and 
the premaxillary separate from the maxillary. 

D. x/lG ; A. iii/9 ; P. i/15 ; V. i/5 ; C. 15. L. lat. 56. L. tr. 9/1/21. 

General bodily form of Lutjanus but with upper profile of head more 
convex. An oblique groove before eye to below nostrils. Cheeks and opercles 
scaly. Preoperculum entire, without notch. Greater part of nape, preopercular 
border, preorbital, and the broad, convex interorbital area naked. Premaxillary 
separate from maxillary which almost reaches vertical of anterior margin of 
eye ; no supplemental bone. A single exterior series of strong, blunt, canine 
teeth in each jaw, behind which are bands of smaller blunt conical teeth. Outer 
canines enlarged anteriorly. A small patch of small tubercular teeth on each 
palatine ; vomer toothless. 

Body covered with cycloid scales which lie parallel with the dorsal profile 
above the lateral line and do not extend over the dorsal or anal fins. Spinous 
dorsal much lower than soft. Anal base short, the spines small. Pectorals 
and ventrals long and pointed. Caudal strongly emarginate. Vent somewhat 
in advance of anal fin. 

General colour rosy or pinkish with darker and lighter zones arranged 
transversely and longitudinally. After death, the colour is more uniformly 
pinkish with some irregular violet spots on the body. 

The flesh of this fish is sometimes poisonous as food. Dr. P. S. Clarke, 
of Cairns, North Queensland, has treated many cases of Chinaman Fish 
poisoning and has kindly supplied me with some interesting notes. He states 
that this fish is generally found at a depth of ;\bout 60 feet and grows to a 
weight of about 16 lb. Dr. Paradice noted that a weight of 9 kilograms or 
20 lb. is attained. Length nearly 3 ft. 

Specimens are in the Australian Museum from Townsville (Dr. Cilento ; 
I A. 1554 , holotype) and from between 17° S. and 19° S. Lat. on the Great 
Barrier Reef (Dr. Paradice; I A. 2073-2074); one of the latter, was illustrated 
in Paradice’s reports. 


MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM., Vol. X , Plate I. 



Figure 1 . — Paradicichthys vencnatus Whitley. Cast of holotype (plastotypej in Australian 
Museum. Original from Townsville, Queensland. Austr. Mus. Regd. No. IA. 1554. 
G. C. Clutton, 'photo. 



Figure 2 . — Triorus reipublicce (Ogilby). Leetotype of Lactoplrys reipublicce Ogilby. Moreton 
Bay, Queensland. Qld. Mus. Regd. No. I. 1064. G. X’. Whitley, del. 

Fare page 14. 



ICHTHYOLOGIC A L MISCELLANEA . 


15 


Family GERRIDJ3. 

Gerres splendens De Vis. 

(Text-fig. 1.) 

Gerres splendens Do Vie, Proc. Linn. Soe. N. S. Wales ix, 2, Aug. 19, 1884, p. 400. Cardwell, 
Queensland. Holotype in Queensland Museum. Id. Saville-Kent, Great Barrier Reef, 
1893, p. 369 (listed only). 

Gerres ? splendens McCulloch & Whitley, Mem. Qld. Mus. viii, 1925, p. 156 (listed only). 

Re-description of the Holotype of Gerres splendens De Vis. 

D. ix/10 ; A. iii/7 ; V. i/5 ; P. 16 ; C. 15 or 16. L. lat. circa 43. 
L. tr. 4/11/0. 



, Text-figure 1. 

Gerres splendens De Vis. Holotype from Cardwell, Queensland. Qld. Mus. Reg. No. I. 94. 

G. P. Whitley, del. 


Head (48 mm.) 3T, depth (57) 2-6 in length to hypural (151). Eye (16) 
3'0, snout (13) 3-7, interorbital (15) 3-2 in head. Pectoral 46 mm., second 
dorsal spine 30, ventral spine 22, second anal spine 15, and depth of caudal 
peduncle 17. 

Profile rather gibbous over nape. Maxillary reaching to below anterior 
third of eye. Bands of fine teeth in jaws. All opercles entire. Three rows of 
scales on cheeks ; area behind maxillary groove scaled. Seven gill-rakers on 
lower limb of first gill-arch. 

Body covered with large cycloid scales in about 37 transverse series 
between head and hypural joint and in 4 longitudinal series above lateral line, 
some of the tubes of which are tilted upward posteriorly. 


1G 


MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

Dorsal and anal with dense scaly sheaths. Long axillary scales to ventrals. 
Pectorals pointed, reaching level of vent. Caudal forked, but damaged. 

Colour evidently silvery with black area at tip of first dorsal. Lye 
dark bluish with bronze crescent on upper half of iris. 

Described and figured from the holotype of Genes splendens De Vis, 
kindly loaned to me for the purpose by Mr. H. A. Longman, to whom my 
thanks are hereby tendered. This specimen is 151 mm. long from snout to 
hypural joint or about 1\ in. in total length. Queensland Museum Registered 
No. I. 11/94. Collected by Kendall Broadbent at Cardwell, North Queensland. 

Variation and Affinities. — I have collected a series of young specimens of 
this species amongst mangroves at Low Isles, North Queensland. Ihese show 
slight variation. Depth a little more than 3 in length to end of middle caudal 
rays in young, but 3 or less when larger. D. ix/10 ; rarely with 9 or 11 rays. 
Second dorsal spine a little over 2 in depth. L. lat, 41 ; rarely 40, sometimes 
42 or even 43-44 tubes. Upper caudal lobe subequal to head. Colour bright 
silvery and without spots on body, but half -grown specimens sometimes with 
indistinct bars of darker scales. Tip of first dorsal black, some dark spots 
on dorsal rays. 

Genes splendens differs from G. darnleyensis (Ogilby) 31 in having a larger 
eye, shorter pectoral, and larger scales. Genes vaigiensis Quoy & Gaimard 32 
is said to have 11 dorsal and 8 anal rays. Queensland records of Genes oyena 
(Forskaal) and G. philippinus Gunther 33 may refer to Genes splendens. From 
the former, as figured by Klunzinger, 34 the Queensland species appears to differ 
in having smaller teeth, ten longitudinal rows of scales below lateral line, and 
less even profile, whilst from Gunther’s species it is distinguished by having 
different scale-counts. 

Genus PAROCHUSUS nov. 

Orthotype, Genes profundus Macleay. 30 

Back elevated at origin of dorsal. Depth about one-half standard 
length. No filamentous dorsal spines. Pectoral reaching to above anal fin. 

This genus also includes Genes abbreviatus Bleeker, 36 the dental characters 
of which are discussed in the eighth volume of the Atlas Ichthyologique, and 
Genes cheverti Alleyne & Macleay, 37 but these species have fewer lateral line 
scales than the genotype. 

31 Ogilby, Mem. Qld. Mus. ii, Dec. 10, 1913, p. 80, pi. xxiii, as Xyst.cema. Type from 
Darnley Island in Queensland Museum (No. I. 13/1074). 

32 Quoy & Gaimard, Voy. Uran. Physic., Zool., 1824, p. 292, Rawak & Waigiou. 

33 Gunther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. iv, 1862, p. 258. Philippine Is. 

34 Klunzinger, Pische Roth. Meeresi. 1884, p. 48, pi. v, fig. 1, as 0. aeyena. 

35 Macleay, Proe. Linn. Soe. N. S. Wales ii, June 1878, p. 350, pi. vii, fig. 3. Port Darwin. 

30 Bleeker, Verb. Bat. Gen. xxiii, 1850, Monoid., p. 1 1, and Nat. Tijdsehr. Ned. Ind. i, 1850, 
p. 103. Batavia. 

37 Alleyne & Macleay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales i, Feb. 1877, p. 272, pi. vii, fig. 1. 
Cape Grenville, Queensland. 


ICHTHYOLOGICAL MISCELLANEA. 


17 


Family CH/ETODONTID.E. 

Chsetodon rainfordi McCulloch. 

Chcetodon rainfordi McCulloch, Ree. Austr. Mus. xiv, 1, Feb. 28, 1923, p. 4, pi. ii, fig. 1. Holbourne 
I., Queensland. 

One specimen (I. 4086), Barnard Group, Great Barrier Reef, collected by 
W. E. J. Paradice. 

Chsetodon citrinellus nigripes De Vis. 

Chcetodon citrinellus Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss. vii, April 1831, p. 27. Ex Broussonet 
MS. Guam. Id. Cuvier, Regne Animal (Disciples’ edition), 1836, pi. xxxix, fig. 1 (type). 
Name in genitive case, without description, in Gmelin, Syst. Nat. (Linne), ed. 13, i, 3, 1789, 
p. 1269, footnote, ex Broussonet MS. 

Chcetodon nigripes De Vis, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales ix, 3, Nov. 29, 1884, p. 463. Queensland. 
Chcetodon citrinellus nigripes Ahl, Archiv. Naturg. Ixxxix, A, 5, 1923, p. 105. 

One (I. 3372), coast of South Queensland. 

Family PLATACIDiE. 

Genus ZABIDIUS nov. 

Orthotype, Platax novemaculeatus McCulloch. 38 

This new genus is easily distinguished from Platax Cuvier 39 by its nine 
dorsal spines. No notch between the spinous and soft dorsal fins. Soft dorsal 
and anal fins with rounded margins, not produced into falciform lobes. 

Barnard 40 considered Platax novemaculeatus McCulloch as possibly 
belonging to the genus Chcetodipterus Laeepede, 41 but that genus has five dorsal 
spines, falciform fins, and a notch between the two dorsals. An attempt has 
been made by Fowler & Bean 42 to unite McCulloch’s species with Platax 
pinnatus (Linne) which has been called P. teira (Forskaal) by Australian authors, 
but I have examined Australian specimens identified as both species and regard 
Zabidius novemaculeatus (McCulloch) as quite distinct. 

Family FNOFLOSID.E. 

Enoplosus armatus (White). 

Chcetodon armatus White, Voy. N. S. Wales 1790, p. 264, fig. 1. [Ex Shaw MS. Botany Bay district, 
New South Wales.] 

Chcetodon constrictus Shaw, Zool. N. Holl., 1794, p. 17, pi. vi. [Botany Bay district, New South 
Wales.] Plate published 1793. 

Enoplosus white Laeepede, Hist. Nat. Poiss. iv, 1802, p. 641. Based on White, 1790. 

The “ Zoology of New Holland,” by George Shaw, illustrated by James 
Sowerby, and published in 1794, is a rare hook on natural history. Only one 

38 McCulloch, Biol. Res. Endeavour iv, 4, Oct. 31, 1916, p 188, pi. lv, fig. 1. Off Gloucester 
Head, Queensland. Holotype on deposit in Austr. Mus. 

3 * Cuvier, Regne Animal, ed. 1, ii, ‘1817” = Dec. 1816, p. 334. Logotype, Chcetodon 
teira Bloch (= C. pinnatus Linne). 

40 Barnard, Ann. S. Air. Mils, xxi, 1927, p. 605. 

41 Laeepede, Hist. Nat. Poiss. iv, 1802, p. 503. Haplotype, Chcetodon plumieri Bloch. 

42 Fowler & Bean, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. 100, viii, 1929, p. 21. 

B 


18 


MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


fish, Chcetodon constrictus, is described therein, but, as it has been overlooked 
by most systematists, attention is called to it here. The type-locality of this 
fish may be designated Botany Bay, New South Wales. The illustration of 
Chcetodon constrictus is dated “ London Published Octr. 1, 1793, by I. Sowerby 
& Co, No. 2. Mead place Lambeth.” The name is synonymous with Chcetodon 
armatus White and Enoplosus white Lacepede, from the same district ; thus 
Chcetodon constrictus Shaw = Enoplosus armatus (White). 

Family TEUTHIDtE. 

Genus NASO Lacepede, 1801. 

Naso Lacepede, Hist. Nat. Poiss. iii, 1801, p. 101. Ex Naseus" Commerson MS. Logotype, 
N. fronticornis Lacepede, selected by Jordan & Fowler, 1902. 

Nason Anonymous, Allg. Lit. Zeit. 1802 (3), Jan. 1802, p. 22. Emendation for Naso Lacepede 
[fide Sherborn, Index Anim. ii, 17, 1928, p. 4255). Genotype, by present designation, 
Naso fronticornis Lacepede. 

Naseus Cuvier, Regne Animal ed. l,ii, “ 1817 ” = Dec. 1816, p. 331. E.r Commerson in Lacepede. 

Sherborn quotes the anonymous introduction of the name Nason in 
January 1802 in a work which I have not seen but which is apparently a 
review of Lacepede’s book. Naso Lacepede “ 1802,” published in the tenth 
year of the French Republic, therefore evidently appeared in 1801. 

Subgenus CYPHOMYCTER Fowler & Bean, 1929. 

Cyphomycter Fowler & Bean, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. 100, vii, 1929, pp. 2, 264, and 273. Orthotype, 
Naso tuberosus Lacepede. 

T his may even be a valid genus, characterised by the convex hump on 
the snout. 

Naso (Cyphomycter) tuberosus Lacepede. 

Naso tuberosus LacepMe, Hist. Nat. Poiss. iii, 1801, pp. 105 and 111, pi. vii, fig. 3. No locality 
[= Mauritius]. 

Acanthurus nasus Shaw, Gen. Zool., Pise. iv. 2, 1803, p. 376, pi. li. Based on Naso tuberosus 
Lacepede from “ Indian Seas” [i.e. Mauritius]. 

Naseus tuber Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss. x, 1 835. p. 290. Based on Naso tuberosus 
Lacepede. Mauritius (Commerson & others). 

Acanthurus tuberosus Ogilby, Mam. Qld. Mus. iii, 1915, p. 135 (Rainel., Q). Id. McCulloch, 
Austr. Mus. Mem. v, 1929, p. 275. 

Naso ( Cyphomycter ) tuberosus Fowler & Bean, Bull. II. S. Nat. Mus. 100, viii, 1929, p. 273, fig. 19. 

A 20-inch specimen (I. 4637) in the Queensland Museum from Yeppoon, 
Queensland, and presented by Mr. J. Stevenson, has been identified by Mr. 
T. C. Marshall as Naso tuberosus. A sketch of this fish, made by Mi-. Marshall, 
shows that it is an old specimen with a hump developed below the anterior 
portion ox the dorsal fin. The type-locality of this species is Mauritius and the 
Queensland form may be distinct, but I hesitate to give it the new name it 
probably deserves without fuller data at my disposal. An up-to-date work on 
the fishes of Mauritius is greatly to be desired so that comparison may be 
made between Mauritius, Indo-Pacific, and Australian forms. Although early 
writers regarded them as c-onspecific, the fishes of Eastern Australia and those 
of Mauritius are almost certainly distinct. 


ICHTHYOLOGIC A L M 1 SC EL L . I X EA . 


.lit 

Family OPISTHOGNATHID^E. 

Genus TANDYA nov. 

Orthotype, Ognsihognathus maculatug Alleyne & Macleay. 43 

Maxillary extending well beyond hind margin of eye, its distal extremity 
truncate. Teeth of outer row in jaws larger than the others, except for an 

inner row of strong teeth in the lower jaw. Scales cycloid, of moderate size, 

in more than sixty and less than eighty transverse rows on the body. They 
extend over shoulders but leave naked patches on each side of spinous dorsal 
and above pectorals. Twelve dorsal spines, all simple. Caudal rounded. 

Gill 44 made a new genus, Qnathypops, for [Opisthognathns] maxillosus Poey 
and 0. microps Poey, “ with moderately small scales and maxillars passing 
little beyond the eyes,” and his name has been employed for the Australian 
species to be noted hereunder. The logotype of Gnafliypops is the Cuban 

Opisthognathiis maxillosus Poey, 45 as selected by Jordan & Gilbert 46 who 

redescribed the species. It differs from Australian forms in having eight dorsal 
spines and a shorter maxillary. 

Besides the genotype, my new genus includes two other Australian 
species ; Opisthognaihus darwiniensis Macleay 47 from Port Darwin, and 0. 
inornatus Ramsay & Ogilby 48 from Derby, Western Australia. These must 
now be known as Tandya darwiniensis and Tandy a inornata respectively. The 
type of the latter species is in the Australian Museum (I. 841) and was figured 
by McCulloch. 49 

The typo of Batrachus jmnciatulus Ramsay 50 is also in the Australian 
Museum (/. 1254). This species, described from Torres Strait, is synonymous 
with Tandya maculata. 

Family BLENNIIDrE. 

Several well-differentiated species have been described as belonging to 
Blennius Linne, but obviously have no close relationship with that European 
genus and would better be regarded as the orthotypes of new genera as 
follows 

Blennius intermedins Ogilby 51 may be called Pictiblennius ; this new genus 
also includes Blennius tasmanianus Richardson. 52 

43 Alleyne & Macleay, Proe. Linn. Soc. N.S. Walesi, 3, Feb. 1877, p.. 280, pi. ix, fig. 3. Palm 
Is., N. Queensland (“Chevert ” Exped.). Type in Macleay Mus., University of Sydney. 

11 Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sri. Philad. 1862, p. 241. 

13 Poey, Memorias ii, 1860, p. 286. 

16 Iordan & Gilbert, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. iii, 16, 1882, p. 942. 

47 Macleay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales ii, 4, June 1878, p. 353, pi. ix, fig. 3. Port Darwin, 
North Australia. Type in Macleay Museum, University of Sydney. 

48 Ramsay & Ogilby, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales (2) ii, 3, Nov. 30, 1887, p. 561. 

49 McCulloch, Rec. West Austr. Mus. i, 1914, p. 215, pi. xxx. 

60 Ramsay, Proe. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales viii, 1, June 19, 1883, p. 177. Name emended to 
B. punctulatus by authors. 

51 Ogilby, Mem. Qld. Mus. iii, Jan. 28, 1915, p. 127. Darnley I., Queensland. Type 
in Qld. Mus. 

53 Richardson, Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond. iii, 1849, p. 129. Port Arthur, Tasmania. 


'20 • MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

Blennius rhabdotrachelus Fowler & Ball 53 is typical ol Rhabdoblennius. 

Blennius snowi Fowler 54 is the orthotype of Nixiblennius. 

Blennius longanus Jordan & Seale 55 may be named Dubiblennius . 

Blennius latidavius Griffin 56 is the type of Zeablennius. 

A well-marked group of New Zealand Blennies which includes Tripterygion 
segmentatum McCulloch & Phillipps 57 and T. bucknilli Griffin 58 may be named 
Notoclinops, with the former species as orthotype. 

The Sabre-toothed Oyster Blenny of New South Wales which has been 
identified by authors 59 as Petroscirtes variabilis Cantor 60 is not that species, but 
requires a new subgeneric and specific name and may be called Petroscirtes 
( Ostreoblennius ) s teadi. Mr. 1). G. Stead, after whom the species is named, 
recently collected a fine specimen in Port Jackson, New South Wales, the type- 
locality, with D. 31 ; A. 22; P. 14; V. 2 ; C. 11 ; depth 6-1 and head 3-9 in 
length to hypural ; ventrals, pectorals, and caudal hyaline. It is proposed to 
figure and describe this species more fully at a later date. 

Schmeltz 61 noted Petroscirtes cyprinoides Cuv. & Yal. from Bowen, but his 
record has been generally overlooked. 

The Australian species of the subfamily Salariinse have been admirably 
treated by McCulloch & McNeill 62 but I find it necessary to propose two new 
generic names as the result of a study of numerous Queensland specimens. 


Genus NEGOSCARTES nov. 

Orthotype, Salarias irroratus Alleyne & Macleay. 63 

Dorsal fins distinct. Large mandibular canines. Pectorals not nearly 

extending to anal fin. Ground-colour light in tone, overlain with dark 
reticulations. Seventeen dorsal and nineteen anal rays. 

53 Fowler & Ball, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1924 (1925), p. 272. Wake Island. 

61 Fowler, Mem. Bish. Mas. x, 1928, p. 431, fig. 71. Strong Island, Carolines. 

55 Jordan & Seale, Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish, xxv, 1906, p. 420. Tonga. 

56 Griffin, Trans. N. Z. Inst. Ivi, 1926, p. 542, pi. xcvi, fig. 1. Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. 
Type in Auckland Museum. 

57 McCulloch & Phillipps, Rec. Austr. Mus. xiv, Feb. 28, 1923, p. 20, pi. iv, fig. 3. Otago, 
New Zealand. 

58 Griffin, Trans. N. Z. Inst. Ivi, 1926, p. 544, pi. xcvii. Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. Type 
in Auckland Museum. 

59 Gunther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. iii, 1861, p. 234. Port Jackson specimen only. McCulloch, 
Austr. Zool. Handbook, i, 1922, p. 86. 

60 Cantor, .Tourn. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 1849, p. 1182 ; Cat. Malay. Fish. 1850, p. 200. Penang. 

61 Schmeltz, Cat. Mus. Godef. vii, 1879, p. 48. 

62 McCulloch & McNeill, Rec. Austr. Mus. xii, 1918, pp. 9-23. pis. iii -iv. 

63 Alleyne & Macleay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales i, 4, March 1877, p. 337, pi. xiii, fig. 4. 
Low Isles, Queensland. Id. McCulloch & McNeill, Rec. Austr. Mus. xii, 1918, p. 13, pi. iii, fig. 2 
(Murray I., Q.). 


ICHTHYOLOGICAL MISCELLANEA. 


2 : 


Genus CRENALTICUS nov. 

Orthotype, Salarias crenulatus pallidus Whitley. 64 

Dorsal notched. Upper lip crenulated. Mandibular canines small or 
absent. Nineteen or more dorsal and anal rays. 

In Crenalticus pallidus and G. crenulatus (Weber) the anal rays are 
produced and thickened in males. Crenalticus meleagris (Cuv. & \ al.) 65 is 
apparently congeneric. 

Both these new genera differ from Salarias Cuvier in having the dorsal 
fin excised between the spines and rays and in having canines usually present. 
Rapiscartes Swainson (“ Alticus” Commerson in Lacepede) has more fin-rays 
than Negoscartes and differs from Crenalticus in having the upper lip entire. 

Family GOBIIDH5. 

Gobiodon quinquestrigatus ceramensis (Bleeker). 

Cfobius quinquestrigatus Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss. xii, March 1837, p. 134. 
Tongatabou. 

Gobius ceramensis Bleeker, Nat. Tijdschr. Ned. Ind. iii, 1852, p. 704. Wahai, Ceram. 

Gobiodon ceramensis Gunther, Journ. Mus. Godef. vi, 13 (Fisehe der Siidsee vi), 1877, p. 182, 
pi. cix, fig. D. 

One (/. 4545) from Bowen, Queensland, with very dark body and fins 
and light-brown head ; another (/. 4546) from the same place is entirely 
chocolate brown. Collected and presented by E. H. Rainford. 

Family T.ENIOI DID/E. 

Leme purpurascens De Vis. 

Letne purpurascens He Vis. Proc. Linn. Son. N. S. Wales ix, 3, Nov. 29, 1884, p. 698. Brisbane, 
Queensland. Id. McCulloch & Ogilby, Reo. Austr. Mus. xii, 1919, p. 206, pi. xxxi, fig. 3. 
Tcenioides purpurascens Chabanaud, Bull. Soo. Zool. France Iii, 1927, p. 415. 

One specimen (I. 4638) measuring 113 mm. in total length, from Five- 
mile Rocks, Yeronga, Brisbane River. Presented by R. H. Walker. 

Family ELEOTRIDtE. 

Philypnodon grandiceps (Krefft). 

Eleotris grandiceps Krefft, Proe. Zool. Soc. Loncl., July 7, 1864, p. 183. Upper Hawkesbury River, 
N. S. Wales. 

Philypnodon grandiceps Waite, Rec. Austr. Mus. v, 1904, p. 285, pi. xxxvi, fig. 2 (references and 
synonymy). 

Eour (/. 4548) from Bellevue Station, about eighty miles up the Brisbane 
River. Presented by Mrs. Luinley Hill. 


84 Whitley, Austr. Zool. iv, 4, April 1926, p. 235. North-west Islet, Queensland. 

66 Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss. xi, July 1836, p. 332, as Salarias: “ rapporte 

par IV-ron de la terre de Van-Diemen.’’ Probably from North-Western Australia, as no Salarias 
occurs in Tasmania and P.lron did not visit the Great Barrier Reef. 


22 MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

Genus CALLELEOTRIS Gill, 1863. 

Subgenus GERGOBIUS nov. 

Orthotype, Eleotris tceniura Macleay. 

Distinguished from Calleleotris by the fewer dorsal rays (13 instead of 
19) and the ornate colouration. 

Calleleotris (Gergobius) taeniura (Macleay). 

Eleotris tceniura Macleay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, v, 4, May 20, 1881, p. 624. Low Island, 
Queensland. 

This is the Queensland species which has’ been called Valenciennea 
longipinnis by authors. Valenciennea Bleeker is preoccupied and the figure 
of Eleotris longipinnis Lay & Bennett, described from the Loo (Loo Islands, 
does not agree with Australian specimens so well as Macleay’s account of 
E. tceniura, a specimen of which I have collected at the type-locality. For 
references to literature concerned see McCulloch’s Check-List. 66 

Family SYNANCEJIDtE. 

Genus SYNANCEJA Bloch & Schneider, 1801. 

Synanceja Bloch & Schneider, Syst. Ichth. 1801, p. 194; spelt Synanceia on p. xxxvii. Logotype, 
Scorpcena horrida Linne, designated by Jordan Gen. Fish, i, 1919, p. 58. 

Synanchia Swainson, Nat. Hist. Classif. Fish. Amphib. Kept, ii, July 1839, pp. 180 and 267 (not 
p. 268 = Erosa Swainson) ; misprinted Synachia on p. 57. Errore pro Synanceja . 
Bufichthys Swainson, Nat. Hist. Classif. Fish. Amphib. Kept, ii, July 1839, pp. 181 and 268. 

Logotype, B. horricla Swainson (= Scorpcena horrida Linne), selected by Swain, Proc. 
Acad. Nat. Sei. Philad. 1882 (1883), p. 277. Spelt Bufichthys by Hay, Fish. India 1875, 

p. 162. 

Synancidium Muller, Archiv. Naturges (Wiegmann) ix, 1, 1843, p. 302 and Abhandl. K. Akad. 

Wiss. Berlin 1844 (1846), p. 163. Genus caslebs (“ Synanceia mit Vomerzahnen ”). 
Logotype, Scorpcena horrida Linne, designated by Jordan, Gen. Fish, ii, 1919, pp. 169 and 
201. Spelt Synancydium by Agassiz and by Scudder. 

Synancia Agassiz, Nomencl. Zool. 1846, Index Univ., p. 358. Emend, pro Synanceja. Logotype, 
Scorpcena horrida Linne, by present designation. Id. Swain, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 
1882 (1883), pp. 277 and 304. Id. Regan, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (8) xi, 1913, pp. 171 and 
176. 

A difficulty which continually confronts modern systematists is the 
fixation of genotypes for those genera which were originally proposed for 
more than one species and in which there is neither orthotype nor tautotype. 
The practice of using the first species or one chosen as the main species or 
“ example” by the “ first reviser,” without a formal type-designation having 
been made, is discarded as impracticable. The choice of logotypes for fish 
genera has been made in scattered places in ichthyological literature by various 
authors, and, whilst an endeavour is made here to quote the earliest type- 
designations for every genus as far as possible, it is realised that much more 


66 McCulloch, Austr. Mus. Mem. v, 1929, p. 367. 


I OUT I! Y0L0G1CA L MISCELLANEA. 


23 


bibliographical work will have to be done by ichthyologists and their associates 
generally before finality will be reached concerning the logotypes of some of the 
earlier genera of fishes. 

The case of Synanceja illustrates the difficulty which may be met with 
when trying to trace the earliest genotype selection. This name was originally 
proposed by Bloch & Schneider for the following species with “ Corpus nudum, 
caput magnum, cavernosum” : — 

1. horrida, p. 194. Ex Scorpcena horrida Linne. Bengal & Japan. 

2. uranoscopa, p. 195. New species. Tranquebar. 

3. verrucosa, p. 195. New species, figured on pi. 45. India. 

4. didaetyla, p. 195. Ex Scorpcena didactyla Pallas. Indian Sea. 

5. rubicunda, p. 196. Ex Trigla rubicunda Hornstedt. Amboina. 

6. papillosus, p. 196. Ex Scorpcena cottoides Forster MS. New Zealand. 

and “species non definiend*” p. 197. Ex Gron. Mus. 1, 46, n. 103; Zoophyl. 
p. 87, n. 290 [apparently Scorpcena scrofa Linne, 1758.] 

One of these species must, of course, be the genotype, and as there is 
no tautotype it becomes necessary to search masses of ichthyological literature 
to discover who first formally named a logotype. Tire most fruitful sources of 
type-designations failed in this case : the French Dictionaries of Natural 

History and all the available works of Cuvier, Bleeker, and Kaup. Bleeker 67 
regarded Synanceia, founded on S. horrida, and Synancidium, founded on S. 
verrucosa, as synonymous but designated no types for them. Gill 08 gave a 

masterly exposition of the taxonomic tangles surrounding Synanceja but he 
also named no genotype for it. A little earlier, Jordan and Starks 09 had 

approached the same problem from another angle, but their passing reference 
to the genus in question, “ Synanceia (horrida) — Synancidium = Bufichthya,” 
cannot, in my opinion, be construed as a type-designation. 

.The first selection of the logotype of Synanceja was apparently made by 
Jordan, 70 who chose Scorpcena horrida Linne, “ by common consent.” He 
later 71 regarded S. verrucosa Bloch & Schneider as the type of Synanceja “ as 
first restricted by Midler, 1843,” but Muller made no tvpe-designation. On 
the same page, Jordan stated “ S. horrida is type of Synancidium Muller,” 
and, as this is the first logotype-designation for Muller’s genus which I have 
been able to discover, Synancidium becomes an absolute synonym of . Synanceja ; 
Jordan also came to that conclusion on p. 216 of the work cited. 

T regard Synanchia Swainson as a mis-spelling of Synanceja, and follow 

Bibron 72 in considering it a synonym of Synanceja. Another mis-spelling, or 

67 Bleeker, Natuurk. Verlmnd. Holl. Maatsch. Wetensch. (3) ii, 3, 1874. 

68 Gill, Proe. U. S. Nat. Mug. xxviii, 1905, pp. 221-224. 

69 Jordan & Starks, Proe. U. S. Nat. Mus. xxvii, 1904, p. 156. 

70 Jordan, Gen. Fish, i, 1917, p. 58. 

71 Jordan, Gen. Fish, ii, 1919, p. 169. 

72 Bibron, Diet. d’Hist, Nat. xii, 1861, p. 125. 


MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


emendation, is Synancia of Agassiz 1846, Swain 1883, and Regan 1913 ; to avoid 
confusion, I name Scorpcena horrida Linne the logotype of each of these. 
Another absolute synonym of Synanceja is Bujichthys Swainson, for which Swain 
selected the same logotype. 

Subgenus NOFUA nov. 

Bleeker, in his “ Revision des Especes Insulindiennes de la famille des 
Synaceoi'des,” regarded Synanceja horrida and S. verrucosa as congeneric because 
a new species from the Moluccas which he called Synanceia platyrhynchus 73 was 
intermediate in structural characters between the two species. However, I regard 
S. verrucosa as typical of Synanceichthys Bleeker, 7 * and propose the new name 
Nofua as a subgenus of Synanceja with S. plalyrhynchus Bleeker as orthotype. 
The key characters given by Bleeker will serve to define it. 

Synanceja horrida (Linne). 

“ Ikan Swangi Tonwa ” Renard, Poiss. Mol. i, 1718, pi. xxxix, fig. 155 (fide Gronow). 

“ Ikan Souangi Bezar” &c. Valentyn, Amboina iii, 1726, p. 399, fig. 170. Amboina. 

“ Perea, alepidota : dorso monopterygio,” &c., Gronow. Zoophylac. Gronov., 1763, p. 88, No. 292, 
pis. xi. xij, and xiii, fig. 1. Bengal. 

Scorpcena horrida Linne, Syst. Nat. ed. 12, 1766, p. 453, No. 3. Based on Gronow and Valentyn. 
Eastern India [—Bengal]. 

Scorpcena alepidota Bloch, Nat. ausl. Fische iii, 1787, p. 15 (fide Bleeker, 1874), pi. clxxxiii (horrida 
on plate). East Indies. 

Scorpcena horrida minor Mouschen, Ind. Zoophyl. Gronov., 1781, No. 292. [Bengal.] 

Scorpcena horrida Bonnaterre, Tabl. Encycl. Meth. Ichth., 1788, p. 69, pi. lxxxviii, fig. 369, copied 
from Bloch. (East Indies.) Id. Gmelin, Syst. Nat. (Linne), ed. 13, i, 3, 1789, p. 1217 
(India). 

Synanceja horrida Bloeh & Schneider, Syst. Ichth. 1801, p. 194 (Bengal). 

Scorpcena horrida Laoi'pcde, Hist. Nat. Poiss. ii, 1802, pi. xvii, fig. 2 ; ibid, iii, 1802, pp. 258 and 261. 
“ La Scorpene horrible ” Bose, Nouv Diet. d’Hist. Nat. xxx, 1819, p. 41 1, pi. P. 19, fig. 5 (Mer des 
Indes). 

Synanceia horrida Cloquet, Diet. Sei. Nat. li, 1827, p. 441. Id. Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. 
Poiss. iv, Nov. 1829, p. 440 (Java). 

Synanceia grossa Gray, Illustr. Indian Zool. i, March 1830, pi. xcvii. Singapore. Also 
spelt Symnacea grossa ; fide Sherborn, Index Anim. 

Bufichthys horrida and grossa Swainson, Nat. Hist. Classif. Fish. Amph. Rept. ii, July 1839, p. 268. 
Based on Lacep&de, 1802, and Gray, 1830. 

Synancidium horrhlurn Gunther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. ii, 1860, p. 144 (not Australian specimens). 

Id. Day, Fish. India i, Aug. 1875, p. 162, pi. xxxix, fig. 3. 

Scorpcena, nionstrosa Gray, Cat. Fish. coll. Gronow Brit. Mus., 1854, p. 117. Ex Gronow MS. 
Equivalent, to Gronow, 1763. 

Valentyn gave early pictures of stonefishes, as the species of this genus 
are called, and his “ Ikan Sowangi Bezar” obviously represents a specimen of 


73 Bleeker, Natuurk. Verhand. Holl. Maatsch. Wetensch. (3) ii, 3, 1874, pp. 11 and 14, pi. i, 

fig. 2. 

74 Bleeker, Ned. Tijdschr. Dierk. i, 1863, p. 234. Type, Synanceja verrucosa Bloch & 
Schneider. Not seen ; quoted from Weber & Beaufort and from Jordan. 


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. 


26 


MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


Queensland. In “ Stone fishes and the Art of Camouflage,” McCulloch 78 wrote 
about Synanceja trachynis, but his figure on p. 159 shows the dissected venom 
apparatus of Synanceichthys verrucosus. Other notes on stonefishes, besides 
those already quoted, have been given by Banfield 79 and Cleland. 80 

Synanceja trachynis is said to reach a length of nearly 2 feet, but the 
average size of my specimens is about 11 inches. 


Family PLATYCEPHALIC. 

Subfamily 1NEG0CII1NLE. 

Genus SUGG RUX DUS nov. 

Insidiator Jordan & Snyder, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. xxiii, Dec. 10, 1900, p. 368. Orthotype, 
[ Platyceplialus ] rudis Gunther. Id. Jordan & Thompson, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. xlvi, 1913, 
p. 70. Id. McCulloch, Biol. Res. Endeavour ii, 1914, p. 137. Id. Jordan & Hubbs, Mem. 
Carneg. Mus. x, 1925, p. 286. Id. McCulloch, Austr. Mus. Mem. v, 1929, p. p)2. 

Thysanophrys Jordan & Richardson, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. xxxiii, Feb. 28, 1908, p. 630; Check list 
Fish. Philip Arehip. 1910, p. 53. Not Thysanophrys Ogilby, s. sir. 

The generic name Insidiator Jordan & Snyder is perhaps preoccupied 
by Insidiator Amyot, 81 a non-binomial genus of insects, but is certainly 
preoccupied by Insidiator Oken, 82 a genus of fishes equivalent to Epibulus 
Cuvier, 83 and may be renamed Suggrundus, with Platyceplialus rudis Gunther 84 
as orthotype. This species is said to be equivalent to P. meerdervoortii Bleeker 85 
and should thus be known as Suggrundus meerdervoortii. 

Grammoplites Fowler 8 ® may be regarded as distinct from Suggrundus as 
the lateral line is armed throughout with spines, whereas in the latter genus 
there are spines only on the anterior portion. 

in the past, a large array of species has been included under “ Insidiator ” 
or confused with the distinct Thysanophrys Ogilby, 87 but work on these fishes 
has been rendered much easier by Jordan & Hubbs’s excellent key to the 


78 McCulloch, Austr. Mus. Mag. ii, 5, 1925, pp. 159-162, 3 figs. 

79 Banfield, The Confessions of a Beachcomber, 1908, p. 143 and plate. 

80 Cleland, Austr. Med. Gazette, Sept. 1912, pp. 3-30. 

81 Amyot, Ann. Soc. Ent. France iii, 4, 1846, p. 481, non-binomial ( fide Sherborn, Index 
Animalium). 

8 ' 2 Oken, Allgemeiner Naturg., ITniv. Register. 1842, p. 199. Based on Epibulus Oken 
i = Cuvier]. Tautotype, Sparus insidiator Pallas. See also Cloquet’s articles on “Filou” and 
“ Insidiator” in Diet. Sei. Nat. 

83 Cuvier, Regne Anim. ed. 1, ii, “ 1817 ” = Dec. 1816, p. 264. 

84 Gunther, Kept. Voy. Challenger, Zool. i, 6, 1880, p. 66, pi. xxix, fig. B. Japan. 

86 Bleeker. Acta Soc. Sei. Indo-Nederl. viii, 1860, p. 80, pi. i, fig. 3. Nagasaki, Japan (fide 
Jordan & Richardson, Proc. II. S. Nat. Mus. xxxiii, 1908, p. 635). 

86 Fowler, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. (2) xii, 4, June 10, 1904, p. 550. Orthotype, Coitus 
scaber Linno. “ Lateral line armed with spines.” 

87 Ogilby, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S, Wales xxiii, 1, 1898, p. 40. Orthotype, Platyceplialus 
cirronasus Richardson. 


I CUT': YOLOCrCAL MISCELLANEA. 


27 


Japanese genera of Platycephalic!®. Comparison of this with the key to 
Japanese “ Thysanophrys ” given by Jordan & Richardson years before shows 
that characters regarded as specific in 1908 prove on closer analysis and 
elaboration to be generic in 1925. 

Subgenus REPOTRUDIS nov. 

Orthotype, Platycephalus macracanthus Bleeker. 88 

Interorbital space less than vertical diameter of eye. Upper preopercular 
spine enlarged, about equal in length to longitudinal diameter of eye. Anterior 
third of lateral line with distinct upstanding spines. 

Family OSTRACIUUE. 

Genus TRIORUS Jordan & Hubbs, 1925. 

Triorus Jordan & Hubbs, Mem. Carneg. Mus. x, 2, June 27, 1925, pp. 96 and 256. Orthotype, 
Lactophrys trilropis Snyder. 

The nearest allies of this genus are the Ostraciiclse with three-angled 
carapaces. Tetrosornus Swainson 89 has only one spine on the back. Lactophrys 
and Mhinesomus Swainson 911 have no spines on back and more than nine 
dorsal and anal rays. 

Triorus reipublicse (Ogilby). 

(Plate I, fig. 2.) 

' Ostracion concatenatin' Bleeker, Versl. Med. Kon. Akad. v. Wet. Afd. Natuurk xv, 1863, p. 443, 
and Nederl. Tijdschr. Dierkunde ii, 1S65, p. 68 (Port Jackson). Id. Gunther, Cat. Fish. 
Brit. Mus. viii, 18/0, p. 259 ( N . S. Wales specimen only). Not Ostracion concatenatus 
Bloch, Nat. ausl. Fische i, 1 785, p. 101, pi. cxxxi, a West Indian species without spines on 
carapace. 

Lactophrys concatenatus Waite, Mem. N. S. Wales Nat. Club, ii, 1904, p. 57 (N. S. Wales— listed 
only). 

Lactophrys reipublicoe Ogilby, Mem. Qld. Mus. ii, Dec. 10, 1913, p. 92. New name for Ostracion 
concatenatus of Australian authors (not Bloch). 

Lactophrys stellifer Jordan & Thompson, Mem. Carneg. Mus. vi, 1914, p. 268. Note that Sydney 
specimen differs from L. tritropis Snyder from Japan. Id. Jordan, Tanaka, & Snyder, 
Journ. Coll. Sci. Imp. liiiv. Tokyo xxxiii, 1913, p. 431 (Sydney and Lord Howe Is.). 
Id. McCulloch, Austr. Zook ii, 1922, p. 127 (not fig-). Not Ostracion stellifer Bloch & 
Schneider, Syst. lehth. 1801, p. +99, pi. xcviii, which has four strong spines on lateral 
ridge ; described from “America” but probably from Fast Indies or Japan. 

Triorus stellifer McCulloch, Austr. Mus. Mem. v, 1929, p. 423. 

D. 9 ; A. 9 ; P. i/10 ; 8 branched rays in caudal. 

Eye (12 mm.) 1-6 in snout (19) or 1-2 in interorbital (15). Opening of 
carapace around mouth (9) 2-7, gill-slit (6-5) 3-8, pectoral (15) 1-7 in head (25) 
which is 2-8 in length of carapace (71), measured from tip of snout to anterior 


88 Bleeker, Versl. Akad. Amsterdam (2) iii, 1869, p. 253. Amboina. 

89 Swainson, Nat. Hist. Classif. Fish. Amphib. Kept, ii, July, 1839, pp. 194 and 323. Name 
emended to Tetrosornus by Agassiz (Nomencl. Zook, Index Um'v., 1846) who notes that there 
is a genus of microbes named Tetrasomt Corda, Alman. Caiisb., 1839. 

Swainson, Nat. Hist. Classif. Fish. Amphib. Kept, ii, July 1839, pp. 194 and 324. 


MEMOIRS OF TI1E QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

edge of lateral concavity before the tail. Depth, excluding spines (37-5), 2-7 in 
• total length (103) and little less than width (40). Anal or dorsal base (6) 41, 
caudal base (7) 3-5, height of dorsal or anal (12) 2-08 in head. 

Profile steep, emarginate ; snout pointed. Interorbital markedly concave. 
A small spine over anterior third of eye. Gill-opening more than half eye- 
diameter and situated below posterior half of eye. Carapace with more 
rugosities on head than elsewhere. Opening of carapace surrounding mouth a 
little less than eye diameter. Lips fleshy. Ten long, separate, blunt teeth in 
upper jaw, some of them movable ; eight similar teeth in lower jaw. Nostrils 
in a groove before eye. 

Carapace three-angled. A convex dorsal ridge extending from interorbital 
to dorsal fin and bearing two strong spines. Lateral ridges almost horizontal, 
not projecting strongly downwards, extending from sides of head to rear of 
carapace and each bearing a prominent spine below and before the first dorsal 
spine and preceded by a small spine ; another small spine below and before 
the origin of the dorsal fin but no spine on lateral ridge below eye. Ventral 
surface convex anteriorly, flattened or slightly concave posteriorly. Carapace 
closed above and below tail ; dorsally it ends as a rounded process but 
ventrally it is broadly truncate. Ten scutes between gill-opening and tail, 
about five between eye and snout, seven along dorsal ridge, nine down sides 
of body, and seventeen along median line of belly, those before anal space 
rudimentary. Caudal peduncle as long as snout. 

Dorsal high, its margin rounded, with the first ray simple and the rest 
branched ; anal similar to dorsal. Pectoral with upper rays longest and with 
a tubercle-like spine. Caudal rounded, a simple ray above and below. 

Colour, after long preservation, uniform brown, lighter on soft parts, 
spines and junction lines of scutes. Eye bluish. Teeth dark brown. 

Described and figured from a specimen which I designate lectotype of 
Lactophrys reipublicm Ogilby. It is 85 mm. in length from snout to base of 
caudal and comes from Moreton Bay, Queensland. Registered No. I. 1064 in 
the Queensland Museum. 

I have examined thirty-six specimens from the collections of the 
Queensland and Australian Museums from various localities, and regard them as 
referable to the same species though further work on larger series might show 
racial or varietal differences. 

Compared with the lectotype, young specimens from Moreton Bay (Qld. 
Mus. I. 325 ; Austr. Mus. I A. 4592) have two strong spines over eye, back 
more elevated, and spines on lateral ridges more pronounced. An anterior 
spine, on the lateral ridge, below the eye, is evidently lost with age. Fourteen 
to fifteen median ventral scutes in young specimens. The body scutes may 
also show growth-lines radiating from their centres to their corners and giving 
them a starry appearance. The largest Australian specimen of this species' 


I CHTH YOLO QIC A L Ml SC ELLA N EA . 


29 


I have seen is No. I. 328 in the Queensland Museum. It has a carapace of 
108 mm. and the whole fish must have been over 6 inches long ; unfortunately 
the tail is broken. It has sixteen median ventral scutes and smooth, starry 
sides, and came from Moreton Bay. 

A specimen labelled Papua (Qld. Mus. I. 327) is about the same size as 
the type, having a carapace of 71 mm., but has rougher scutes and no supra- 
orbital spines ; otherwise it is identical. 

Large series of young specimens from New South Wales in the 
Australian Museum have characters similar to those of the Moreton Bay form 
but are slightly more elevated dorsal lv, more rugose on the sides, and some 
have milkv-blue spots on caudal peduncle and posterior half of body. Spine 
on each lateral ridge below eye present in all but the largest specimens. There is 
also a median gibbosity before the dorsal fin and behind the spines which is 
much more pronounced than in any Queensland specimen examined. A large 
specimen from Port Jackson (Austr. Mus. IA. 4591 : carapace 105 mm., 
standard length 123) differs from Ogilby ’s type in being much more rugose all 
over and has slightly smaller eye, lower fins, and more convex post-anal margin 
of carapace. In very small specimens, notably in a series from Bondi, New 
South Wales (Austr. Mus. A. 5537-5542), the belly is rounded and the lateral 
ridges point downwards and outwards. 

Prom Lord Howe Island, the Australian Museum has two specimens. 
One (I. 7862) with a carapace of 56 mm. is similar to New South Wales 
specimens, but the other (/. 4360) is of interest because of its large size. 
This specimen has a carapace of 152 mm. and a total length of nearly 9 
inches. All the spines on the ridges are obsolete and the depth is about half 
the length of the carapace. Width 70 mm., orbit 20, interorbital 24. 

Triorus reipublicce (Ogilby) resembles T. iritropis Snyder 91 but differs in 
having much fewer rugosities, winch are chiefly restricted to the head. The 
snout of T. reipublicce is more acutely pointed with the profile straight rather 
than convex and there is generally no spine on lateral ridge below eye. The 
opening of the carapace surrounding the mouth and the size of the gill-slits 
also appear to differ from those shown in Snyder’s figure. 

Triorus reipubliae is probably pelagic, at least when young. One 
■specimen was found in the stomach of a snapper trawled off Port Stephens, 
New South Wales. The species ranges from New Guinea and Queensland to 
New South Wales and Lord Howe Island. 

Triorus pyxis sp. nov. 

In addition to the series of T. reipublicce (Ogilby), in the Australian 
Museum, there are tw r o specimens of a new species from Western Australia. 

91 Snyder, Proc. TJ. S. Nat. Mus. xi, May 26, 1911, p. 535, as Lactophrys. Misaki, Japan. 
Type later figured in vol. xlii, 1912, p. 424, pi. ftv, fig. 1. 


30 MEMOIRS OF TEE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

This novelty is closely allied to the eastern Australian form but differs as- 
follows : — • 

No spines over orbit. Groove for nostrils more excavated. Junction of 
scutes not so straight and even as in T. reipublicce but each scute margined 
with close-set grooves at right angles to its edge, which is correspondingly 
notched. Rugosities not so pronounced, more in the form of rounded, 
reticulating irregularities of surface. Lateral scutes immediately before the 
caudal peduncle forming a sculptured shelf which is more evident in T. pyxis 
than in T. reipublicce , to which it is similar, though scarcely identical, in other 
details. Five scutes on dorsal ridge. Nine dorsal and anal rays. 

Holotype [I A. 394 ) and paratype {I A. 39-5) in Australian Museum, from 
Cottesloe, near Perth, Western Australia. 


Genus ACANTHOSTR ACTON Sleeker, 1866. 

Acanthostraeion pentacanthus (Bleeker). 

Ostracion pentacanthus Bleeker, Act. Soc. Sci. Ind. Neerl. ii, 1857, p. 98. Amboina. 

Ostraeion (Acanthostraeion) fornasini Bleeker, Atlas Ichth. v, 1865, p. 34, pi. cciii, fig. 4. Amboiua, 
Not O. fornacini Bianconi from Mozambique. 

One specimen (Qld. Mus. 1. 1375) from Southport, South Queensland ; 
presented by V. J. Hargraves. Length of carapace 84 mm. New record for 
Australia. This tropical species has been recorded from New Zealand as 
Ostracion fornasini, but it is doubtful whether it occurs so far south. 

The species called Ostracion (Acanthostraeion) fornasini in Bleeker s Atlas 
Ichthyologique is probably not 0. fornasini Bianconi 92 from Mozambique, but 
is O. pentacanthus Bleeker from Amboina. Bianconi’s original description is not- 
available in Australia, but Barnard 9,5 states that Lactoria fuscomaculata von 
Bonde is a synonym. Von Bonde’s illustration 94 shows a species with thicker 
mouth region, more depressed dorsal spine, less branched caudal rays, and 
smaller anal spines than Bleeker’s figure represents. The Queensland Museum 
specimen, compared with von Bonde’s figure, differs in having the head a little 
over 3 in length of carapace, scutes of chin, breast, and posterior part of sides 
particularly rugose, no dark band from eye to pectoral, and markings on body 
tending to form wavy lines. 

Gunther 90 figured an allied form with much stronger preorbital and anal 
spines than the Indo-Australian species possesses. Ftis figure apparently 
represents a distinct Hawaiian species, named Lactoria gal-eodon by Jenkins. 96 

92 Bianconi, Nouv. Ann. Sci. Nat. | Bologna) (2) v, March 1846, p. 115 ; fide Sherborn, Index 
Animalium ii, 10, 1926, p. 2490. 

93 Barnard, Ann. S. Afr. Mus. xxi, 2, 1927, p. 963. 

94 Von Bond.-. Kept. Mai in? Survey S. Afr. iii, 1924, p. 38, pi. ix, fig. 1. as L. fuscolineata. 

95 Gunther, Journ. Mus. Godeff. vi, 17 (Fische der Sudsee ix), 1910, p. 457, pi. clxx, figs. 

Jenkins, Bull. IT. S. Fish. Comm, xxii, 1902 (^ept. 23, 1903), p.. 487, fig. 34. Honolulu. 


B B '. 


I CE TH YU LOGIC A L MI, SC ' E L LA YEA 


3] 


Family TETRAQ DONTI DTE. 

Spheroides (Lagoeepbalus) inermis Temminck & Schlegel). 

Tetraodon inermis Temminck & Schlegel, Faun. Japan., Poiss., 1850, p. 278, pi. cxxii, fig. 2. 
Simabara Bay, Japan. 

An 18-inch specimen (I. 4657) from Woody Point, Moreton Bay. 
Presented by G. Thompson. 

Genus TORQUIGENER nov. 

Orthotype, S-pheroides tuberculiferus Ogilby. 

A row of papillae before the gill-openings. Chin prominent, deep, 
plicated. Nostrils in the form of a rounded papilla with two perforations. 
Nine or ten dorsal rays. Dorsal and anal fins elevated, acute. Caudal fin 
rounded but with the outer rays slightly produced. Lateral line system well 
developed. A fold on each side of body. Skin of back, sides, and belly with 
spaced spines. 

Torquigener tuberculiferus (Ogilby). 

Spheroides tuberculiferus Ogilby, Mem. Qld. Mus. i, Nov. 27, 1912, p. 61, pi. xiv, fig. 1. Moreton 
Bay and Wide Bay, Q. Id. McCulloch, Biol. Res. Endeavour iii, 1915, p. 168 (not figure). 

Three specimens (1. 348) from Moreton Bay. 

Torquigener tuberculiferus vicinus subsp. nov. 

Spheroides tuberculiferus McCulloch, Biol. Res. Endeavour iii, 3, April 21, 1915, p. 168, pi. xxxiv, 
fig. 1. Western Australian specimens only. 

After comparing Western Australian specimens with typical Queensland 
forms, I regard the Australian Museum specimen figured by McCulloch as the 
type of a new subspecies. It is closely allied to T . tuberculiferus but has the 
spines of the ventral surface not extending so far forward on to the chin, 
nostrils in higher papillae, and smaller spots on cheeks. 


The following new names have been proposed in this paper : — 

Subfamily : Paradicichthyince. Genera or subgenera : Crenalticus, Dubi- 

blennius, Gergobius, Lovamia, Negoscartes, Nixiblennius, Nofua, Notoclinops, 
Ostreoblennius, Paradicichthys, Parochusus, Pictiblennius , Pranesus, Repotrudis, 
Rhabdoblennius, Suggrundus, Tandya, Torquigener, Yarica, Zabidius, and 
Zeablennius. Species : Paradicichthys venenatus, Petroscirtes ( Ostreoblennius ) 

steadi, Pranesus ogilbyi, and Triorus pyxis. Subspecies : Torquigener tuberculiferus 
vicinus. 


MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


9 


WASPS OF THE GENUS CERCERIS IN THE 
QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

By T. D. A. Cockerell. 

Cerceris hackeriana n. sp. 

Female (type). Length about 13 to 15 mm. ; black, marked with red 
and yellow ; head and thorax above with short ochreous pubescence ; head 
massive, face very broad, orbits diverging below; sides of face above mandibles 
with appressed ochreous hair ; clypeus black, finely punctured, the lower margin 
with four obtuse dentiform lobes, the upper part with a large outstanding 
lamina, its basal part broad and yellow, its apical part narrower, dark reddish, 
and bifid, ending in a pair of shining nodules ; mandibles robust, strongly 
curved, dark red, with a yellow spot at base, the apical portion black, with a 
red spot at tip ; antenna? entirely ferruginous ; front and vertex dull and 
densely punctured, but a shining space at each side of ocelli : yellow lateral 
face- marks broad but short, ending obliquely at about level of antennse ; an 
elongate yellow spot behind the top of each eye ; thorax very coarsely 
punctured, but area of metathorax convex, polished and smooth, weakly obliquely 
striate at sides ; light marks of thorax consisting of a pair of cuneiform yellow 
marks on prothorax above ; tubercles dull red, scutellum with a broad red band, 
obtusely excavated in middle behind, and postscutelluin with an interrupted 
yellow band on red ground ; tegulae clear, ferruginous ; wings strongly brownish, 
darker along upper margin ; coxa? black, marked with cream-colour apically ; 
legs otherwise ferruginous, the femora marked with black behind, the mark on 
the anterior ones confined to the base ; abdomen strongly punctured, petiole 
broader than long, red at base, apex and sides, and with a small yellow spot 
on each side ; second tergite black, with an entire apical yellow band ; third 
with apical margin dull red, fourth with an apical yellow band margined with 

reddish, fifth with the basal two-fifths black, and the rest dull red; apex red, 

the pygidial plate broad, but narrowing apically. 

Male. Length about 11*5 mm. ; more slender; disc of clypeus occupied 
by a large subquadrate lemon-yellow area, and the bidentate lamina wholly 
absent ; face narrowed, lateral marks much narrower, spots behind eyes small 
and pyriform ; scutellum entirely black ; black on femora more extensive, on 
anterior ones not confined to base ; abdomen with yellow bands on second and 

fifth tergites, third all black, fourth with red hind margin, fifth and apex red. 

The petiole is longer than broad. 

Two females, one male : Tooloom, N.S.W., Jan. 1926 (//. Hacker). Nearest 
to C. opposita Smith, but easily known by the clypeal lamina of the female, 
and other characters. C. opposita is a considerably smaller insect. 


WASPS OF THE GENUS CERCEPJS IN THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


33 


Cerceris goddardi n. sp. 

Female (type). Length slightly over 10 mm. ; black, with yellow 
markings and a little red ; hair scanty and pale, but forming rather conspicuous 
ochreous tomentum on fifth tergite ; head, thorax and abdomen densely and 
strongly punctured, head broad, face very broad, orbits diverging below ; 
clypeus short and transverse, its middle portion convex, its lateral portions 
band -like, the whole pale yellow except the lower margin of the middle portion 
which is black, and furnished with a pair of small tubercles on each side, the 
inner ones much the smallest ; below the middle, the clypeus is expanded into a 
broad deeply emarginate or excavated lamina, the margin reddish, and ending 
on each side in a dark rounded angular projection (perhaps analogous to the 
structure in C. armigera Turner, but that is said to be apical, and not a 
lamina from the disc) ; mandibles externally yellow suffused with reddish, the 
apex black ; lateral face-marks broad, light yellow, ending obtusely a little 
above level of antennae, the inner margin convex ; a narrow yellow line from 
near middle ocellus to upper end of supraclypeal area ; four equally spaced 
yellow spots on top of head, the outermost behind top of eyes ; antennae black 
above, dull ferruginous beneath, including scape ; niesothorax very coarsely 
sculptured, entirely black ; prothorax above with a pair of large broad-cuneiform 
light-yellow marks ; tubercles black ; scutellum somewhat shining, with sparse 
large punctures, and a yellow spot at each side ; postseutelluin with a yellow 
band ; metathorax with a pair of very large, long-oval, whitish marks, approach- 
ing below ; the area large, triangular, dull, minutely roughened, with a delicate 
median sulcus, mesopleura not tuberculate ; tegulae bright ferruginous ; wings 
dusky hyaline, darker in costal region, stigma orange ; second cubital cell very 
broad, receiving recurrent nervure at middle (beyond middle in G. hackeriana) : 
legs black, with knees, tibiae, and tarsi ferruginous ; abdomen with petiole 

considerably longer than broad, black at base, pale yellow in middle, red at 

apex ; second tergite with a large crescentic yellow mark on each side, third 
black, fourth with apical half yellow, fifth with a narrow apical yellow band 
and the extreme margin red ; pygidial plate broad, ferruginous, the apical 

corners angulate ; venter not modified. 

Male. Length about 9 mm. ; clypeus yellow, convex, with no lamina ; 
frontal yellow stripe reaching clypeus ; black bands between upper part of 

clypeus and lateral marks narrow ; scape short, swollen, orange in front ; no 
yellow' spots at top of head ; tegulse orange, black at base and narrowly in 
front ; scutellum entirely black ; second [cubital cell not broadened, its outer 
side incomplete above (the same on both sides), recurrent nervure received 
distinctly before the middle ; third cubital cell not so produced apically ; 
nervures darker ; stigma less brightly coloured ; anterior and middle trochanters 
and femora red in front ; second tergite with a broad bright-yellow band, 
narrower in middle, and with a linear (suffused) red interruption ; fourth and 
fifth tergites with yellow bands ; pygidial plate mainly black, but dark red at 
apex and sides, and on each side of it a yellow spot ; venter simple. The 
sixth tergite has a rather obscure yellow band, failing in middle. 

C 


34 


MEMOIRS OF TEE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


Two other males are smaller, with a pair of yellow spots on seiitellum, 
the tibiae and tarsi yellow, the band on second tergite broad and entire, the 
pygidial plate yellow, with a small dark mark at base. 

One female, three males : Dunk Island, Queensland. The female collected 
May 1914 (Hamlyn- Harris) ; the males August 1927 (II . Hacker). Mr. Hacker 
marked the female “ near opposita Srn.” ; it is easily known from that species 
by the structure of the clypeus. The males caused me a good deal of 
perplexity ; at first I had them set apart as a distinct species, and even 

thought the larger and smaller males might be different. I conclude, however, 
that the whole series represents a single variable species, but commend the 
matter to investigators on the ground, who may be able to reverse this decision. 
The male is very much like that of G. venusta Sin. in many respects, but the 
lateral-face marks do not extend so far toward the middle of the face, the 
femora are largely black, the metathorax is spotted, the band on postscutellum 
is entire. In C. venusta the second cubital cell receives the recurrent nervure 
very near the base. The new species is named after Professor E. J. Goddard, 
in recognition of his organisation of the survey of the Dunk Island fauna. 

Cerceris calida Turner, 1915. 

Female : Babinda, Queensland, July 18, 1923 (IT. C. Dormer). The 

emarginate apex of clypeus is I feel sure not the morphological margin, but the 
emarginate lamina of C. goddardi, in this species becoming subapical. The 
second cubital cell is small and triangular, receiving the recurrent nervure 
about or a little before the middle. The second tergite is clear red, with a 
broad yellow base. The species was described from Kuranda. 

Cerceris darrensis n. sp. 

Female. Length about 8 mm., rather slender, coarsely punctured, black 
with few light markings, the thorax being entirely black, except for a couple 
of obscure red spots on prothorax above ; head very broad, with silvery hair 

at sides of face ; clypeus, broad lateral marks (very broad below, narrower 

above, truncate a little above level of antennae), and under side of scape 
creamy-white ; scape above clear red ; flagellum strongly blackened above, 
clear red below ; mandibles little curved, black at apex, red in middle, yellowish 
white at base ; lower margin of middle lobe of clypeus broadly black, shining, 
with a small median tooth ; disc of clypeus with an extended conical pointed 
spine or lamina, the apical part of which is black ; a small round shining 
somewhat elevated yellow spot behind the top of each eye ; area of meta- 
thorax rather small, triangular, moderately shining, but rugosopunctate, with a 
tendency to oblique striae ; other parts of metathorax extremely coarsely and 
densely punctured ; teg u l;e ferruginous, the margin anteriorly orange ; wings 
hyaline, marginal cell and apex dusky ; stigma dark reddish ; second cubital 
cell small, receiving recurrent nervure ■well before middle ; legs basally black, 
knees red, anterior and middle tibiae light yellow in front, infuscated behind ; 
hind tibiae black, yellowish at apex and with a rather obscure yellowish stripe 


WASPS OF THE GEE US CEJSCMMS IN THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 3o 

behind ; anterior and middle tarsi pale, hind tarsi dark fuscous ; petiole 
broader than long, its apical margin red ; second tergite black, obscurely 
reddish at base ; third dull red, somewhat blackened in middle, with an apical 
interrupted pale yellow band ; fourth black ; fifth black, with a broad but 
obscure pale reddish band ; pygidial plate broad, dark red, blackened apically. 
Pleura and venter simple. 

Darra, Brisbane, Dec. 14, 1915 (77. Hacker). In Turner’s table it falls 
near C. opposita, but it is very distinct by the structure of the clypeus and 
other characters. C. unispinosa Turner, from Darra, has a name which would 
have been appropriate for this species, but it is quite a different insect. Mr. 
Hacker had labelled this as a new species. 

Gerceris brisbanensis n. sp. 

Female. Length hardly 6-5 mm. ; rather slender but with broad head, 
strongly punctured, black with pale ornaments ; hair scanty and white,, 
appressed and silvery on clypeus ; mandibles pale yellow with long black apex ; 
face pale yellow, with a rather narrow black band from each antenna down to 
clypeus, leaving an elevated yellow frontal carina, broadened below ; lateral 
face-marks ending in an obtusely subangular manner halfway up front ; a 
broad pale-yellow stripe behind eyes, the upper part divided, separating the 
usual postocular spot ; a gently curved yellow 7 band across top of head, 
interrupted in middle ; margin of middle lobe of clypeus black, but it is 
overhung by a very broad short lamina, broadly and rather shallow'ly emargi- 
nate, with a dark rounded tubercle at each side, and anterolateral to these, 
on the true margin, is a shiny dark tubercle ; scape yellow 7 in front and 
behind, a little dark at apex ; flagellum long, dark brown above, testaceous 
below 7 ; prothorax and mesothorax entirely black, or prothorax may have 
two large yellow spots ; scutellum and postscutellum each with a yellow 
band, but that on scutellum may be interrupted ; metathorax with a pair of 
fusiform yellow marks (a little stained with red), converging below 7 ; area of 
metathorax triangular, black, finely irregularly plicatulate all over ; mesopleura 
simple ; tegulse clear yellow ; wings hyaline, dusky in marginal cell and at 
apex ; stigma light rufous ; second cubital cell very broad, receiving recurrent 
nervure before the middle ; legs light reddish -testaceous, anterior ones 
blackened at base, and their femora darkened above ; petiole much longer 
than broad, pale dull reddish, black at base ; second tergite light yellow, 
suffused with red ; third black, narrowly obscure red apically, and broadly 
so at sides ; fourth dull pale yellow, black at base ; fifth brown or pale 
yellowish ; apical plate broad, very dark reddish or partly yellowish. 

Two females, Darra, Brisbane, Dec. 14, 1915 (//. Hacker). An insignificant 
looking but distinct species, resembling G. venusta, but the structure of the 
clypeus is different. 

Cereeris goodwini n. sp. 

Female. Length about 8-3 mm. ; black, with thin white hair, conspicuous 
at sides of metathorax and on cheeks, long on sides of petiole and basal part 


3li MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

of second tergite ; head large and broad ; face light yellow except the supra- 
clypeal area and a narrow band part-way down each side of clypeus ; a short 
elevated yellow keel between the antennae ; lateral marks ending very broadly 
at about level of antennae ; small yellow spots behind upper part of eyes ; 
lower margin of clypeus black, with lateral tubercles, and overhung by a black- 
edged very broadly and shallowly emarginate lamina, having at each side a 
rounded shining black tubercle (the whole structure similar in principle to that 
in C. brisbanensis) ; scape curved, black, with a subapical reddish spot in 
front ; flagellum dark above, but apex above, and whole under side, bright 
ferruginous : thorax black, closely punctured (less so on scutellum) ; prothorax 
with a small crescentic yellow mark on each side above, but no other yellow 
markings on thorax ; area of metathorax somewhat shining, with a median 
sulcus, which is finely cross-ribbed, and the surface of the area finely plicatulate 
and showing some punctures ; mesopleura simple ; tegulse chrome yellow, with 
a basal reddish spot : wings greyish hyaline, dusky in marginal cell and beyond; 
stigma reddish black ; second cubital cell very broad, receiving recurrent 
nervure a little before middle ; legs basally black, but knees and tibiae bright 
ferruginous ; anterior and middle tarsi pale reddish, hind tarsi red, the small 
joints partly infuseated ; petiole black, rugose, longer than broad, its hind 
margin narrowly red ; second tergite black in middle, red at sides, with two 
large triangular yellow spots basally ; third black ; fourth black- with a broad 
apical yellow band ; fifth dusky red, with base black, and a narrow imperfect 
apical yellow band ; apex dark, the broad pygidial plate reddish. 

Stanthorpe, Queensland, July 31, 1924 (F. A. Perkins). Named after 
Sir John Goodwin. Governor of Queensland, an excellent naturalist, in recognition 
of his interest in the work of the entomologists. It is allied to the last species, 
but quite distinct. Also at Stanthorpe, Feb. 1, 1926, was taken a female 
C. minuscula Turner. The tegulse in both sexes are very bright ferruginous. 


NEW AUSTRALIAN BEES. 


37 


NEW AUSTRALIAN BEES. 

By T. D. A. Cockerell. 

Parasphecodes zamelanus sp. n. 

Male. Length about 11 nun., anterior wing 8-3: entirely black , including 
antennae and legs, except for the usual yellow clypeus, with the sides above 
black, the black areas uniting above, the upward extension of yellow ending in 
a sharp point ; body throughout with thin but quite long and conspicuous dull 
white hair, stained with blackish on head and thorax above ; clypeus 
prominent, with a median groove; sides of face with conspicuous white hair; 
front dull, but a shining crescent in front of middle ocellus ; mesothorax dull, 
somewhat shining in middle, very finely punctured ; scutellum bigibbous, the 
elevations distinctly shining ; area of metathorax moderately shining with well- 
defined straight plicae : tegulae black with an obscure reddish spot ; wings 

greyish hyaline, the outer margin darker ; nervines dark fuscous ; stigma light 
brown with dark border ; second cubital cell very broad, receiving first 
recurrent nervure near end ; legs with white hair ; spurs pale ; abdomen 
shining, finely punctured, no depression between first and second tergites ; 
second sternite with a median elevation, not amounting to a spine. 

Two from Dunalley, Tasmania, Dec. 26, 1917 (G. H. Hardy) ; Queensland 
Museum. Near to P. cervicalis Ckll., but larger and with different venation. 

Parasphecodes rufocollaris sp. n. 

Female. Length about 7-5 mm., anterior wing 6-3 ; head and thorax 
black, with very little hair ; prothorax, tubercles, and tegulse bright ferruginous ; 
surface of body dullish, with a sericeous lustre ; mandibles dull red with black 
base ; antennae black ; area of raeta thorax very large and long, without evident 
sculpture, the median triangular area completely dull, the broad marginal area 
somewhat shining ; under the microscope the area shows an excessively minute 
reticulation ; sides of metathorax with fine white tomentum, as if mildewed ; 
wings long, reddish, stigma (very large) and nervureS dark rufo-fuscous ; second 
cubital cell higher than broad ; first recurrent nervure meeting intercubitus ; 
legs clear bright ferruginous, the tarsi with pale golden hair : abdomen rather 
narrow, cuneate basally, dark brownish red, stained with blackish, the third 
tergilo very dark, and beyond that practically black ; no hair bands or patches ; 
first two tergites with a little elevation on each side ; third sternite with pale 
hair, but on the next two it is black. 

National Park, Queensland, Dec. 1921 (H. Hacker ) ; Queensland Museum. 
Allied to P. bribiensis Ckll., but easily known by the peculiar colouration. Mr. 
Hacker had recognised it as a new species. 


3S MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

Paraspheeodes anhybodinus sp. n. 

Male. Length about 10 mm., anterior wing 8 ; head and thorax black, 
including mandibles and the very long antennae ; clypeus dull honey yellow, 
polished, the sides above black, middle depressed ; hair of head and thorax 
thin, dull white, a little fuscous on vertex and scutellum ; sides of face with 
rather dense white hair ; mesothorax dull, finely and closely punctured, but the 
punctures clearly visible under a lens ; scutellum bigibbous, the elevations 
shining, the distinct punctures well separated ; area of metathorax large, 
dullish, with strong straight well-spaced plicae at sides, but in middle with finely 
rugolose confused sculpture, hind margin obtuse, interrupted in middle ; teguke 
dark rufous ; wings hyaline, with a dusty apical spot ; stigma and nervures 
dilute sepia ; second cubital cell very broad, receiving recurrent nervure very 
near its end ; abdomen with first three segments dark chestnut red, the first 
suffused with blackish basally, and with white hair, the third suffusedly blackish ; 
fourth tergite and beyond black ; no hair bands or patches ; a deep cleft 
between first and second sternites, the second somewhat elevated basally ; 
claspets with greatly swollen shining base. 

Cheltenham, Victoria, April 13, 1918 ( F. E. Wilson ) ; Queensland 
Museum. Allied to P. hybodinus Ckll., but elevation of second sternite much 
less pronounced, and red of abdomen much darker. They agree in the shining 
snow-white hair on inner side of hind tarsi. The stigma of P. hybodinus is 
redder, and the wings are not so long. P. hybodinus has the malar space 
shorter, and the clypeal pale area clear light yellow. 

Paraspheeodes notescens sp. n. 

Male (type). Length about 9 mm. ; head and thorax black, with the 
clypeus (except a large black mark on each side above) pale yellow, labrum 
and mandibles reddish, tubercles clear red, teguke pale rufo-fulvous ; antennae 
very long, reaching base of abdomen, flagellum bright ferruginous beneath ; 
face strongly narrowed below ; hair of face, front, and thorax above pale 
fulvous, on cheeks and under side of thorax it is dull white ; mesothorax and 
scutellum dull, minutely and densely punctured, hairy, but not sufficiently to 
hide the surface ; area of metathorax large, dull, without a shining rim, with 
rather indistinct radiat ing plies ; mesopleura dull, hairy ; wings hyaline with 
an apical dusky spot ; stigma and nervures dusky reddish ; second cubital cell 
higher than broad, first recurrent nervine meeting intercubitus ; legs bright 
ferruginous, with the coxae, trochanters, femora at base and more extensively 
beneath, black ; abdomen shining chestnut red, a moderate depression between 
first and second tergites, no basal black spot, tergites beyond the third more 
or less stained with blackish ; second ventral segment not modified. 

Female. Length about 9 mm. ; head and thorax black, tubercles reddened 
apicalJy, tegulse rufo-fulvous ; head and thorax above with fulvous hair, dense 
on postscutellum ; area of metathorax semilunar, with fine dense plicae, and a 
narrow shining rim ; first recurrent nervure reaching second cubital cell a little 


NEW AUSTRALIAN BEES. 


39 


before end ; femora black with apex broadly rufous ; anterior and middle 
tibiae dusky red, hind tibiae black ; anterior and middle tarsi reddish, hind pair 
black, with an orange brush at end of basitarsi ; abdomen broad, minutely 
punctured, tergites dark red, with no black basal mark, extreme apex blackish ; 
small cuneiform patches of white hair at lateral bases of second and third 
tergites ; venter with white hair. 

Beaconsfield, Victoria, Jan. 1, 1918 (F. E. Wilson, 510, 631) ; Queensland 
Museum. Closely related to P. fultoni Ckll., the male easily distinguished by 
the flagellum red beneath (all black in P. fultoni, and also in P. rufulus Friese), 
and the female by the red front and middle tibiae. 

Parasphecad.es subfultoni sp. n. 

Female. So like P. fultoni Ckll. that I hesitated to separate it, but it is 
definitely distinct from the type of that species as follows : — Teguke rufous (not 
the clear rufo-fulvous of P. fultoni) ; wings blackish, unusually dark, with darker 
stigma and very dark nervures ; area of metathorax large, with no crescentic 
margin, the surface covered with strongly wrinkled rugae ; middle, tibiae red at 
base (as also are the anterior ones) : abdomen very dark red, the same colour 

throughout, the margins of the third and fourth tergites coloured like the rest. 
The venter has much white hair. 

Victoria, 1923 ( E . 1 Vilson) ; Queensland Museum. 

Paraspheeodes submoratus sp. n. 

Female. Length about 7-6 mm. ; head and thorax black, with thin 
white hair, becoming pale brown dorsally and even black on vertex ; clypeus 
and tubercles entirely black ; antennae black ; clypeus moderately shining, with 
scattered punctures, no median groove ; front dull, somewhat shining at sides ; 
mesothorax slightly shining, excessively finely punctured, median groove distinct ; 
cheeks and pleura with conspicuous long white hair ; scutellum bigibbous, the 
elevations shining ; area of metathorax large, the basal part finely plicate, 
no distinct shining rim ; under the microscope the area shows a very delicate 
cross- 1 ineolation ; posterior truncation very small ; tegulse rufescent, very dark ; 
wings dilute brown, stigma reddish brown, nervures dark fuscous ; second 
cubital cell broad, first recurrent nervure meeting the intercubitus ; legs black ; 
abdomen chestnut red, the apical tergite blackened ; hind margins of segments 
testaceous ; no hair-patches ; venter with white hair. 

Russell Falls, National Park, Tasmania, Jan. 10, 1925 (A. J. Turner) ; 
Queensland Museum. In my manuscript table it runs to P. lichatus Sm., but it is 
evidently distinct. P. lichatus is a much larger insect. 

Paraspheeodes submeracus sp. n. 

Female. Length a little over 9 mm, ; head and thorax dull black, 
robust, with rather abundant erect white hair (entirely white dorsally) ; mandibles 
very faintly reddish subapically ; clypeus and tubercles entirely black ; head 


40 


MEMOIRS OF TIIE QUE,EN SLANT) MUSEUM. 


broad ; clypeus shining, with widely scattered punctures, no median sulcus ; 
flagellum with a very faint reddish tinge beneath ; mesothorax entirely dull, 
the punctures so tine as to be hardly visible under a lens, but the microscope 
shows excessively dense small punctures ; middle of postscutellum with dense 
pale tomentum ; area of metathorax large, poorly defined, almost without 
distinct sculpture, but the microscope shows fine plicae at the base ; there is no 
shining rim ; tegulae very dark brown, almost black ; wings greyish hyaline, with no 
evident apical cloud ; stigma and nervines dull rufous ; basal nervure very 
strongly bent, and ending a long distance from nervulus ; second cubital cell 
higher than broad ; first recurrent nervure meeting intercubitus, or going to 
apical corner of second cubital cell ; legs black, with thick pale hair, spurs 
ferruginous ; abdomen very broad, dull dark red, finely punctured, black beyond 
the third tergite ; no hair -patches ; venter with white hair ; second sternite 
simple. Orange pollen (round grains, without spicules) has been collected on 
the hind femora and tibiae, and the base of the abdomen beneath. 

Stanthorpe, Queensland, Nov. 3, 1922 (F. A. Perkins) ; Queensland 

Museum. Also runs to P. lichatus in my table, and suggestive of P. 

Mrtiventris Ckll., but quite distinct. The peculiar basal nervure is a good 
recognition mark. 

Parasphecodes bribiensiformis sp. n. 

Female. Like P. bribiensis Ckll., but area of metathorax much larger, 
subtriangular, with coarse though irregular plicae ; first abdominal tergite 
considerably broader, being much broader than long ; base of second tergite 
pellucid whitish except at extreme sides ; tegulae piceous with a red spot (fulvo- 
testaceous in P. bribiensis) ; hair of scutellum very pale fulvous. 

Bribie Island, Queensland, Aug. 29, 1920 ( Hacker ) ; Queensland Museum. 
I hesitated whether to call this a variety of P. bribiensis, or a distinct species ; 
but the area of metathorax is so different that it must apparently be separated. 

The species of this group, with brown abdomen, and bosses on the first 
two tergites, are neither true Parasphecodes nor true Halictus. They may form 
a subgenus Aphalictus subg. n., probably to be treated as a genus when 
structural studies of both sexes can be made. The type of the subgenus is 
P. bribiensis Ckll. 

Halictus moreensis sp. n. 

Female. Length about 8 mm. ; robust, black, with very broad abdomen 
(its width over 3 mm.) ; tibiae and tarsi entirely clear bright ferruginous ; legs 
otherwise reddish brown, with the femora clear red apically ; head broad ; 
mandibles rufous in middle ; scape black, flagellum ferruginous beneath ; 
clypeus shining, punctate, convex, with no median sulcus ; hair of head grey, 
rather abundant ; front minutely striate ; mesothorax and scutellum with short, 
rather dense, pale-fulvous hair ; postscutellum with paler tomentum, very dense 
in middle ; mesothorax dullish, scutellum shining, not bigibbous ; area of 
metathorax semilunar, not at all pointed behind, and with no shining rim, the 


NEW AUSTRALIAN BEES. 


41 


surface densely sculptured all over, finely reticulate ; posterior truncation 
sharply margined at sides ; upper margin of prothorax at sides, and margin of 
tubercles, densely pale-tomentose ; tegulse ferruginous ; wings hyaline, slightly 
dusky, stigma and nervines light ferruginous ; second cubital cell very broad ; 
first recurrent nervure meeting intercubitus ; outer recurrent and intercubitus 
weakened ; hind spur simple ; abdomen shining, with erect pale hair at base 
and sides ; basal pale ochreous-tinted hair-bands on segments 2 to 4, broad 
at sides, contracted or interrupted in middle ; extreme apex with red hair. 

Moree, N.S.W., March 1923 {A. P. Dodd) ; Queensland Museum. Related 
to H. conspicuus Smith (of which H. albogutlatus Friese appears from the 
description to be a synonym), but with bands instead of spots on the abdomen. 

Halictus picticornis sp. n. 

Male (type). Length about 4-5 mm., anterior wing 3.5 ; black, the 
clypeus with a broad yellow band (its upper margin rounded) ; mandibles 
ferruginous ; flagellum bright ferruginous beneath, with the last three joints 
black ; tubercles clear ferruginous, this colour extending some distance along 
the margin of the prothorax ; teguke bright ferruginous ; knees red, and 
basitarsi pale dull reddish ; abdomen somewhat brownish, first tergite with a 
broad bright ferruginous margin, second less conspicuously reddened apically ; 
pubescence scanty and pale, the abdomen with thin hair, but no bands or 
patches. Face narrow, eyes converging below : clypeus strongly produced ; 

antennae of moderate length ; front and mesothorax very densely punctured, 
the 'mesothorax slightly shining; postscutellum with a dense tuft of hair; 
area of metathorax minutely rugulose all over, with no shining margin ; wings 
greyish hyaline, stigma rather small, dark reddish ; nervures very dark, the 
outer ones strong ; second cubital cell narrowed above, ungulate where it 
receives the recurrent nervure some distance from end ; abdomen shining, 
second tergite with a basal depression. 

Female. Length about fro mm. ; black, with mandibles reddened 
apically ; flagellum clear bright ferruginous beneath, except at base ; thorax 
entirely black ; mesothorax evidently shining, with well -separated punctures on 
a minutely sculptured (not polished) surface ; area of metathorax semilunar, 
densely covered with irregular vermiform rugae, with no shining rim ; legs 
obscure brownish ; anterior knees red, hind spur with four or five very short 
oblique teeth, and one large obtuse one ; nervures rather paler, and outer ones 
weaker, than, in male ; abdomen shining black, hind margins of tergites 
obscurely brownish ; no bands or patches, but a thin covering of pale hair 
giving a pruinose effect. 

Caloundra, 1916 (H. Hacker ) ; Queensland Museum. The male Jan. 20, 
the female Jan. 2. The male will be easily recognised by the peculiar antennae. 
The female is very near H. plebeius Ckll., but smaller, with yellowish and 
fuscous hair on hind legs. It is also allied to H. globosus Smith. 


42 


MEMOIRS OR THE QUEEN SLANV MUSEUM. 


Halictus excusus sp. n. 

Male. Length about 7-5 mm. ; slender, black, with a large triangular 
cream-coloured mark on clypeus (but labrum and mandibles black) ; antennae 
very long, flagellum moniliform, entirely black ; tubercles black ; tegulae dark, 
with a red spot ; legs black, the tarsi with dense white hair on inner side ; 
abdomen black, densely and rather coarsely punctured, extreme bases of third 
and fourth tergites red, only visible when much extended. Head rather broad ; 
face covered with white hair ; hair of thorax above dilute brownish ; meso- 
thorax entirely dull, it and the scutellum excessively densely punctured ; area 
of metathorax semilunar, dull, rugulose, with dense vermiform rugae, and no 
shining rim ; wings hyaline, faintly dusky along outer margin ; stigma dull 
reddish, with darker margin ; nervures fuscous ; second cubital cell broad, 
receiving recurrent nervure just before end ; abdomen moderately shining, 
without hair bands or spots ; conspicuous erect pale hair on first tergite ; 
venter with bands of white hair. 

Pyengana, Tasmania, Dec. 31, 1915 (F. M. Littler). Runs in my table 
to H. lanariellus Ckll., but is separated at once by the entirely dull mesothorax. 

Halictus viridarii sp. n. 

Male. Length about 7 mm. ; black, rather stout, with a broad trans- 
verse pale-yellow band on clypeus ; labrum black ; mandibles faintly reddened 
apically ; antennae long, reaching postscutellum, entirely dark ; tubercles black ; 
tegulse rufous ; legs black, with thin white hair ; abdomen black, closely 
punctured, hind margins of tergites faintly brownish. Head broad ; face covered 
with white hair ; hair of scutellum and postscutellum white ; mesothorax dull, 
very densely punctured ; scutellum moderately shining ; area of metathorax 
large, shining apically, covered with fine plicae, delicate and confused in middle, 
distinct and straight at sides ; wings hyaline, stigma dilute brown ; nervures 
pale brown, becoming colourless apically ; second cubital cell large, but higher 
than wide, first recurrent nervure meeting intercubitus ; abdomen rather broad, 
thinly hairy, with distinct patches of greyish hair at lateral bases of second 
and third tergites ; apex with a dark shining rounded plate ; fringes of ventral 
segments extremely short and scanty. 

National Park, Queensland, Dec. 1919 (H . Hacker) ; Queensland Museum. 
Resembles II. excusus, but area of metathorax and abdomen quite different. 
It may also be compared with II. granulithorax Ckll., II. pulvitectus Ckll., and 
H. baudini Ckll., but is quite distinct. 

Halictus subplebeius sp. n. 

Male. Length about 6-8 mm., anterior wing 5-8 ; black, rather robust, 
the abdomen broad for a male ' elypeus with a broad creamy white band, 
having a slight median extension above ; labrum black ; mandibles dark red 
subapically ; antennas long, entirely black ; face broad ; clypeus short, shining, 


NEW AUSTRALIAN BUMS. 


43 


with scattered punctures ; supraclypeal area large, convex, shining but not 
polished ; hair of head and thorax scanty, dull white, face with little hair ; 
mesothorax shining, with scattered punctures ; scutellum shining, with only the 
faintest median depression ; area of metathorax large, semilunar, concave, the 
margin somewhat shining, the surface very delicately sculptured with fine 
plicae, irregular and more or less joined by minute cross-lines, and failing some 
distance before the apex, the region beyond the plicae granular ; posterior 
truncation dullish ; tegulse practically black, with an obscured red spot ; wings 
dusky, stigma dark reddish brown, nervures fuscous ; second cubital cell broad, 
receiving recurrent nervure at apical corner ; third cubital broader above than 
second ; legs black, with the tarsi obscure reddish brown ; abdomen polished, 
shining, pure black, without hair bands or spots. 

Two males : National Park, Queensland, Dec. 1919 ( H . Hacker) ; Queens- 
land Museum. Resembles //. plebeius Ckll. , but much larger, with dark tegulaa 
and different metathorax. 

Halictus exceptus sp. n. 

Female. Length about. 7 mm. ; robust, black, including antennaj ; 
mandibles obscurely reddened apically ; pubescence very scanty and short ; 
head broad, inner orbits arched : olypeus shining, with scattered punctures, not 
at all silicate in middle ; supraclypeal area dullish ; mesothorax shining, with 
well Separated strong punctures (dense at sides), the intervals minutely striate ; 
scutellum moderately shining, the median depression very weak ; mesopleura 
transversely striate ; area of metathorax large, semilunar, dullish, with very 
delicate plicae, the margin not distinctly shining ; the plicae fail a considerable 
distance before the margin ; tegulse rather dark rufous ; wings rather strongly 
reddened ; stigma large, dusky rufous, nervures fuscous ; second cubital cell 
very broad, receiving recurrent nervure near end ; outer recurrent and inter- 
cubitus much weakened ; legs obscure brownish, the tarsi rather pale reddish 
brown; abdomen shining black, with very little hair, but small white hair- 
patches at lateral bases of second and third tergites, and, when the fourth 
tergite is extended, an entire white band (dense at sides, thin and weak in 
middle) is seen at base ; hair of venter straight and comparatively short. 

Three females: Tooloom, N.S.W., Jan. 1926 (II. Hacker). Allied to 
II. seminitens Ckll., but readily distingushed by the tarsi. 

Halictus micridoneus sp. n. 

Male. Length about 4-5 mm. ; shining black, with rather short abdomen, 
bead large and rather broad ; pubescence pale and very scanty, the face and 
•clypeus with thin erect white hair ; antennae short, like those of a female ; 
tegument of clypeus black, the extreme edge hardly noticeably pallid ; labrum 
rufous ; mandibles black, with a broad light-yellow band ; Supraclypeal area 
shining ; front very densely punctured ; at each side of the ocelli is a shining 
area with sparser pmretures ; mesothorax shining, but strongly punctured ; 


44 MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

scutellum polished ; area of metathorax dull, subreticulate, with coarse rugae, 
110 shining margin ; tegulae rufous ; wings hyaline, the pale stigma dark- 
margined ; second cubital cell very broad ; first recurrent nervure joining third 
cubital cell, some distance from base ; legs with white hair, knees red, and 
tarsi pale red ; abdomen shining, a strong sulcus between first and second 
tergites ; hind margins of tergites somewhat pallid ; no hair bands or spots. 

Brisbane, Nov. 19, 1913 (H. Hacker). Runs hear II. idoneus Ckll. , but 
that is much larger. It is much like II. cyclognathus Ckll., but the face is 
much narrower, &c. The general aspect suggests H. forticornis Ckll., but the 
antennae are quite different. The venation is peculiar. 

Halictus euryurus sp. n. 

Male. Length nearly (5 mm., anterior wing about 5 ; black, the abdomen 
broad-oval, the hind margins of the tergites beyond the first stramineous ; face 
broad, tegument of clypeus entirely black, mandibles obscurely reddish apically ; 
hair of head and thorax rather abundant, long, white, long but thin on front 
of head ; antennae of moderate length, black, the flagellum very obscurely 
brownish beneath : clypeus flattened, shining, depressed in the middle at lower 
end ; supraclypeal area very sparsely punctured ; front densely punctured ; 
mesothorax and scutellum strongly punctured, only moderately shining ; area 
of metathorax with sharp straight plica', only two or three in middle wrinkled, 
margin shining ; posterior truncation dull ; tegulae dark rufous ; wings clear 
hyaline, iridescent, stigma pale reddish, nervures pale, second cubital cell 
broadened below, receiving first recurrent nervure some distance from its end; 
outer recurrent and intercubitus much weakened ; legs black, small joints of 
tarsi rufescent, hind tibiae robust ; abdomen moderately shining, finely punctured. 

Adaminaby, N.S-W., Oct. 19, 1918 (A. J. Turner)-, Queensland Museum. 
Somewhat allied to II . macrops Ckll. and II. bursarice Ckll. The metathorax and 
antennae separate it at once from II. macrops. The mesothorax is much more 
coarsely punctured than in II. clariventris Friese. 

Halictus sculp turatus sp. n. 

Male. Length about 6-5 mm. ; black, moderately robust, the abdomen 
without hair bands or patches ; face rather broad, with thin white hair ; 
clypeus with a transverse cream-coloured band : labrum reddish ; mandibles 
reddened subapieally ; antennae rather long, flagellum moniliform, obscurely 
brownish beneath ; front very densely punctured ; hair of thorax scanty, white ; 
long, erect, and pure white on postscutellum ; mesothorax shining, strongly 
punctured, median groove strong, and on each side of it anteriorly oblique 
striae ; area of metathorax semilunar, not pointed behind, appearing to have no 
shining rim. but seen from behind a small shining edge is visible ; surface of 
area strongly sculptured all over, the plicae wrinkled and irregular in middle, 
straight and distinct at sides ; tegulae dark rufous ; wings brownish hyaline, 
iridescent, stigma dark reddish brown ; nervures fuscous, second cubital cell 


NEIV AUSTRALIAN BEES. 


45 


rather narrow, first recurrent meeting intercubitus ; legs black, the last joint 
bright red at apex, the claws tipped with black ; abdomen shining, finely 
punctured ; ventral segments with bands of white hair. 

Stradbroke Island, Sept. 17, 1915 (H. Hacker). Allied ‘to H. spenceri 
Ckll., but mesothorax and area of metathorax quite different. 

Halictus evasus sp. n. 

Female. Length 7 mm. ; black, head and thorax with rather long white 
hair, quite dense on cheeks and postscutellum ; mandibles black; face* broad 
clypeus shining, punctured, not sulcate in middle; supraclypeal ’area shining’ 
sparsely punctured, the punctures smaller than on clypeus ; upper margin of 
clypeus microscopically transversely lineolate ; front dull, densely punctured; 
antennae entirely dark ; mesothorax dull, very coarsely punctured ; scutellum 
polished, with very fine punctures ; area of metathorax concave, shining, with 
fine regular plicae all over, the hind margin swollen and • obtuse, slightly 

interrupted in middle, hardly shining; mesopleura transversely striate; tegulae 
very dark, almost black ; wings hyaline, faintly brownish ; stigma and nervines 
dull brown ; second cubital cell broad, receiving recurrent nervine at its apical 
corner ; outer recurrent and intercubitus very weak ; legs black, very hairy ; 
hind spur with a large rounded lamella near base; abdomen broad, shinino-i 
thinly hairy, with distinct but well -separated punctures, hind margins of 
tergites not discoloured; second and third tcrgites basally at sides with 

cuneiform patches of white hair ; hair of v enter long and abundant. 

Coolangatta, Queensland, Sept. 6, 1913 (A. J. Turner) ; Queensland Museum. 
Very close to H. confusdlus Ckll., but easily separated by the more robust, dull, 
coarsely sculptured mesothorax, and the shining area of metathorax. 

Halictus limatiformis var. scrupulosus var. n. 

Female. First abdominal segment, and sometimes much of base of 
second, clear red. 

Nanango district, Queensland, Nov. 1927 (IT. Hacker). I thought at first 
that this was a new species allied to H. tatei Ckll., but it is certainly only a 

variety of H. limatiformis, the normal form of which occurs in the same 

district. 

Halictus suburbanus sp. n. 

Female. Length hardly o mm, not very robust ; head broad, dull dark 
green ; mandibles dark reddish apically ; flagellum dull reddish beneath • 
clypeus black, with the upper margin broadly green, and a purple suffusion 
below the green; supraclypeal area finely tessellated and sparsely punctured 
the lower part purplish ; front minutely punctato-striate ; hair of head and 
thorax scanty and white; mesothorax and scutellum dull emerald green, the 
scutellum a little more shining, but not at all polished ; surface of mesothorax very 
finely and densely sculptured all over ; area of metathorax with strong straight 
plicae, but sculptured between, posterior rim shining when seen from behind ; 


4G 


MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


tegulse rather small, shining rufous ; wings greyish hyaline, stigma darn brown ; 
second cubital cell broad below, narrower above, receiving first recurrent nervure 
near its end ; third cubital very short, outer recurrent and intercubitus much 
weakened ; femora black with knees red ; tibiae and tarsi red, the colour rather 
dull ; abdomen not specially broad, shining black, pruinose-pubescent with the 
hind margins of the tergites somewhat discoloured or brownish. 

National Park, Queensland, 3.000 ft., March 1, 1921 (A. J. Turner ); 
Queensland Museum. Very close to H. urbanus Smith, but the mesothorax is 
larger and duller. Also close to H. williamsi Cklb, but mesothorax more shining, 
and bluer green, and scutellum shining. These bees could be regarded as local 
races of //. urbanus, unless the males show structural differences. The original 
H. urbanus came from Champion Bay, W. Australia. 

Halictus dorsicyaneus sp. n. 

Female. Length about 5 mm., not very robust, abdomen not broadened ; 
head black ; mesothorax small, dark blue, shining but not polished ; scutellum 
blue, with two polished shining spaces ; metathorax black ; area large, finely 
sculptured, semicircular, without a shining rim ; flagellum obscurely rufescent 
beneath ; hair of head and thorax scanty, white ; tegulse small, dark rufous ; 
wings clear hyaline ; stigma large, pale brownish, nervines pale, outer ones 
very weak ; second cubital cell rather broad, receiving recurrent nervure before 
its end ; legs black, knees and small joints of tarsi red ; abdomen shining 
black, with little hair, the apical part thinly pubescent. The mesothorax is 
microscopically tessellate, with scattered punctures ; the area of metathorax, 
seen under the microscope, is coarsely reticulate. 

Launceston, Tasmania, Jan. 23, 1916 (F. M. Littler). In my table it 
runs to H. kesteveni Ckll., which differs at once by blue metathorax. Compared 
with H. inclinans Smith, it is less robust, with darker tegulse and different 
abdomen. 

Halictus luctificus sp. n. 

Female. Length about 5-4 mm., rather robust head black, mesothorax 
dull very dark green, scutellum dark blue, with two polished areas ; area of 
metathorax large, crescentic, dull and coarsely sculptured (minutely reticulate, 
appearing coarsely so under microscope), with a very conspicuous regularly 
curved shining margin ; metathorax black ; hair of head and thorax very 
scanty : tegulse dark rufous ; wings clear hyaline, with pale testaceous stigma 
and pale nervures, the outer recurrent and intercubitus very weak ; first 
recurrent nervure joining basal corner of third cubital cell, the outer and lower 
boundaries of which are reduced to thin hyaline lines, hardly visible even 
under the microscope ; legs with knees and small joints of tarsi red ; abdomen 
broad, shining black, thinly pubescent in the apical region. The supraclypeal 
area is polished, with scattered punctures, and the punctures on clypeus are 
very large. 


NEW A USTEALIAN BEES. 


47 


Launceston, Tasmania, Jan. 23, 1916 (F. M. TAttler). Allied closely to 
the last, and also to H. mundulus Ckll., from which it is distinguished by the 
shining margin of metathoracic area. At the same time and place, Mr. Littler 
took a couple of H. subinclinans Ckll. 

Paracolletes cyaneorufus sp. n. 

Female. Length about 7-5 mm. ; robust, head and thorax black, abdomen 
dusky chestnut red, with a delicate purple suffusion ; pubescence very scanty, 
pure white on cheeks and under part of thorax, white also on upper part of 
head, but on thorax above brown, though hardly noticeable; mandibles long, 
bldentate, wholly dark ; face very broad, clypeus and supraclypeal area highly 
polished, the clypeus with widely scattered large punctures ; front dull in 
middle, striate, shining and punctate at sides ; antennse black, the flagellum very 
obscurely reddish beneath apically ; meso thorax dull ; scutellum polished ; area 
of metathorax triangular, with a transverse ridge ; sides of thorax dull, with a 
brilliant shining space below wings ; tegula? rufous ; wings brownish hyaline ; 
stigma ferruginous, with dark margin ; marginal cell obliquely truncate at end ; 
basal nervure almost reaching the very oblique nervulus ; second cubital cell 
rather small, triangular, with a very small face on marginal cell ; the first 
recurrent nervure joining second cubital very near its end ; upper apical corner 
of third discoidal a right angle ; legs brownish black, anterior knees rufescent ; 
scopa of hind tibiae pallid ; abdomen shining, without hair bands or spots, apex 
with a fringe of brown hair. 

Bribie Island, Aug. 29, 1920 ( //. Hacker ) ; Queensland Museum. Close to 
P. rufoceneus Friese, but considerably smaller. The genus Euryglossidia is 
related to Paracolletes of this group, and not to Eut'yglossa. 

Paracolletes melanurus sp. n, 

Female. Length about 6-8 mm. ; black, the abdomen a faintly reddish 
black, and the hind tibise and tarsi obscurely brownish ; hair of head and 
thorax extremely scanty, fuscous on scutellum ; antennae short, black, the 
apical part of flagellum very obscurely reddish beneath ; mandibles long, with 
inner tooth remote from the reddish apex ; face very broad, the clypeus, 
supraclypeal area, and a space at each side of antennae shining ; clypeus with 
scattered strong punctures ; front dull ; mesothorax dull, scutellum moderately 
shining ; area of metathorax polished, without sculpture ; tegulis brown ; 
wings reddish hyaline ; stigma large, solid dark reddish ; nervures fuscous ; 
basal nervure meeting nervulus ; marginal cell very long, with narrow end : 
second cubital cell small, narrowed above, receiving recurrent nervure a little 
beyond middle ; first cubital longer than the other two together ; scopa of 
hind tibiae brown ; abdomen shining, practically hairless above, but with very 
dark brown hair at apex ; venter with erect pale (slightly ochreous) hair. 

Tooloom, N.S.W., Jan. 1926 (//. Hacker) ; Queensland Museum. Rather 
like P. nitidulus Ckll. in appearance, but venation quite different. The venation, 
except for the more produced marginal cell, is much in the style of P. 
incanescens Ckll. 


48 


MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


Paracolletes semiviridis sp. n. 

Male. Length about 8-3 mm. ; head and thorax black, with much 
outstanding white hair, pale ochreous on thorax above ; hair of face very 
dense, long, silky, and pure white ; mandibles rufescent apically ; antennae only 
moderately long, the flagellum chestnut red beneath except basally ; front 
and vertex dull ; mesothorax and scutellum dull ; base of metathorax shining ; 
tegulse brown : wings strongly brownish, with dark stigma (which is well 

developed) and nervines ; basal nervure falling conspicuously short of nervulus ; 
second cubital cell receiving recurrent nervure slightly beyond middle, practically 
at middle ; third cubital very long, receiving second recurrent a considerable 
distance before end ; femora black, with knees red ; tibiae and tarsi bright 
chestnut red ; abdomen dull olive green, closely and finely punctured, hind 
margins of tergites very pale testaceous, and thinly beset with short white 
hair, only noticeable in certain lights ; apex with white hair ; venter with bands 
of pure white hair. 

Charleville, Queensland. Sept. 12. 1920 (A.J. Turner ); Queensland Museum. 
This may be compared with P. castaneipes Ckll., wilich is much larger, with 
black hair on thorax above. 

Paracolletes nomiseformis sp. n. 

Male. Length about 8 mm. ; black, with the hind margins of the 
closely punctured abdomen broadly testaceous, with a little red just above ; 
head and thorax densely hairy, the hair long and shaggy, white on cheeks 
and lower part of mesopleura, dull white on face and front, very pale greyish, 
with a yellowish tinge, on thorax above and on vertex ; mandibles with a 
bright red subapical band ; tegument of clypeus all black ; flagellum very short, 
bright ferruginous beneath except at base ; a polished shining area at each 
side of vertex ; mesothorax shining, finely punctured ; scutellum polished ; base 
of metathorax rugulose, with a fine transverse keel, the marginal sutures 
heavily ridged laterally; tegulse dark reddish, closely punctured; wings greyish 
hyaline, the apex suffusedly darker ; stigma well developed but narrow, dark 
rufous ; basal nervure falling conspicuously short of nervulus ; marginal cell 
rather short, obliquely truncate ; second cubital cell very small, receiving 
recurrent nervure near middle ; third cubital very long, receiving second 
recurrent far from end ; legs dark brown, with white hair ; abdomen loosely 
hairy all over, but without hair-bands. 

Three males : Charleville, Queensland, Sept. 11, 1920 (A. J. Turner) ; 

Queensland Museum. Very near P. sigillatus Ckll., but smaller, face much 
narrower, and mesothorax much more punctured. It looks like a Nomia. 

Paracolletes plumosus (Smith). 

Female : Stanthorpe, Q., 6-1-26 (P. A Perkins). The base of the meta- 
thorax may or may not be transversely striate in this species, as I have 
understood it. Possibly more extensive collecting may show that two species 
are included in P. plumosus as now understood. The genitalia of the males 
should be examined. 


NEW AUSTRALIAN BEES. 


49 


Paracolletes providus (Smith). 

Females : Stanthorpe, Q., 7-10-24 and 3-10-24 (F. A. Perkins). I have 
received additional specimens of P. hackeri CkH, from Mr. Hacker, and find 
the distinction from P. providus difficult lo appreciate. Typically, the abdomen 
of P. providus is more polished and oily -appearing, not so strongly punctured, 
while P. hackeri has a tuft of dull fulvous-tinted hair in front of each tegula. 
But I am no longer confident that these differences do not fall within the 
range of variation of P. providus. The matter can only be settled by those 
on the spot, or by the collection of good series in typical localities* 

Nomia geophila sp. n. 

Male. Length 8-9 mm., anterior wing 6-5 ; black, with the hind margins 
of the second and follow'ing abdominal tergites hyaline ; pubescence white, 
dense on face, covering the surface ; on the thorax above the hair is greyish : 
tegument of clypeus wholly black ; mandibles more or less rufous beyond the 
base ; flagellum very short for a male, entirely dark ; mesothorax shining, 
with distinct not very close punctures ; scutcllum quite closely punctured, 
depressed in middle ; metathorax shining, the striated basal area forming a 
very narrow' band, obtusely angulatc behind in middle ; a depressed polished 
space above hind legs ; teg ulie very dark brown, with hyaline margins ; wings 
hyaline, the apical margin faintly clouded ; stigma small, dusky rufous ; nervines 
dark fuscous ; second cubital cell very small, receiving recurrent nervure beyond 
the middle ; legs dark brown, with dull white hair ; hind legs not modified, 
but all the femora very short and small ; abdomen finely punctured, very 
conspicuously on first tergite, no hair-bands ; hind trochanters with a small 
apical process above ; venter not modified ; claspers long and thin, with an 
expanded apex, from the inner corner of which, directed obliquely mesad, is a 
finger-like process ; spatha broad basally, narrowing to the apical part, which 
is rod-like, obtuse at end ; tongue slender, dagger-like, only moderately long. 

Two males: “Bred earth cells, 10-11-18, Moree ” ; Queensland Museum. 
Closely related to N. gilberti Ckll., but antennae a little shorter, mesothorax 
shining, and postscutellum without the dense covering of pure white hair, nor 
are there conspicuous white hair-patches at sides of scutellum. In N. frenchi 
Ckll. the antennae are very much longer. 

Nomia grisella Ckll., described from Cape York, has been found by W. C. 
Dormer at Gordonvale, Feb. 24, 1923. 

Exoneura tasmanica sp. n. 

Male. Length 7 mm. ; head and thorax shining black ; hair of head 
black, thin but long and outstanding on face, on thorax pure white beneath, 
and dorsally brown, a sort of very dilute chocolate colour ; eyes black, very 
large, converging below; clypeus long and narrow, cream-coloured, with dull 
surface ; in the narrow space between clypeus and eye there is on each side a 
cream-coloured line ; labrum w hite, with a black spot at each side, mandibles 

D 


DO MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

rufescent apical lv ; antennae black ; tubercles black; tegulae very dark brown, 
nearly black ; wings reddish hyaline ; stigma long lanceolate, ferruginous, with 
a dark margin ; recurrent nervure joining second cubital cell at extreme basal 
corner ; legs basally black, with the knees, tibia*, and tarsi bright ferruginous ; 
anterior and middle tibiae with no. dark markings, but hind tibiae with a broad 
black band posteriorly ; abdomen rather dark red, the first two tergites black 
with red margin, the third with a black discal suffusion, the fourth to sixth 
with lateral black marks, large on sixth ; venter mainly clear red, but partly 
dark basally. 

Windermere, Tasmania, Feb. 13, 1916 (F. M. Littler). This cannot be 
the male of E turneri C’kll., as that has much darker wings, and the recurrent 
nervure ending far from base of second cubital cell. The face-marking, colour 
of pubescence, and venation readily distinguish it from all known males. 

Falseorhiza flavomellea Cockerell. 

Two females : Dunk Island, Aug. 25, 1927 (F . A. Perkins . 

Palseorhiza parallela recessiva Cockerell. 

Female : Palm Island, May 30, 1926 (F. A. Perkins). 

Hylseus chlorosoma Cockerell. 

Female : Stanthorpe, Q., 10-11-23 {F. A. Perkins). 

Euryglossa mutica Cockerell. 

Male : Stanthorpe, Q., 10-11-23 (F. A. Perkins). 

Paehyprosopis aurantipes Cockerell. 

Male: Stanthorpe, Q., 10-11-23 (F . A. Perkins). 


FATAL EPIDEMIC INTESTINAL DISEASE OF GOLDFISH. 


51 


NOTES ON A FATAL EPIDEMIC INTESTINAL 
DISEASE OF GOLDFISH. 


By R. Hamlyn-Harris, D.Sc., City Entomologist, Brisbane, and J. V. Duhig, M.B., 
Director, Brisbane and District Laboratory. 

(Plate IT.) 


The epidemic herein described occurred amongst “Comet,” “Pantail,” 
and “ Calico” Goldfish in the smaller aquaria of Mr. ,1. C. Brunnich, Agri- 
cultural Chemist. All developmental stages fell a prey to the disease. The 
tanks were well aerated, and had been in use for a long time, but it was only 
in those tanks where hard tap-water had been used to replenish the supply 
that the fish contracted the disease ; whilst in the larger outdoor ponds and 
tanks no infection seems to have taken place. Food consisting of white worms 
(Enchytras) reared in special containers ; scraped meat and artificial foods were 
given alternately. To understand the problem thoroughly, a further and more 
detailed examination of the actual waters involved is imperative. 

The aquarist is well aware that sudden fatal epidemics among fish are 
liable to occur at any time and without apparent cause. Sometimes deaths 
can be definitely traced to fungoid diseases, but more often than not the evil 
is deep-seated and is due to some other cause as yet only surmised. Prom 
time to time such epidemics have been noted, but in most cases death inter- 
venes before any preventive measures can be adopted, and sometimes all the 
inhabitants of an apparently, healthy aquarium die before the seriousness of the 
outbreak can be realised. 

In aquaria directly under my care, containing local fish and a few 
“ tropicals,” similar experiences have been frequent, and for some years now 
an opportunity has been sought of becoming better acquainted with fish diseases 
so as to enable a diagnosis to be made sufficiently early, to save considerable 
mortality, always so characteristic of such epidemics. 

In this particular case the symptoms are quite definite, so that it should 
be possible to detect the disease in the early stages of development. It is 
interesting in the first place to notice that there appears to be a seasonal 
appearance of such epidemics. 1 make this statement guardedly because as 
yet wc have very little idea as to the cause of the seasonal occurrence, and 
consequently because the disease seems to break out quite independently, in 
different adjoining aquaria at the same time almost to a day, it is seen to be 
very definite in its action and very deadly, the source of the Infection 
remaining as much as ever a mystery. 


52 MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

Superficially the water in the aquaria gives little indication of impending 
tragedy, and it is not until the fish begin to suffer disintegration of the 
abdominal contents that the abnormality becomes distinctly noticeable, the fish 
resting motionless on the bottom of the tank. Now and again, as if to cast off 
the discomfort occasioned thereby, a fish will make a sudden dart through the 
water only to come to rest again with extreme suddenness, this action seems 
to denote a final stage in the development of the disease. 

It is I think recognised that it is desirable from time to time to replace 
the chemicals in the water which are used up during the healthy life of the 
fish, and small quantities of magnesium sulphate and sodium chloride materially 
assist towards this end, whilst the addition of plaster of paris provides for a 
possibility of calcium deficiency. In this instance the use of plaster of paris 
arrested the disease. 

The readiness with which the CaS0 4 is dissolved in “ spent” aquaria 
containing an undue accumulation of carbon dioxide as the result of the 
presence of putrefying substances in the water, followed by a period of rapid 
oxygen consumption, suggests the necessity of such chemicals. Soon after the 
calcium sulphate is added to the water, precipitation takes place and the 
water, becoming wonderfully clear, provides an improved environment for the 
fish themselves, which soon react to the changed conditions. As soon as an 
equilibrium has been reached, the CaSOr may be removed, but by this time a 
higher alkalinity has been reached. Now although our larvivorous fish will live 
in slight acidity, say pH 6‘0, nevertheless it is a matter of frequent comment 
that they do so only under protest, and that they seem more prone to disease 
than they do in alkaline waters. The acidity of the water seems to synchronise 
also with the slow but sure destruction of the snails ; Bullinus pectorosus 
Conrad and Limncea lessoni Desh. do not seem to thrive in such a medium.— 
R.H.H. 

Pathology of the Disease. 

Three fish were examined post-mortem. The pathological findings 
resembled very closely those found in cholera in the human ; they were as 
follow : — 

There was constantly a deep bile-tinged staining under the skin of the 
abdomen just ventral and caudal to the left pectoral fin. One specimen showed 
necrosis of the body wall at the site of the staining, the skin being thinned, 
of the texture of tissue paper, and was about to slough. There were no other 
external features of interest. On opening the body, the respiratory system 
I found to be, as far as I could judge, normal. 

On examination of the abdominal contents, I found practically the whole 
of the intestines involved in a gangrenous process, only about a centimetre of 
the terminal portion escaping. The bile channels were also involved, leading to 
rupture and consequent staining of the abdominal wall, as noted above. I 
could not judge macroscopically whether the liver was involved. In two 
specimens, the necrotic process had spread to the swim bladder, which no 


FATAL EPIDEMIC INTESTINAL DISEASE OF GOLDFISH. 


53 ' 


doubt led to the condition observed by my co-author, namely, falling to the 
bottom of the tank and inability to rise to the surface of the water. 

Histology of the Disease. 

This may best be described in stages illustrated by the figures (Plate II.). 

Intestine . — First stage : Acute inflammatory exudate in the villi and 

submucosa (Figure 2, left, and Figure 3). 

Second stage : Sloughing of the mucosa but epithelial cells staining well 
(Figure 4). 

Third stage : Sloughing with marked cellular degeneration of epithelium. 
General structure of the gut is fairly well maintained (Figure 5). 

Fourth stage : Necrosis amd sloughing of the whole villi, musculature 

still intact (Figure 6). 

Fifth stage : Complete necrosis of the whole intestinal wall. Amorphous 
sloughs in the lumen (Figure 7). 

Liver . — This organ showed complete necrosis, the nuclei of the cells having 
completely degenerated while their cytoplasm stained very feebly with cytoplasmic 
dyes. There was no evidence of primary fatty degeneration so I judge the 
intoxication to have been of an overwhelming kind, similar to acute necrosis 
in the human. The general texture of the viscus was unrecognisable. 

Etiology. 

The three fish that form the subject of the above comment were 
submitted to me in formalin. Successful cultures of the intestinal flora could 
not then be anticipated. Direct smears showed as the only significant feature 
the presence of a subterminal spored Clostridium. 

i had the opportunity of culturing the gut contents of another fish 
which had died of the same disease. Direct smears showed an unusual organism 
in my experience of intestinal flora, namely, a small non-motile Gram-negative 
diplobacillus in almost all cases encapsuled. Very rarely what appeared to be 
the same organism was single and not encapsuled. Variation in size was 
considerable, from 1*25 to 4 microns averaging about 2 microns in length by 
0-5 micron in width. An emulsion of gut content was plated out on McConkey’s 
medium. The organism evidently fermented lactose as no pale colonies showed 
up. Examination showed the diplobacillus still present, and to obtain a pure 
culture a subculture was made on a plain agar plate. No growth of the germ 
desired was obtained, or at least it was overgrown to such an extent that it 

could not be recovered. A similar fate befell those on the first plate, and the 

organism, evidently very delicate, was lost. I do not suggest this bacillus is 

the cause of the disease, but an organism of the kind noted seemed to me so 

unusual that I judged it wise to follow it up, and I mention it here for the- 
information of workers in this field. 


5-1 


MEMOIR , S OF TEE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


An interesting point in the epidemiology of the disease was put to me 
by Mr. Marshall, of the Queensland Museum scientific staff. He desired to know 
why fish, which were transported all the wav from Japan in the same water 
unchanged and therefore likely to be foul and heavily infected and survived 
this apparently unfavourable medium, died, as did many recently imported fish, 
when taken ashore and put in clean water of a composition assumed by 
experienced aquarists to be a suitable environment. The only explanation that 
I can offer is that the original tanks in which the fish -were transported 
contained bacteriophage in the water, as might very easily happen. In the 
event of another epidemic of this kind I propose to test this hypothesis 
experimentally. 

The above work is necessarily only preliminary, since the amount of 
material available was very scanty, and w r as done without access to much 
literature on the subject. 

The Medical Research Council 1 make a small passing reference to the 
fact that a cholera-like disease occurs in fish. 

T. P. Hughes 2 reports an exhaustive investigation of fowl cholera, and 
describes as constantly occurring a “ small pleomorphic, bipolar staining. Gram- 
negative, non-motile bacillus,” which rather resembles that which I have 
described in this instance. I read Hughes’s paper after I suspected this bacillus 
as having some causal relationship with the disease, and now feel that more 
material treated by more refined methods may enable me to solve the problem 
of etiology. — J.V.D. 

1 Med. Res. Council : “A System of Bacteriology,” 1929, vol. iv, p. 436. 

2 Hughes, T. P. : Jl. of Exptl. Medicine, 1930, 51, 225. 


MEMOIRS OF THU QUEENSLAND MUSEUM, Yol. X, Plate II. 



Sections op Intestine of Diseased Goldfish. 
(For description, see text, p. 21.) 


Face page 54, 


TEE MARSUPIALS OF QUEENSLAND. 


oo 


THE MARSUPIALS OF QUEENSLAND. 

By Heber A. Longman, F.L.S., C.M.Z.S. (Director).* 

Owing to the fact that settlement in the southern parts of Australia 
preceded the occupation of our northern areas, it is not surprising that the 
majority of more recent additions to our fauna have come from Queensland, 
the Northern Territory and islands, and the northern parts of West Australia. 
In 1912 the late Charles Hedley stated in an address to the Linnean Society 
of London : “ In Australia marsupials and monotremes are least developed in 
the North ; proceeding southwards more groups successively appear till 
ultimately Tasmania has, as Professor Spencer expressed it, a condensation of 

most that is noteworthy in the Australian region.” * 1 This was a surprising 

statement, even in 1912, especially in view of the rich fossil marsupial fauna of 
the mainland. 

In commenting on the statements made by exponents of the Antarctic 
theory, I pointed out in a previous paper 2 that, with the exception of the 
rare Gyrnnobelideus, there is not a genus of living marsupials that is unrepre- 
sented in either the Torresian or Eyresian (Eremian) sub-regions. Although no 
striking discoveries have been made since 1924, the additions recorded to our 
list of marsupials strengthen my criticism. It is not necessary to traverse the 

diverse views expressed as to the origin of our marsupials dealt with in another 

paper. 3 Neither do I wish to lay stress on the present distribution of our 
marsupials as affording definite evidence as to their northern or southern 
entrance into this continent in the remote past. But if the facts of present-day 
and recent distribution have any value it is obvious that the evidence yielded 
is opposed to the Antarctic theory. 

The marsupials of Australia comprise so many distinctive genera that it 
seems quite logical to suggest that their evolution has largely taken place 
within our own region. Although the palaeontological evidence is incomplete, 
it is now obvious that our fossil marsupials were even more distinctively 
Australian than those of to-day. Such genera as Diprotodon , Notoiherium , 
Eury zygoma, Phascolonus, Sthenurus. Palorchestes, Procoptodon, and Thylacoleo 
are specialised marsupials with no known near relatives outside of the Australian 
region. No serious attempt has yet been made to derive these extinct species 
from any known forms in South America, even though the assumptions of the 

*The substance of this paper was read before Section D (Zoology) at the Brisbane meeting of 
the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1930. 

1 1912 : C. Hedley, Pr. Linn. Soc.. London, 124th session, p. 84. 

2 1924 : H. A. Longman, Rep. A.A.A.S., vol. 17, p. 362. 

3 1924 : H. A. Longman, Mem. Qld. Mus. vol. viii, pp. 1-16. 


5B 


MEMOIRS OF TEE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


Wegener hypothesis have been invoked in order to demonstrate the possibility 
of transit for the two or three living marsupials in the two continents which 
are considered by some authorities to be lineally related. 

These remarks are prefatory to a list of species and certain subspecies 
of present-day marsupials, comprising over ninety names. Much new knowledge 
has been gained through the material collected for the British Museum, mainly 
through Captain (now Sir Hubert) Wilkins, which was worked up by that rare 
enthusiast the late Oldfield Thomas. Valuable material was also obtained by 
Mr. H. C. Raven for the American Museum of Natural History, New York, 
following the visit to Australia of Professor W. K. Gregory. Although excellent 
work has also been done by such Australians as E. Le G. Troughton and A. S- 
Le Souef, and by Professor F. Wood-Jones, we have to admit, with regret, 
that our efforts have been somewhat limited in comparison. Fortunately, 
however, representatives of most of this new material have been lodged in the 
Queensland Museum. 

The multiplicity of genera in recent years is another interesting develop- 
ment. The late Allan McCulloch once expressed the opinion that there was a 
danger, if some enthusiasts had their way, of a distinct genus being created 
for every species. Fortunately the entomologists, whose species are legion, will 
prevent this from being carried out. Some ornithologists, however, have 
certainly done their best, or worst, in this direction. 

In earlier years we included all the “ native cats ” in one genus, but 
R. I. Pocock has recently established four genera for the four best-known 
Australian species of Dasyurus (1926). 4 Time alone will prove whether 

systematists generally will adopt this principle, and there is certainly much to 
be said for the generic separation of D. maculatus from D. hallucatus , but this 
leads naturally to the establishment of the other genera and so the splitting 
goes on. Paul Matsehie, of Berlin, has also proposed new genera, and several 
subgenera, including two subgenera for Dasyurus in 1 9 16, 5 antedating Pocock, 
but he deals mainly with Papuan species. 

The genus Macropus is now restricted by some authors to the kangaroos, 
large wallabies being placed in Wallabia ami small wallabies in Thylogale, but 
when recent fossil forms are also considered there are grave difficulties in 
adopting this nomenclature. 

It is of interest to note that during the last ten years no less than 
ten new' species of Petrogale (Rock Wallabies) have been described, two by 
A. S. Le Souef and eight by Oldfield Thomas. These form an interesting 
parallel to the ten subspecies of Wallaroos that have been described, although 
some of the Rock Wallabies seem very distinct, doubtless through lengthy 
isolation. The creation of subspecies in several genera has been an outstanding 
feature of the more recent work. 


4 ]926: R. i: Pocock, P.Z.S., p. 1082. 

5 1916: P. Matsehie, M tt. Zool. Mus., Berlin, Bd. 8, Heft 2. 


THE MARSUPIALS OF QUEENSLAND. 


57 


Wood- Jones considers that the primitive Australian Marsupials were 
polyprotodont and didactylous, and that the diprotodont group arose as a 
specialisation in the syndactylous section. He therefore uses the Sub-Orders 
Didactyla and Syndactyla in preference to Polyprotodontia and Diprotodontia. 6 
Wood- Jones’s classification appears to reflect more correctly than the terms 
in general use the phylogenetic development of our marsupials. 

In view of the distinction between our phalangers and the true opossums 
of America, the name possum, by which our species are most commonly known, 
has been deliberately adopted in this list. 

As descriptions of the older species are readily obtained in Oldfield 
Thomas’s Catalogue of the Marsupialia (British Museum, 1888), only references 
to recent literature are given. 


LIST OF QUEENSLAND PRESENT-DAY MARSUPIALS. 

Family MACROPODIML 

Macropus giganteus (Zimmerman). Great Grey Kangaroo. Queensland, including 
Stradbroke Island. 

Macropus melanops Gould. Black-faced Kangaroo. 

A. S. Le Souef (Austr. Zool. iii, 1923, p. 148) considers this as 
specifically distinct from M. giganteus. 

Macropus robustus Gould. Wallaroo. 

Pending a revision of the Wallaroos none of the ten subspecies 
recorded are listed here. 

Macropus rufus (Desmarest). Red Kangaroo. Western Queensland. 

Macropus rufus dissimulatus Rothschild (1905). Western Queensland. 

Mr. J. Edgar Young obtained two skins of this subspecies from the 
St. George district. It was described by Rothschild in Nov. Zool., xii, 
p. 508. 

Macropus agilis (Gould). Coast or Agile Wallaby. Eastern Queensland ; extends 
as far south as Stradbroke Island. 

Macropus ruficollis (Desmarest). Red-necked Wallaby. Southern Queensland; 
extends as far north as the Burnett and Upper Dawson. H. H. Finlayson, 
of Adelaide, who has placed on record many observations on this wallaby 
(Trans. Roy. Soc. South Aus., liv, 1930, pp. 47-56, plates i-iii), collected 
specimens from the Upper Dawson. 

Macropus ualabatus (Lesson & Gamier). Swamp or Black-tailed Wallaby. 
South-eastern Queensland. 


1923: Wood-Jones, The Mammals of South Australia, part i., p. 83. 


58 MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

Macropus ualabatus apicalis (Gunther). Type locality : Cape Grafton, North 
Queensland. 

Macropus ualabatus ingrami Thomas & Dollman. Type locality : Inkerman, 
North Queensland. (P.Z.S. 1908, p. 788, plate xlii). 

Macropus welsbyi Longman. Red Stradbroke Island Wallaby. South-east 
Queensland. 

This handsome wallaby was described in 1922 (Mem. Qld. Mus., vii, 
p. 298). An additional specimen was obtained by H. G. Barnard in 
1927. 

Macropus parryi Bennett. Pretty-face or Whip-tail Wallaby. 

Macropus dorsalis (Gray). Scrub or Black-striped Wallaby. 

This appears to be the most common wallaby in Queensland, and in 
some districts it is regarded as a pest. 

Macropus coxeni (Gray). Coxen’s Wallaby. Cape York. 

Macropus stigmaticus (Gould). Branded Wallaby. North-eastern Queensland. 

Macropus wilcoxi (McCoy). Red-legged Wallaby. Southern Queensland. 

Macropus thetidis (Lesson). Pademelon Wallaby. South-eastern Queensland. 

Macropus bedfordi Thomas. 

Oldfield Thomas described this wallaby (P.Z.S. , 1900, p. 112) from a 
single skin, presented by the Duke of Bedford. The animal had been 
brought alive “from Queensland or North Australia.” It is allied to 
M. eugenii. 

Petrogale xanthopus Gray. Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby. Western Queensland. 

Petrogale penicillata Gray. Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby. South-eastern Queens- 
land. 

Petrogale assimiiis Ramsay. Allied Rock Wallaby. Type locality : Palm 

Island, North-eastern Queensland. 

Petrogale godmani Thomas (1923). Godman’s Rock Wallaby. Type locality: 
Black Mountain, near Cooktown, North Queensland. 

Petrogale purpureicoUis Le Soeuf (1924). Purple-necked Rock Wallaby. Type 
locality : Dajarra, North-western Queensland. (Austr. Zool., iii, p. 274.) 

Petrogale celeris Le Soeuf (1924). “Active Rock Wallaby,” Type locality: 
Terachy Station, Adavale, South-western Queensland. 

Petrogale inornata Gould. Plain Rock Wallaby. Northern Queensland. 

According to Stokes (Discoveries in Australia, vol. i, p. 336, 1846), 
the type locality is Cape Upstart, near Bowen. 

Petrogale herberti Thomas (1926). Herbert’s Rock Wallaby. Type locality: 
Eidsvold, Eastern Queensland. 


THE MABSiPIALH OF QUEENSLAND. 


59 


Petrogale puella Thomas (1926). Little Rock Wallaby. Type locality : Glen- 
clower Station, Flinders River, North-western Queensland. 

Dendrolagus lumholtzi Collett. Lumholtz’s Tree Kangaroo. North-eastern 
Queensland. 

Dendrolagus lumholtzi fulvus De Vis. Tawny Tree Kangaroo. Herberton, 
North Queensland. 

Described in 1887 by De Vis as a distinct species (Pr. Roy. Soc. 
Qld., iv, p. 132). 

Dendrolagus bennettianus De Vis. Bennett’s Tree Kangaroo. Bloomfield River, 
North Queensland. 

A coloured plate of this species is given in P.Z.S., 1894, Plate XLVI. 

Onychogale frsenata (Gould). Bridled Nail-tailed Wallaby. South-western 
Queensland. 

A. S. Le Soeuf (Austr. Zool., vol. 3, 1923, p. 110) considers this 
species to be on the verge of extinction, but it is not uncommon in some 
parts of Southern Queensland, and its pelts were frequently seen in the 
sales two or three years ago under the name of “ pademelon.” It is 
now a protected species, 

Lagorchestes conspicillatus pallidior Thomas. Queensland Hare Wallaby. 
Northern Queensland. 

Sometimes called the “ Grass Rat” by trappers. The light-coloured 
Queensland forms were given subspecific rank by Oldfield Thomas in 1908. 

Subfamily POTORIN.K. 

Ailpyprymnus rufescens (Gray). Rufous Rat-kangaroo. Eastern Queensland. 

Bettongia gaimardi (Desmarest)-. Gaimard’s Rat-kangaroo. Southern Queensland. 

Potorous tridactylus (Kerr). Dark Rat-kangaroo. Southern Queensland. 

Subfamily HYPSIPRYMNODONTIN/E. 

Hypsiprymnodon moschatus Ramsay. Musk Rat Kangaroo. North-eastern 
Queensland. 

In the Cairns district this is sometimes called the “ Black Bandicoot.” 
Family PHALANGERIDAT 

Acrobates pygmseus (Shaw). Feather-tail or Pygmy Flying Possum. 

This dainty little marsupial lives in holes in gum-trees which it 
lines with leaves. It is widely distributed in Queensland. 

Dromicia (Eudromicia) macrura Mjoberg. Queensland Dormouse-possum. 
Atherton Tableland, Queensland. 


60 


MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


Mjoberg : (Kungl. Sven. Vetenskapsakad Hlgr., Bd. 52, 1915, p. 19)' 
separated lepida, caudcita, and macrura from Dromicia and established the 
genus Eudromicia. “ Dromicia frontalis” De Vis (Pr. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. (2), 
vol. 1, p. 1134) was founded on immature specimens which are apparently 
referable to Acrobates pygrnoeus. 

Dactylopsila picata Thomas. Queensland Striped Possum. North Queensland. 

In 1908 Thomas separated the Queensland forms from the Papuan 
D. trivirgata under the above name. According to Lonnberg and 
Mjoberg (1915) the Striped Possum is found as far south as Millaa 
Millaa. 

Petaurus australis reginse Thomas. Yellow-bellied Flying Phalanger. 

The Queensland forms were designated as Petaurus australis regince 
by Thomas in 1923. 

Petaurus sciureus (Shaw). “ Sugar Squirrel.” Eastern Queensland. 

Includes Belideus gracilis De Vis (1882) from “north of Cardwell,” 
North Queensland. 

Petaurus breviceps Thomas. Lesser Flying Phalanger. Eastern Queensland. 

Matschie (loc. cit .) places this in a subgenus Petaurella. 

Petaurus breviceps longicaudatus Longman. 

In 1924 the writer described this subspecies from the Mapoon Mission. 
Station, Gulf of Carpentaria (Pr. Roy. Soc. Qld., xxxvi, p. ix). These 
phalangers are most nearly related to Petaurus arid Gould from Port 
Essington, included by Thomas (Brit. Mus. Catal.) in the synonymy of 
P. breviceps typicus. 

Petauroides volans incanus Thomas. Large Flying Phalanger. South-eastern 
Queensland. 

Petauroides volans armillatus Thomas. Type locality : Coomooboolaroo, East- 
Central Queensland. 

These two subspecies were described by Thomas in 1923 (Ann. Mag.. 
Nat. Hist. (9), xi, p. 247-8). 

Petauroides volans minor Collett. Type locality: Herbert Vale, North Queens- 
land. 

Pseudochirus laniginosus (Gould). Common Ring-tailed Possum. Southern 
Queensland. 

Four subgenera have been described for the Australian and Papuan 
1 seudochiri by Matschie and Thomas, but the names are not introduced 
here. 

Pseudochirus laniginosus oralis Thomas (1926). Type locality: Bloomfield, 

East-central Queensland. 

Pseudochirus laniginosus incanens Thomas (1923). Type locality : Vine Creek, 
Ravenshoe, North Queensland. 


THE MARSUPIALS OF QUEENSLAND. 


61 


Pseudochirus rubidus Troughton & Le Soeuf. Bunya Mountains. Ring-tailed 
Possum. 

In 1929 Troughton & Le Soeuf described a specimen from the 
Bunya Mountains, South Queensland, under the above name (Rec. Aus. 
Mus., vol xvii, pp. 291-296, plate xlv). 

Pseudochirus herbertensis Collett. Herbert River Ring-tail Possum. North 

Queensland. 

Pseudochirus herbertensis colletti Waite. Collett's Ring-tail Possum. Cairns 

district, North Queensland. 

Tli is well-marked subspecies can be readily separated by the smooth 
prehensile surface of the tail. 

(Pseudochirus dahli Collett, from the Mary River, Arnhem Land, has been 
recorded in error by A. S. Le Soeuf (The Wild Animals of Australasia, 
p. 268), owing to confusion with the Mary River, Queensland.) 

Pseudochirus archeri Collett. Archer’s Ring-tail Possum or Toolah. Cardwell, 
Cairns district, North Queensland. 

Pseudochirus lemuroides Collett. Sombre Ring-tail Possum. North-east Queens- 
land. 

Pseudochirus cervinus Longman (1915). Fawn Ring-tail Possum. Atherton 
Tableland, North Queensland (Mem. Qld. Mus., iii, p. 22). 

Trichosurus vulpecula (Kerr). Common or Silver-grey Possum. 

Trichosurus vulpecula johnstonii (Ramsay). Type locality : Bellenden-Ker Range, 
North Queensland. 

This coppery form, which was designated by Ramsay as specifically 
distinct, is at least a well-marked subspecies. 

Trichosurus vulpecula mesurus Thomas (1926). Type locality : Inkerman, North 
Queensland. 

Trichosurus vulpecula eburacensis Lonnberg (1915). Type locality : Between 

Coleman and Mitchell Rivers, Cape York Peninsula. 

This subspecies was described by Lonnberg in 1915 (Kungl. Sv. 
vet. Akad. Hlgr., Bd. 52, p. 9). 

Trichosurus caninus (Ogilby). “ Scrub ” or Short-eared Possum. Eastern Queens- 
land. 

Trichosurus caninus nigrans Le Soeuf. Black Short-eared Possum. Coastal 
“ scrubs ” of South Queensland and New South Wales. 

Described in Australian Zoologist, 1916, i. p. 64. 

Phalanger (Ceonyx) maculatus Geoff roy. Spotted Cuscus. Cape York, Queens- 
land. 


62 


MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


Possibly the Cape York forms should be distinguished from the non- 
Australian specimens by the use of Gould’s term nudicaudata (1849).. 
In 1918 Alexander established the genus Wyulda for the Cuscus from 
North-west Australia, with the specific name squamicaudata. 

Family PHASCO LARCTID Ml . 

Phascolaretos cinereus adustus Thomas. Koala or Native Bear. 

In 1923 Oldfield Thomas separated the Queensland forms from the 
New South Wales and Victorian koalas under the name Phascolaretos 
cinereus adustus (Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (9), xi, p. 246). There are no 
records of the occurrence of koalas farther north than Townsville. 

Family PHASCOLOMYID/E. 

Phascolomys mitchelli Owen. Naked-nosed Wombat. South-eastern Queensland. 

According to Mathews and Iredale (Viet. Nat., xxix, 1912, p. 14),. 
Perry’s “ Opossum hirsutum ” was applied to the New South Wales 
wombat, which would give hirsutum (1811) priority over Owen’s name. 

Phascolomys gillespiei De Vis (1900). Queensland Hairy- nosed Wombat. Type 
locality : Moonie River, South-western Queensland (Ann. Qld. Mus., No. 
5, pp. 14-16, Plates ix-x). 

Family DAS YURIDAE. 

Dasyurus maculatus (Kerr). “ Tiger Cat ” or “ Spotted-tailed Native Cat.” 
Eastern Queensland. 

Large specimens of this marsupial may attain 3 feet 6 inches in total 
length. Probably most of the stories of a fierce new carnivorous animal 
are based on unusually large “ Tiger Cats.” A. S. Le Soeuf ( Wild 
Animals of Australasia, pp. 329-332) reprints several references to a 
large “ Striped Marsupial Cat" of the Cape York Peninsula, which is 
presumably new, but which has never been collected. 

Dasyurus hallucatus Gould. Northern Native Cat. North Queensland. 

Dasyurus hallucatus predator Thomas. Cape York, Queensland. 

This subspecies was described by Thomas in 1926 (Ann. Mag. Nat. 
Hist. (9), xviii, p. 543). 

Dasyurus gracilis Ramsay. 

This species, which was described by Ramsay in 1888 from a single 
specimen obtained in the Bellenden-Ker Range, is unrepresented in our 
collections. 

Dasyurus geoifroyi Gould. Geoffroy’s Native Cat. 

Two specimens are listed in our series without precise localities. 

Dasyurus viverrinus (Shaw). Common Native Cat. 

Although this species is represented in our old collections, no precise 
localities are indicated. 


THE MARSUPIALS OF QUEENSLAND. 


63 


Phascogale penicillata (Shaw). Brush-tailed Pouched Rat. Queensland. 

Phascogale minutissima (Gould). Pygmy Pouched Mouse. Central and Southern 
Queensland. 

Phascogale apicalis Gray. Freckled Pouched Mouse. Queensland. 

Phascogale flavipes Waterhouse. Yellow-footed Pouched Mouse. Southern 
Queensland. 

Phascogale flavipes adusta Thomas (1923). Type locality : Ravenshoe, North 
Queensland. 

Phascogale godmani Thomas (1923). Type locality : Ravenshoe, North Queens- 
land. 

Planigale ingrami (Thomas) 1906. 

A. S. Le Soeuf records this tiny marsupial from near Burketown, 
North Queensland (Austr. Zool., 1930, vi, p. 110). 

Planigale ingrami brunneus Troughton. Type locality : Wyangerie, Flinders 

River, North-western Queensland (F. L. Berney). 

The genus Planigale was established by Troughton in 1928 (Records 
Austr. Mus., xvi, p. 282), the “ marked flattening of the upper surface 
of the skull being the distinctive feature. 

Sminthopsis virginise (De Tarragon). Striped-faced Pouched Mouse. East-central 
Queensland. 

A specimen of this rare marsupial, which came from Mackay, was 
described by the writer in the Qld. Agric. Journal, March 1918, p. 117. 

Sminthopsis leucopus (Gray). White-footed Pouched Mouse. Eastern Queensland. 

Sminthopsis murina (Waterhouse), Grey Pouched Mouse. Southern Queensland. 

Sminthopsis crassicaudata (Gould). Fat-tailed Pouched Mouse. Western Queens- 
land. 

Antechinomys laniger (Gould). Jerboa Pouched Mouse. South-western Queens- 
land. 

Family PERAMELIMk 

Thalacomys lagotis (Reid). Rabbit-Bandicoot. Western Queensland. 

Three subspecies have been described. Additional material is required 
before the specimens from Western Queensland can be definitely placed, 
but they appear to be most closely related to Spencer’s T. minor. A brief 
account of a living specimen by the writer appears in the Queensland 
Naturalist, vol. iii, 1922, p. 52. 

Perameles nasuta Geoffroy. Long-nosed Bandicoot. Southern Queensland. 

Perameles nasuta pallescens Thomas. Type locality : Vine Creek, Ravenshoe, 
North Queensland. Described in 1923 (Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (9), xi, 
p. 173). 

Isoodon obesulus (Shaw). Short-nosed Bandicoot. Southern Queensland. 


64 


MEMOIRS OF T1IE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


Isoodon macrurus (Gould). Northern Bandicoot. 

This species extends to South-eastern Queensland. 

Isoodon torosus (Ramsay). Ramsay’s Bandicoot. Type locality : Near Cook- 
town, North Queensland. 

This is evidently distinct from 1. macrurus. 

Isoodon pemnsulse Thomas. Cape York Bandicoot. Northern Cape York. 

Choeropus eastanotis (Gray). Pig-footed Bandicoot. Western Queensland. 

We have no Queensland specimens in our collection, but Wood- Jones 
(Mammals of South Australia, 1924, pt. ii, p. 171) records its occurrence 
in the far west of this State. 


i 


THE GLENORMISTON METEORITE. 


65 


THE GLENORMISTON METEORITE. 

By H. C. Richards, D.Sc, Professor of Geology and Mineralogy, University of 
Queensland ; Honorary Petrologist and Mineralogist, Queensland Museum. 

(Plates III— VIII.) 

INTRODUCTION. 

In 1925 a metallic substance was forwarded by Mr. George Wood, Clerk 
of Boulia Shire Council, to myself as Professor of Geology in the University of 
Queensland, as a result of which its meteoric character was recognised. 
Following upon this, about a year later, the Queensland Museum purchased the 
meteorite from Mr. F. H. Story, late manager of Glenormiston Station where it 
was found. 

The mass received by the Queensland Museum shows evidence of one or 
two small pieces having been forced away, but it is in a reasonably complete 
condition, and as the list of Queensland meteorites is small some interest is 
attached to its description. 

The main specimen on being received weighed 85J lb., and in shape was 
an irregular sub -triangular shell-like mass with distinct concave and convex 
surfaces. 

The small specimen originally forwarded to myself for examination 
weighed approximately 750 grammes, while another one forwarded to Mr. B. 
Dunstan, Chief Government Geologist, weighed approximately the same amount. 

The chemical analysis made in the Government Chemical Laboratory by 
Mr. F. Connah through the courtesy of Mr. J. B. Henderson, Government 
Analyst, was made on borings from the specimen forwarded to myself. 

A fragment weighing 1,550 grammes has been sawn from the main mass 
to afford a surface for etching purposes and for examination ; the line of 
parting is shown on Plate III. 

OBSERVATIONS ON QUEENSLAND METEORITES. 

In the Records of the Australian Museum, Sydney, 1913, Dr. C. Anderson 
furnishes a Catalogue of Australian Meteorites and gives six Queensland meteorites, 
of which four are of the siderite type and two are aerolites (the Legould and 
the Warbreccan). 

The siderites are Mungindi No. 1 and No. 2 (portions of the same fall), a 
meteorite from Southern Queensland referred to in the Catalogue of Ward and 
Coonley Collection of Meteorites 1904, and the Thunda meteorite. 

E 


66 MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

The only other Queensland meteorites apart from the Glenormiston one- 
known to the author are an undescribed siderite (coarsest octahedrite) weighing 
14 J, cwt., found near Gladstone and disposed of by Mr. B. Dunstan to Wards 
Natural History Establishment, New York, and an undescribed collection of 102 
fragments of various sizes and aerolitic in character which were seen to fall on 
Tenharu Station near the junction of Cooper and Kyabra Creeks, in South- 
western Queensland, in the year I860, by Mr. M. Hammond and his brothers. 

The Mungindi No. 1 and No. 2 weigh 51 lb. and 62 lb. respectively, are 
finest octahedrite (off., Brezina) or fine octahedrite (of., Farrington), and were 
found in 1907 three miles north of Mungindi, which is on the border of 
Queensland and New South Wales in Lat. 29° S., Long. 149° E. The specimens 
are now in the Mining and Geological Museum, Sydney. 

The meteorite recorded in the Ward and Coonley Collection is a broad 
octahedrite (og.) and came from Southern Queensland.' As the only meteorite 
of this type known in Queensland is the Gladstone meteorite, and as a part of 
this has been missing for many years, it is possible that this represents the 
missing portion. 

The Thunda siderite weighed 137 lb., is a medium octahedrite (om.), 
and was found in 1886 at Windorah in the Diamantina district, Lat. 25 ° 25 ' S., 
Long. 142° 40' E., some 300 miles south-east of Glenormiston. It was described 
by the late Professor A. Liversidge, F.R.S. (Proc. Roy. Soc. N.S.W., vol. 20, 
p. 73, also vol. 22, p. 341). 

Its density is given as 7-78 and its composition as nickel iron containing 
a trace of cobalt together with sulphur, phosphorus, and carbon. “ The pittings 
are very large and cup-like and some of them almost perforate the meteorite” 
(Proc. Roy. Soc. N.S.W., xxii, p. 341). 

“ This meteorite is also remarkable for the many nodules of sulphide of 
iron which it contains” (A.A.A.S., vol. ii, 1890, p. 387). 

In Bull. 94 U.S. Nat. Museum the analysis by E. Cohen of this meteorite 
is given, and from it Cohen calculated the mineral composition to be as 


follows : — 

Per cent 

Nickel iron 

98-85 

Schreibersite 

1-09 

Troilite 

0-05 

Chromite 

0-01 


The following particulars relating to the Gladstone meteorite, which was 
purchased by Ward's Natural History Establishment, New York, some time ago, 
have been kindly furnished by Mr. B. Dunstan, Chief Government Geologist. : — 

It was found in 1914 four miles due south of Gladstone, two and a-half 
miles north-west from Tooloola Siding, was approximately 33 inches by 12 
inches by 9 inches (mean dimensions), has a density of 7-75, and weighs 
14| cwt. 


THE GLENORMISTON METEORITE. G? 

An analysis by Mr. F. Connah of the Government Analyst’s Laboratory 
“of chips from all over specimen of iron portion'’ is shown in the table of 
analyses in this paper. 

Large nodules of troilite, of which one was 1 inch by 2J inches in 
section, occurred and “ apparently there is a mixture of coarse troilite (crystals), 
graphite, and particles of iron in the nodules.” Analysis of a nodule yielded 



Per cent. 

Iron 

59-4 

Nickel 

2-0 

Cobalt 

0-3 

Sulphur 

33-4 

Residue 

2-3 

Total 

97-4 


The polished section (-see Plate VIII) after etching with dilute nitric acid 
exhibited very good Widmanstatten figures ; the lamella* are very coarse and 
range up to 4 mm. in width, the large majority being greater than 2-5 mm. 

It comes within the coarsest octahedrite classification of Farrington or 
octahedrite (ogg., Brezina). 

The curious and interesting obsidian buttons or australites which have 
been found in other Australian States have not yet been recorded definitely 
from Queensland. Some years ago Mrs. Saunders, the widow of a man interested 
in tin-mining in Northern Queensland, presented the University Geological 
Department with a collection of minerals, and in a tobacco tin containing 
pellets of cassiterite were two small undoubted australites which had been worn 
and knocked about to some extent. They weighed 1-005 and 0-591 grammes 
respectively and have densities as follows : 2-436 and 2-581. 

Whether they really came from tin-wash in Northern Queensland we will 
probably never be able to settle, but it is interesting to know that Mrs. 
Saunders did not know of their existence in the sample of cassiterite pellets. 

THE GLENORMISTON METEORITE. 

Time and Place of Falling. 

The date of falling is unknown, and the only available information 
relating to the finding is contained in a letter from Mr. F. H. Story, dated 
November 14th, 1926 : 

“• • • I regret that I cannot give you much information regarding it, 

as no one knew when or saw it fall. It was discovered when one of the boys 
was tracking a stray horse, who brought me home a small piece. I then sent 
the car and got the balance of it in. It fell on a small plain about 5 miles 
west of Glenormiston. Station House in the Boulia district or to be exact 90 
miles west of Boulia.” This would make its location about Lat. 22° 54' S 
Long. 138° 43' E. 


fit, MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

Size and Weight. 

The size on receipt at the Museum was 19|” x 131 x 8f" and its weight 
was 85 1 lb. As indicated earlier, at least two fragments weighing together a 
few pounds are known to have been removed, so that the meteorite weighed 
at least 90 lb. 

Form. 

The meteorite, owing to having distinct concave and convex surfaces 
with a maximum thickness between them of not more than 4 inches, may best 
be regarded as a deeply pitted shell-like fragment, which has a maximum 
length of 19-5 inches and a maximum -width of 13-2 inches. When resting on 
its convex surface (see Plate V) the highest point above the table is 8-8 inches. 

Both surfaces have been coated with a thin film of dark chocolate brown 
iron oxide crust, and only where the original surface has been broken is there 
any indication of the distinctly brecciated character of the meteorite. 

Both surfaces are well pitted, but the concave surface has several 
cup-like depressions as much as 5 inches in depth in one case. The depressions 
are relatively smooth and run one into the other, also they may be roughly ovate 
or circular in form The deepest depression perforates the mass. The convex 
side is more characteristically “ thumb-marked,” an average width for the 
shallow rounded depressions being If to 2 inches, while the perforation from the 
deep depression on the concave surface shows up as a rounded hole approxi- 
mately an inch in diameter. 

The shell has a maximum thickness of 4 inches, but over muc'.i of its 
area is rather less, perhaps 2 inches on the average. 

Brecciated Character. 

The very thin crust of iron oxide disguises rather effectively the 
distinctly brecciated character of the mass. The individual granules of kamacite, 
which in cross-section are polygonal (five or six sides being the usual number) 
and which are generally equidimensional in size, vary in diameter from 13 mm. 
to 2 5 mm., but have an average diameter of approximately 6 mm. 

In between the kamacite granules plate-like crystals of tsenite and 
probably plessite are arranged eutectically, while distributed through the 
kamacite crystals themselves are troilite granules and rounded to irregular 
granules of what is believed to be sc-hreibersite (see Plates VI and VII). 

Chemical Composition. 

The following chemical analysis was made by Mr. F. Connah, of the 
Government Analyst’s Laboratory, on the borings made by drilling a half-inch 
hole to a depth of 14 inches. 

For comparison, the analysis has been arranged in a table along with the 
average composition of iron meteorites as determined by Merrill, 1 with the 


1 Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., xlv, 1926, p. 124. 


THE GLEN OHM IS T 0 N METEOIUTE. 


(>9- 

analysis of the Thunda meteorite of Queensland and with the analyses of iron 
meteorites from Gladstone in Queensland, from Mount Edith in Western 
Australia, from South Australia, from Narraburra in New South Males, and 
from Cranbourne in Victoria. 

The general description by Professor Liversidge of the Thunda meteorite 
corresponds closely with that of the Glenormiston meteorite, and as the chemical 
analyses are so similar it is not at all unlikely that they constitute portions 
of the same original mass, although found approximately 300 miles apart. 


— 

The 

Glenormiston 

Meteorite, 

Qld. 

Average 2 
Compo- 
sition of 
Meteorites 

Iron Nickel 
portion of 
Gladstone 
Meteorite, 
Qld. 

Thunda 3 
Meteorite, 
Qld. 

Narra- 
burra 4 
Meteorite, 
N.S.W. 

Cranbourne 5 
No. 2 
Meteorite, 
Vic. 

Meteorite, 6 
S.A . 

Mt. Edith 7 
Meteorite, 
W.A. 

Iron . . 

89-74 

90-85 

92-9 

91-54 

88-605 

92-34 

88-85 

89-45 

Nickel 

8-71 

8-52 

6-4 

8-49 

9-741 

6-3 f 

9-07 

9-45 

Cobalt 

0-21 

0-59 

0-1 

0-56 

0-474 

0-75 

0-34 

0-75 

Phosphorus . . 

0-36 

0-17 

0-18 

0-17 

0-429 

0-19 

0-27 

0-35 

S ulphur 

0-30 

0-04 

Nil 

002 

traces 

0-18 

0-75 


Carbon 

0-24 

0-03 

Nil 


0-008 




Copper 




0-02 





Chromite 




001 





Difference 

0-44 








Total 

100-00 



100-81 




100-00 

Density 

7-621 




7-57 


7-693 


Fe : Ni 

10-3 : 1 

10-7 : 1 

14-5 : 1 

10-8 : 1 

9-1 1 

14-5 : 1 

9-8 : 1 

9-5 : 1 

Weight 

85£ lb 



137 lb. 

71 lb. 

3 ( cwt. 

7} lb. 

350 lb. 

Analyst 

Classification 

F. Connah 

Brecciated 

medium 

octahedrite 

(obz.) 


F. Connah 

Coarsest 

octahed- 

rite' 

Medium 

octahed- 

rite 

(om.) 


Broad 

octahed- 

rite 

W. S. Chap- 
man 

Octahedrite 

Medium 

octahed- 

rite 

(om,) 


The chemical analysis shows nothing abnormal or unusual in any way, 
and is closely comparable with that of several iron meteorites from Australia 
and elsewhere. 


In comparison with the average composition of iron meteorites it appears 
to be a little deficient in cobalt but much richer in phosphorus, sulphur, and 
carbon. Such a comparison, however, may be deceptive as it is not likely that 
there is a linear variation of the constituents of iron meteorites, and comparison 
with an average composition may be very misleading. 

2 Proc. Amor. Phil. Soc., xlv, p. 124. 

3 Bull. 94, U.S. Nat. Mus., p. 158. 

4 Proc. Roy. Soc. N.S.W., xxxvii. 

5 Mem. Nat. Mus. Melb. No. 0, p. 22. 

6 Proc. Roy. Soc. S. Ausfc. 1901, p. 14. 

7 Bull. 59, Oeol. Surv. West Aust., p. 212. 


70 MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

The relationship between the structure as revealed by etching polished 
surfaces and the percentage of nickel has been well established by 0. C. 
Farrington and adopted by G. P. Prior 8 and others. 

The cubic irons or hexahedrites have an iron to nickel ratio greater than 
13 : 1. while the octahedral irons or octahedrites which constitute the main 
bulk of the meteoric irons range between 13:1 and 6:1. 

The Glenormiston iron with its ratio of 10-3 : 1 is, therefore, in the 
group of octahedrites on this basis, and one might expect it to show the 
minerals and structures characteristic of that placing. On etching a polished 
surface, however, one does not obtain the Widmanstatten structure so 
characteristic of the octahedrites, but instead there is developed the structures 
shown in the cubic irons or hexahedrites. The fact that the meteorite is so 
definitely brecciated may account for this. 

On the iron-nickel ratio the Glenormiston meteorite is a medium 
octahedrite. 

Examination of the figures in Plate VI will show the uneven distribution 
of the troilite, schreibersite, and the tsenite throughout the main mass of kama- 
cite crystals, and the borings analysed may perhaps be not truly representative 
of the mass as a whole. The correct sampling for analysis of a brecciated iron 
meteorite of this type is a very difficult matter unless an undue quantity of 
material is dissolved. 

Examination of Polished and Etched Surfaces. 

Structures and Minerals present. 

The meteorite is distinctly tough and the extreme labour and slowness 
associated with even quite small cuts with a hacksaw pointed to a rather 
high carbon content in the material. By means of a carborundum saw a face 
oi inches long and 3 inches wide was obtained and subsequently polished. 
This was cut from one end of the meteorite as shown in Plate III. 

The polished surface showed clearly the brecciated character and angular 
eutectic intergrowths of tsenite and plessite could be seen in reflected light, while 
small nodules of troilite and larger nodular masses of schreibersite alone or mixtures 
of schreibersite and troilite could be detected by the use of reflected light without 
magnification and without artificial aid (see Plate VI). 

The surface responded very readily to attack by dilute nitric acid ; the 
troilite nodules became dissolved leaving small rounded pits. The crystals of 
kamacite showed very well indeed the Neumann lines,, while the angular platy 
intergrowths of tsenite (and plessite) stood out in relief from the surface of the 
kamacite as it dissolved away. A beautiful damascene effect on some of the 
kamacite faces showed up in parts of the etched surface in the early stage of 
the attack and before the Neumann lines had been very w'ell developed. 


Miner. Mag., vol. xix. 


Til K CxlKNOHMlHTON METEORITE. 


71 


When the etching was carried out still further the damascene effect 
became lost, the Neumann lines were well developed and the surface of the 
kamacite crystals became rough owing to the greater resistance of small pin- 
point portions which do not appear to an equal extent in all the kamacite 
surfaces, but which seem to have an even and rather systematic network 
distribution throughout the whole mass. These more resistant pin-points may 
indicate the existence of minute segregations of carbon throughoutt he kamacite. 

The richer nickel-bearing material which has filled in the interstices 
between the kamacite crystals is very reminiscent of the form which quartz 
assumes in its intergrowth with felspar in graphic granite. These sharply angular 
and triangular masses have a distinctly yellowish reflecting surface compared 
with the kamacite, and not infrequently appear to have a marked border, 
rather thin but distinctly lamellar (see Plate VII, fig. 1). It may be that in 
these cases we may have an outer lamellar envelope of taenite wrapping up the 
plessite. 

The troilite granules are all small, averaging little more than 1 mm. in 
diameter, though some reach 2 mm. They are abundant and distributed some- 
what unevenly, occur indiscriminately in the kamacite, in the tsenite and 
plessite, and sometimes form a compound granule with what is believed to be 
schreibersite. 

This latter mineral occurs as irregular-shaped nodules, brittle in character, 
with a paler yellow reflecting surface than the troilite, with surfaces showing 
cleavage faces and much rougher than the nickel rich material filling the 
interstices, and offers considerable resistance to the attack of quite strong 
nitric acid. 

Separate chemical analysis has not been carried out on this material, 
but it is believed to be schreibersite (iron-nickel phosphide). 

The kamacite crystals are arranged, as one might expect in a brecciated 
octahedrite, with the Neumann lines of adjacent grains generally showing no 
relationship whatever to one another (Plate VII, fig. 2). 

When the etched surface as a whole is viewed by reflected light, great 
variation is noted between adjacent crystals or adjacent groups of crystals in 
their surface illumination according to the incidence of the light. This so-called 
“ schiller” effect of some writers on meteorites is very pronounced owing to the 
different orientation in different groups of plates, and is illustrated in the three 
figures of Plate VI, in which the same surface has been photographed with light 
coming from different directions. The curved line on the top surface of each 
figure marks the base of one of the cup-like depressions, and it is noteworthy 
that the fresh metallic material has only the thinnest oxidised coating. In the 
photographs on Plate VI the Neumann lines on the kamacite (k) plates are 
seen clearly. Schreibersite (s), taenite and plessite (t), and troilite (tr) may also 
be identified in the figures. 


u MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

To Mr. H. A. Longman, Mr. B. Dunstan, Dr. F. W. Whitehouse, and 
Mr. A. N. Falk I wish to extend thanks for help in connection with the 
illustrations in this paper. 

SUMMARY. 

The Glenormiston meteorite, which weighed nearly 90 lb., may be 
regarded as a brecciated octahedrite of medium composition with a density 7-621. 

It is composed essentially of crystals of kamacite averaging approximately 
6 mm. in diameter and which are not orientated according to any definite 
arrangement as shown by their reflected surfaces, but which show well-developed 
Neumann lines after etching. 

Finite and plcssite occur as eutectic intergrowths with the kamacite 
crystals, while troilitc and schreibersite in the form of rounded or irregular 
nodules sometimes simple but often compound occur in moderate abundance. 

Widmanstatten structure is not present. 


MEMO ms OF Tim QUEENSLAND MUSEUM, Vol. X, Plate III. 



Face page 72. 


Maximum length I9J inches. 
Photo., II. IF. Mobsby. 



MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM., Yol. X, Plate IY, 



Face page 72. 



MEMOIRS OF TTIE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM, A t ol. X, Plate V. 



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MEMO ms OE THE QVEEX8UNV Ml', SEEM. Vol. X, Plate VI. 



The Glenormiston Meteorite. 

Three photographs by reflected light, natural size, of etched surface. See page 71 of text. 
Photos., A. N. Falk. Face page 72. 
























MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM, Yol. X, Plate VII. 



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MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM, Yol. X, Plate VIII. 



Face page 72, 


The Gladstone Meteorite. 




QUEENSLAND MOLLUSCAN NOTES, No. S. 


73 


QUEENSLAND MOLLUSCAN NOTES, No. 2. 

By Tom Iredale.* 

(Plate IX.) 

Continuing these notes, f new species are described and rectifications of 
identity are recorded. These are determined mainly from the collections made 
by Mr. Melbourne Ward and Mr. William Board man, of the Australian Museum, 
who have dredged successfully in Port Curtis, and off North-west Island, 
Capricorn Group. Successful shore collecting was also done by them on the 
mainland and islets, and this has proved of service for comparison, showing 
clearly the distinction between the fauna of the mainland and that of the 
coral reef. 

The accompanying illustrations were prepared by Miss J. K. Allan, of the 
Australian Museum, to whom my best thanks are here tendered. 

Melaxinsea labyrintha gen. & sp. nov. 

(Plate IX, figs. 1-4.) 

Under this name is described the shell which in recent years has been called 
Glycymeris vitreus Lamarck. Beautiful living specimens were dredged by Mr. 
Melbourne Ward in Albany Passage, 9-12 fathoms, and upon checking Lamarck’s 
reference many discrepancies were noted. Firstly, it was described from “ Mers 
australes” collected by Peron, and this shell is only taken by the dredge in 
Queensland waters where Peron did not collect. This created suspicion, and 
the description called for a thin brittle shell, which this species is not, and 
then it was found that Reeve had figured the unique valve. Reeve’s figures 
definitely showed a differently shaped shell with a more complex sculpture, the 
ears especially differing. 

Shell semi-orbicular, very compressed, thin but solid, a little oblique. 
Colouration dirty cream or fawn marked with brown spots irregularly. The 
straight ligamental edge shows a narrow compressed ligamental area above which 
the umbones almost meet. The sculpture in the adult shows close radial lines of 
nodules on a groundwork of concentric crinkled threads. The minute juvenile 
here figured shows that the sculpture begins as about twenty defined nodulose 
ribs, the interstices minutely concentrically threaded. With age these ribs split, 
the nodules being less continuous, and in the adult fifty or more ribs can be 

* By permission of the Trustees of the Australian Museum, 
t Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, vol. ix, part 3, 1929. 


74 


MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


seen, some still showing their duplicate nature. The hinge is composed of two 
straight rows of teeth, meeting angulately in the juvenile, separated by the 
ligamental area intruding in the adult. The inside colouration is white in the 
juvenile but mostly marked with brown in the adult. The crenulation of the 
edge is deep and regular when young but less marked though still definite in 
the adult. 

Length 37 mm. ; height 38 mm. ; diameter 12 mm. 

Habitat : North Queensland (only dredged). Type from Albany Passage, 
9-12 fathoms. Also collected at Michaelmas Cay, 9-12 fathoms. 

Probably Lamarck's vitreus came from West Australia, as Odlnier (Ivungl. 
Svensk. Vet. Akad. Handl., Bd. 52, No. 16, p. 22, pi. 1, ff. 12-13, 1917) has 
figured a young specimen from oil Cape Jaubert, North-west Australia, which 
differs from ours in detail, and in shape fits Reeve’s figure of Lamarck’s type 
well. 


Family TELLINIDA3. 

A curious Tellinid was included in a fine collection brought back by Mr. 
Melbourne Ward from the islands in the Whitsunday Passage. It proved to 
be identical with a shell from New Caledonia identified in London as Tellinungula 
bruguU.fi Hanley. Tellina bruguieri was described from the island of Panhay, 
Philippines, and the Australian specimen differs from the description and figure 
in the shorter posterior side and the more produced anterior edge, the concentric 
sculpture more pronounced and the radial nearly obsolete ; the teeth are even 
larger and the pallial sinus of greater extent. These features can be 
distinguished with the subspecific name refecta nov. Regarded as referable to 
the genus Macoma on account of its lack of lateral teeth, it was separated by 
H. Adams (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1S60, p. 369) with the name Macalia, introduced 
for it alone. Twelve years later Romer, monographing the Tellinidae in the 
Conch. Cab. ed. Kuster, Bd. x, Abth. 4, p. 268, 1872, and ignorant of H. Adams’s 
action, again recognised its distinction, giving the name Tellinungula to the 
section for the single species. Bertin in his monograph of the Tellinidse left it 
in Macoma, with which genus it has probably no close affinity ; and Dali, 
without comment, in the Trans. Wagner Free Inst. Science, vol. iii, p. 1044, 
1900, allowed it as of sectional value under the subgenus Macoma, probably 
from no close attention to the shell, as it is of striking appearance, recalling 
Tellina inflata Gmelin and Tellina spedabilis Hanley. The latter has been 
classed under Metis, which name, long known to be preoccupied, has, at the 
second attempt, been emended to Apolymelis by Salisbury (Proc. Malac. Soc. 
(Lond.) vol. xviii, p. 258, Nov. 1929). Hanley’s spedabilis does not appear to 
me to be congeneric with meyeri, the type of Apolymetis, and is therefore here 
differentiated with the new generic name Leporimetis. Hanley’s Tellina spedabilis 
and bruguieri were both described in the Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1844, pp. 
141-2, Dec., from the Philippine Islands. 


QUEENSLAND MOLLUSC AN NOTES, No. S. 75 

Prophetilora arizsla gen. & sp. nov. 

(Plate IX, figs. 10, 11.) 

A toothless “ Lucinid” with delicate concentric sculpture and somewhat 
indistinct radials, which can be easily visualised as being like a large 
embodiment of the shell described as Lucina ramsayi by Smith (Rep. Chalk 
Zool., vol. xiii, 1885, p. 174), for which I have recently introduced (Rec. Austr. 
Mus., vol. xvii, 1930, p. 390) the genus name Monitilora. In the present case 
the cardinal is missing, the lunule still more impressed, and the interior inside 
the pallial line chalky and pustulose. 

Shell semi-circular, subglobose, subequilateral, equivalve, um bones small, 
attingent. Colour white, somewhat glassy, translucent, thin but strong. Lunule 
small but deeply impressed, anterior side somewhat pointed, posterior side 
subangulate. The sculpture consists of fine concentric well-marked lirse obscurely 
striate with fine radials which form a subcrenulation only discernible with a 
glass. An indistinct radial groove marks off the posterior wing. Interior 
chalky inside the pallial line, vitreous outside. Hinge edentulous. Muscle scars 
normally lucinid, rather narrow and elongate. 

Length 38 mm. ; height 34-5 mm. ; depth of single valve 10 mm. 

Habitat : North Queensland. Type from Friday Island, Torres Strait. 
Also collected at Michaelmas Cay. 

Fallartemis amina gen. & sp. nov. 

(Plate IX, figs. 14, 15.) 

Mr. Melbourne Ward brought back a large quantity of shells and shell- 
sand from the beach at Friday Island, Torres Strait, and many Dosinids were 
present. Two very distinct forms are here named ; the commonest species in 
the collection being Dosinia deshayesii which was well figured by Smith (Rep. 
Chalk Zook, vol. xiii, 1885, pi. i, fig. 1). The present genus is based on a 
comparatively smooth shell of the sculjrta Hanley series which is here named 
Fallartemis amina, and is named as type of the genus, there being a number 
of species related to sculpta. 

Shell small, subcircular, thin but strong, broader than high, fairly 
compressed, lunule small, rather shallow, escutcheon obsolete. Colour white, 
with faint radial underlying translucent streaks, more noticeable medially. The 
sculpture consists of fine lamella: set very closely, and comparatively smooth 
medially ; they develop on each edge into fine frilled puckers more pronounced. 
At each side radials also appear, these being most marked on the anterior 
side, and missing on the medial portion that appears smooth and rather shining. 
Hinge line shallow', more spread than in Pardosinia, the adductor muscle scars 
rather small and narrow. Pallial sinus of median length, reaching about half- 
way across both as to height and breadth. 

Height 29 mm. ; length 32 mm. ; depth of single valve 8 mm. 


76 


MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

Habitat : North Queensland. Type from Friday Island, Torres Strait. 

There is a species described by Deshayes as Dosinia semiobliterata (Cat- 
Conch. Coll. Brit. Mus., pt. i, p. 6, 1853) from Australia, collected by Strange, 
which has apparently not been figured nor localised. The description reads 
something like this species but it is more probably sculpta Hanley. 


Semelartemis setha gen. & sp. nov. 

(Plate IX, fig. 18.) 

A curious Dosinid recalling Semelc in appearance and of different shape 
from most of the family, the texture also distinctive. 

Shell somewhat elongately subcircular, inequilateral, thin, rather fragile,, 
somewhat compressed, lunule small, impressed, escutcheon notable, a little 
winged. Colour white. The sculpture consists of rather prominent closely set 
lamellar ridges, finer umbonad, and little frilled at the edges. there is no 
radial striation present. The extraordinary prolongation of the posterior side 
differentiates this from all other Australian Dosinid groups. Hinge very broad 
shallow, adductor muscle scars small. Pallial sinus long and rather narrow, 
reaching more than halfway across the interior. The escutcheon is very much 
lengthened and winged recalling that of D. alata in the immature, but less 
noticeable in the adult. 

Height 46 mm. ; length 52-5 mm. ; depth of single valve 12 mm. 

Habitat : North Queensland. Type from Friday Island, Torres Strait-.. 

Coralastele allanse gen. & sp. nov. 

(Plate IX, fig. 5.) 

A beautiful Trochoid of no close relationship to any other Australian 
species. Shell thin, delicate, truly conical, pseudo-umbilicate, columella arcuate, 
not plaited, outer lip thin. Colour rosy or brownish pink with regular brownish 
red markings on the ridges and intervals. Whorls eight, excluding a somewhat 
tilted one-whorled protoconch. The last whorl seven-eighths of the bulk of the 
shell, semi-shouldered, the gently rounded periphery showing three equidistant 
elevated thin ridges, sometimes with a faint thread between ; the shoulder 
also bears a similar ridge ; the base is rounded, similarly cingulate with eight 
ridges, a few threads sometimes between. The preceding whorl is similarly 
ornamented, two main cinguli present, the antepenultimate showing only one 
with radial threads overriding which are obsolete or absent on the later whorls. 
The earliest whorls show more prominently the radial sculpture as radiating 
ribs. The mouth is circular, the outer lip thin, columella well arched ending 
abruptly in a projecting tip and meeting the body whorl with a sweep, a thin 
glaze joining the outer lip. The pseudo-umbilicus is narrow and deep. 

Height 14 mm. ; breadth 13 mm. 


QUEENSLAND MOLLUSCAN NOTES, No. S. 77 

Habitat : Queensland. The type is from North-west Island, Capricorn 

Group. 

Hedley collected this species alive at Murray Island in crevices of coral 
blocks, and the operculum is thin, horny, multispiral. Specimens were compared 
in the British Museum (Natural History) and were pronounced novel. This 
beautiful species is named for Miss J. K. Allan, who has furnished so many 
excellent paintings of Australian molluscs to accompany papers by Hedley 
and myself. 

Family CEftITHIID/E. 

As noted in my last paper 1 had not solved the problems surrounding 
the generic names to be used in this family, and here offer some notes with 
regard to the names under consideration. The acceptance of the names given 
by Martyn in the Universal Conchologist has been a source of much trouble, 
and Winck worth’s conclusion, that, as Martyn was not using a binomial 
nomenclature in the explanation to the plates, Martyn’s names be rejected, is 
herewith confirmed. The beautiful figures provided by Martyn have never- 
been excelled, but his proposed system of nominating them was never published, 
and the recognition of Martyn’s temporary names has caused much confusion 
without creating any benefit. The name Clava used by Martyn in 1784 is 
therefore ignored, and we can pass on to Cerithium introduced by Bruguiere in 
1792, when a whole series of species was named but no type indicated, and 
from this point, we must determine the usage of this name. Lamarck in 1799 
cited Mure x aluco L. only, but in 1801 named Cerithium nodulosum Bruguiere 
as examples. The first type designation was made by Montfort in 1810 when 
vertagus L. was selected. Gray in 1847 included “ Cerithium Adans. Brug.,” 
with type “ Murex radula ,” but since then Cerithium has been used with 
nodulosum as example, a solution quite inacceptable. Clava was correctly 
introduced by Humphrey in the Museum Calonnianum in 1797, but Gmelin had 
used the name in a different sense in 1791, so Clava can be absolutely dismissed 
from this problem. Cerithium then seems only valid for the vertagus series, 
which have been commonly called Vertagus following Schumacher in 1817, but 
this usage was bad as Link in 1807 had pre-empted Vertagus for different 
shells. At the same time Link introduced Aluco for some cerithioid shells of 
which Cerithium adansonii was the first species, and is here named as type. 
The West African forms are not congeneric with the Pacific shells, so that 
Aluco does not come into use in Australian nomenclature. 

In 1899 Hedley described a new generic form Contumax, which later 
proved to be the very juvenile shell of nodulosum, a huge, massive, coral reef 
shell of very different appearance when adult. Yet Hod ley’s name appears to 
be the only one available for the group about nodulosum, while Pseudovertagus 
Vignal proposed for aluco can be used independently. The change from the 
juvenile to adult shown in nodulosum is somewhat paralleled in aluco, as 
described below in connection with the new species Pseudovertagus excelsior. 
The details regarding Clava can be studied in Dali. (Trans. Wagner Free Inst. 


78 


MEMOIRS OF TIIE QUEENSLAND MUSLI M. 

Sci vol iii p 290 1892), Pilsbry (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., 1901, p. 392),. 
Cos— (Eli Paleoconch . comp. live 7. pp. 66-84 1906, Dali. (Proc. Acad. 
Nat. Sci. Philad, vol. 59, p. 363, 1907), and Winckworth (Proc Mai. Soc. 
(Lond.), vol. xviii, p. 228, 1929). These results may be written thus : 

Type by Montfort, 1810 : Cerithium vertagus 
Linne. 

Type here named Cerithium adansonii Bruguiere.. 
Not Australian. 


Cerithium Bruguiere 


Aluco Link 

Contumax Hedley . . 
Pseudovertagus Vignal 


Type, C. decollata = C. nodulosum Bruguiere. 
Type, Mur ex aluco Linne. 


Many further subdivisions will be discussed later. 


Pseudovertagus excelsior sp. nov. 

(Plato IX, fig. 17.) 

An elegant Cerithioid nearest C. sowerbyi Kiener, which I have renamed 
C. phylarchus, but more subulate. 

Shell awl-shaped, tapering rapidly, earlier whorls clathrately sculptured, 
later whorls smooth, columella not plaited, canal very much recurved. Colour 
greenish white marked with more or less regular squarish purple-brown spots, 
the ground colour appearing as spiral lines, the darker as irregular radial marks. 
The last whorl shows a semi-absorbed varix at the third, but no previous 
varices are to be seen ; basally fine grooving, to the number of four, surrounds 
the whorl but these can scarcely be seen on the penultimate, and on the 
penultimate the intervening spaces appear more as elevated scarcely nodulous 
ridges. Normally the adult is truncate, about twelve adult whorls being 
counted ; the earliest of these shows a very distinct radial ribbing of about 
ten to twelve ribs overrun with close threads very different from the later 
whorls. The suture is linear but threadlike and distinct. The mouth is obliquely 
oval, the outer lip circular, heavy, thickened, subvaricose, the columella not 
plaited, inner lip as a heavy glaze extending across the body whorl to the 
outer lip where just inside there is a prominent notch and entering ridge. The 
canal is long but bent back at right angles and narrow, no umbilical chink 
being present. 

Length 74 mm. ; breadth 21 mm. 

Habitat : North Queensland. Type dredged in 11 fathoms, Michaelmas 

Cay. 

A correction may be here added as in my last notes I proposed 
Cerithium probleema for Cerithium lemniscatum Quoy & Gaimard, and I find 
that Cossmann (Essais Paleoconch. comp. livr. 7, July 1906, p. 123, footnote) 
had made the alteration, providing Cerithium philippinense, a correction not 
recorded in the Zoological Record. 


QUEENSLAND MOLLUSCAN NOTES, No. S. 79 

Family CONIML 

Many species of Cones have been recognised from Queensland. Hedley 
admitted forty-three species, a number so inadequate that Shirley immediately 
suggested the addition of twenty-one more, but as he included extralimital 
shells of illegitimate origin none of his additions can be incorporated without 
confirmation. I recorded eleven legitimate accessions and there are still more. 
As with Cowries, Cones have long been a source of delight to amateur shell- 
collectors, their form and beauty deservedly being admired. Nearly a thousand 
species have been named, and it is now very difficult to determine the identity 
of a species among so many, as subdivision has not been systematically carried 
out. An attempt is here made to fix the major groups as a preliminary to 
more accurate nomination. 

The type of the genus Conus has been commonlv regarded as marmoreus 
Linn., but the earliest type designation appears to have been made by Swainson 
when he named C. litteratns Linn, as the type (Treat. Malac. 1840, p. 148). 
Previously Montfort (Conch. Syst., vol. ii, 1810, p. 407) had named C. fulgurans 
= C , generalis Linnc as type, but that species does not occur in the tenth 
edition of Linne’s Systema Naturae and hence is inadmissible. In the same 
place Montfort carried out an excellent splitting up of the Linnean genus, 
introducing Cylinder, Rollus, Hermes, and Rhombus for easily recognisable 
groups. Swainson renamed the same groups and added some more, and then 
Morch (Cat. Conch. Yoldi., 1852) proposed a few more. Little attention has 
since been paid to this group, so that while the major groups, which may be 
subfamilies or even families, are named, the majority of the species have been 
systematically neglected. 

The group known as the Textile Cones was separated by Montfort 
under the name Cylinder ; there is, however, a prior Cylindra as noted in my 
previous paper in these Memoirs, so that recourse would be to Swainson ’s 
Textilia, but Swainson indicated ' bullata as the type, and this is not a normal 
textile species. As there seems to be more than one genus in this series 
I propose Darioconus, naming omaria Brug. as type and Regiconus with cturatus 
Bruguiere as type. In the same manner Hermes and Theliconus were proposed 
for the nussatella series, and glans Bruguiere has been there included, but it 
deserves generic rank and I introduce the name Leporiconus with glans as type 
and here associate coccineus Gmelin. 

When Swainson introduced his genus Dendroconus he nominated striatus 
as type, and as this distinct form requires a distinct designation there is this 
name available though hitherto it has been used for the betulinus series. For 
this latter I propose Cleobula, naming figulinus as type. 

This brings us to the Cone we are most concerned with here, viz., a form 
of the ammiralis type. Whitley and I secured a small specimen at Michaelmas 
Cay which was referable here, but did not exactly agree, so was left unnamed. 
Messrs. Ward & Boardman secured a magnificent specimen of the same species 


so 


M$MOIJtS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

at North-west Isle, Capricorn Group, and it is here differentiated as Leptoconus 
ammiralis temnes subsp. nov. It is a more elegant form than the typical shell, 
with the spire longer and more concave. It is nearest Reeves fig. 11c, blit 
the markings are more pronounced, bold white blotches being present with dark- 
brown linear stripes, the median band bearing two interrupted lines of brown 
on a cream ocellated ground. Coronaxis was introduced by Sw r ainson with 

marmoreus Linn, as type, but the name has been, used for the ebvevus series, 
which is here named Virroconus , ebrceus being selected as type. For the arenatvs 
series Swainson’s Puncticulis is available, while Marches names Bhtzoconus, 
Pionoconvs, and Phasmoconus can be utilised for the groups typified by miles 
Linne, magus Linne, and radiatus Gmelin respectively. Many more names will 
be proposed before any comparative system will be brought into this family, 
such series as the anemone, one of Southern Australia standing apart. For 
anemone Lamarck as type, I here propose the genus Floraconus, and also note 
that there is still confusion in connection with this species which I am attending 
to in another place. 

Cancellaphera amasia gen. & sp. nov. 

(Plate IX. fig. 8.) 

Shell small, subglobose, solid, spire short, shoulder of whorls tabulate, 
mouth somewhat triangular, umbilicus small and deep, plaits three. Colour 
purplish brown with the nodules paler reddish. Whorls four with a smooth 
glassy protoeoneh of two whorls, somewhat globose. Adult whorls with deep 
channelled shoulder, the sculpture of longitudinal ribs crossed by strong spiral 
threads, the ribs being twenty in number, the threads about ten on the last 
whorl. The umbilicus is small, bounded by a curved rib. Columella straight 
with three plaits situated rather deeply, forming an anterior subcanal ; posteriorly, 
the inner lip crossing as a thin glaze meets the outer lip, the aperture being 
triangular in shape but not free. Outer lip thick but not varicose, eleven long 
entering ridges being counted inside. 

Height 15 mm. ; depth 10 mm. 

Habitat : Queensland. Type dredged in 9-11 fathoms, Port Curtis. 

May be Cancellaria obliquata Lamarck of Hedley’s list. 

Family CYPR^EIDiE. 

In my last notes I added several species but was unable to rectify the 
generic nomination. I have, however, to add a new species, a very unexpected 
event, so have endeavoured to utilise Scliilder's recent Revision (Arch, fur 
Naturg. (Wiegmann) Year 91, 1925, abt. A, heft 10, issued in 1927), and bring 
our species into line with recent research. Schikler’s essays mark a most pro- 
nounced advance, and again completely illustrate the development of the 
splitter whenever intensive study is undertaken. Beginning with few genera, 
Schilder has now recognised eighty-four subgenera which he used in a generic 
sense, and, realising that this result would cause a sensation, lumped several 


81 


QUEENSLAND MOLLUSCAN NOTES, No. 3. 

species equally as worthy of separation. Consequently in this note I propose 
several new genera to remove obvious anomalies and further assist in the 
correct interpretation of the difficult members of this group. I am preparing 
a complete account of the Mollusca collected by the British Great Barrier Reef 
Expedition and will go more fully into the details in that place. 


Simply following Schilder’s groupings, the Queensland species names will 
read as under ; Hedley’s List being followed in the first column : — 


Cyprcea annulus Lin ne, 1758 
arabica Linne, 1758 
argus Linne, 1758 
asellus Linne, 1758 
caputserpentis Linne, 1758 
carneola Linne, 1758 
caurica Linne, 1758 
clandestina Linne, 1767 
cylindrica Born, 1778 
eburnea Barnes, 1824 
erosa Linne, 1758 
errones Linne, 1758 
felina Gmelin, 1791 
ftmbriata Gmelin, 1791 
flaveola Linne, 1758 
helvola Linne, 1758 
hirundo Linne, 1758 
Isabella Linne, 1758 
limacina Lam., 1810 
lutea Gronov., 1781 
lynx Linne, 1758 
mauritiana Linne, 1758 . . 
miliaris Gmelin, 1791 
moneta Linne, 1758 
notata Gill, 1858 
punctata Linne, 1767 
quadrimaculata Gray, 1824 
saulce Gaskoin, 1843 
sophice Brazier, 1875 
subviridis Reeve, 1845 . . 
tigris Linne, 1758 
valentia Perry, 1811 
vitellus Linne, 1758 
walked Gray, 1832 
xanthodon Gray, 1832 
ziczac Linne, 1758 


Monetada annulus Linne, 1758 
Arabica arabica Linne, 1758 
Arestorides argus Linne, 1758 
Evenaria asellus Linne, 1758 
Ravitrona caputserpentis Linne, 1758 
Lyncina carneola Linne, 1758 
Erronea caurica Linne, 1758 
Palmadusta clandestina Linne, 1767 
Palangerosa cylindrica Born, 1778 
Erosaria eburnea Barnes, 1 824 
Erosaria erosa Linne, 1758 
Erronea errones Linne, 1758 
Erronea listen Gray, 1824 
Erronea ftmbriata Gmelin, 1791 
Erosaria flaveola Linne, 1758 
Ravitrona helvola Linne, 1758 
Evenaria hirundo Linne, 1758 
Basili trona Isabella Linne, 1758 
Staphylcea limacina Lam., 1810 
Palmadusta humphreysii Gray, 1825 
Lyncina vanelli Linne, 1758 
Mauritia mauritiana Linne, 1758 
Erosaria miliaris Gmelin, 1791 
Monetaria moneta Linne, 1758 
Erronea notata Gill, 1858 
Evenaria punctata Linne, 1767 
Palangerosa quadrimaculata Gray, 1824 
Palmadusta saulce Gaskoin, 1843 
Erronea chrysostoma Brazier, 1880 
Palmadusta subviridis Reeve, 1845 
Cyprcea tigris Linne, 1 758 
Leporicyprcea valentia Perry, 1811 
Lyncina vitellus Linne, 1758 
Palmadusta walked Gray, 1832 
Palmadusta xanthodon Gray, 1832 
Palmadusta ziczac Linne, 1758 


MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


S: 


To which I have added — 

Cyprcea becki Gaskoin, 1836 


Paulonaria becki Gaskoin, 1836 
Pustular ia cicercula Linne, 1758 
Cribraria cribraria Linne, 1758 
Evenaria contaminata Sower by, 1832 
Cribraria gaskoini Reeve, 1846 
Pustular ia globulus Linne, 1758 
Naria irrorata Gray, 1828 
Leporicypnm mappa Linne, 1758 
Erronea microdon Gray, 1828 
Nuclear ia nucleus Linne, 1758 
Pcilangerosa subcylindrica Sowerby, 


cicercula Linne, 1758 
cribraria Linne, 1758 


contaminata Sowerby, 1832 


gaskoini Reeve, 1846 
globulus Linne, 1758 
irrorata Gray, 1828 
mappa Linne, 1758 
microdon Gray, 1828 
nucleus Linne, 1758 


subcylindrica Sowerby, 1870 


1870 


talpa Linne, 1758 
pyriformis Gray, 1824 . . 


Talparia talpa Linne, 1758 
Palmadusla pyriformis Gray, 1824. 


Cyprcea angustata Gmelin, 1791, a Tasmanian species, is rejected. 

Many species were added by Shirley which are not acceptable until confirmation 
is forthcoming, and it may here be noted that Schilder records a number of species 
from “ Sidney ” which would have been better written “ New South Wales.” 

The type of Cyprcea must be tigris Linne, not mappa, as used by 
Schilder, and the new names I have introduced are here itemised : — Thus 
Arestorides is proposed with Cyprcea argus Linne as type, this species being 
included in his group Callistocyprcea provided by Schilder for G. aurantium 
Martyn, and I cannot see much close relationship between these two. Evenaria 
is given to the group, of which I select C. asellus Linne as type, the other 
Australian species associated with it being hirundo Linne, punctata Linne, and 
contaminata Sowerby, though this group may be remodelled. 

For the caputserpentis group I introduce Ravitrona, naming that species 
as type, and including helvola Linne. Schilder has correctly rejected caputanguis 
Philippi but proposed caputopTiidii for shells from Yokohama and Mauritius, 
and suggested the Australian shells regarded as caputanguis might belong to 
this species. All the so-called caputanguis I have yet examined appear to be 
merely variants of caputserpentis, and there is no need at present to recognise 
two species in Australian waters. If later two species can be separated, a new 
name will probably be required for the second one. A series of small shells 
is included by Schilder under the genus Adusta, which has onyx as type. Our shells 
do not correlate well with that extralimital form, and I propose Palmadusta, 
naming clandestina L. as type. To this genus I attach the so-called lutea 
Gronov. and ziczac Linne, while the series xanthodon Sow., pyriformis Gray, 
walkeri Gray will constitute a subgenus Gratiadusta with pyriformis Gray as 
type, and subviridis Reeve may be tentatively here included. The cylindrica 
group is here named Palangerosa, that species being named as type, the three 
representatives being cylindrica Born, subcylindrica Sow., and quadrimaculata 
Gray. The genus Stolida, to which Schilder referred them, was nameless as the 


83 


QUEENSLAND MOLLUSC AN NOT US, No. 3. 


name had been used many years before Jousseaurne selected it, a fact Schilder 
has since recognised. The beautiful shell isabella ! .ion. was placed by Schilder 
under Jousseaumea Sacco, introduced for a European fossil group of no real 


relationship, and I separate it under the name Basililrona, naming Isabella as 
type. The typical Cyprcea, as mentioned above, must be tigris Lam., so for 
the mappa group, wrongly so considered by Schilder, I introduce the new 
genus Lepori cyprcea, mappa being named as type, the very rare valentia being 
included but only tentatively. The very small “ Cyprreas” will need much more 
study before they can be regarded as being well distributed. The curious little 
irrorata Gray, allowed as monotypic of Naria, is not unlike the beckii series, 
from which it is widely separated by Schilder. 1 introduce Paulonaria with 
beckii Gaskoin as type and will work these out better later. Trivia is also well 
subdivided by Schilder, and the following comparison of Hedley’s species will 
enable us to systematise these better 


Trivia globosa Gray, 1832 
grando Gaskoin, 1848 
pellucida Gaskoin, 1846 
producta Gaskoin, 1835 . 
scabriuscida Gray, 1828 . 
staphylcea Linne, 1758 . 
sidcata Gaskoin, 1848 
vitrea Gaskoin, 1848 


Choir ivia pilvla K inner , 1845 
Trivirostra edgari Shaw, 1909 
DoUchupis pellucidula Gaskoin, 1846 
DoUchupis producta Gaskoin, 1835 
Trivirostra scabriuscula Gray, 1828 
Staphylcea staphylcea Linne, 1758 
Trivirostra sulcata Gaskoin, 1848 
Trivirostra vitrea Gaskoin, 1848. 


The small globular “ Trivias,” of which there is more than one species 
confused, are here separated with the new generic name Gleotrivia , pilvla Kiener 
being named as type, globosa being the American species. The forms with 
produced extremities, following Schilder, are separated, and the new genus 
name DoUchupis proposed, producta Gaskoin being selected as type. 

The Linnean species staphylcea was classed by Hedley under Trivia, but it is 
a Cyprseoid form, and it is suggested here that limacina Lamarck is probably more 
closely allied to erosa than to staphylcea. Again, carneola is given as type of Lyncina 
by Schilder, but the apparent type was lynx, and this was fixed by Tryon (Struct. 
Syst, Conch., vol. ii, p. 198, 1883), so that 1 introduce the new subgeneric name 
Mystaponda. with vilellus Linne as type. I have accepted a few emended specific 
names in the foregoing list, but probably many more will need consideration such as 
flaveola Linne, for which Hedley has noted hi MS. labiolineata Sower by as being 
probably the alternative name, and Schilder has used helence Roberts, 1868. Hedley 
also added cumingii to the Queensland list, and this species is referable to Cribraria. 
As to Hedley’s felina this name has been replaced by Schilder by listen Gray, and a 
new subgeneric name is here proposed for this form. M elicerona, of which a curious 
development occurs at North-west Island, having rostrate extremities and somewhat 
excavate under surface recalling the New Caledonian aberrations, which hitherto 
appear to have been restricted to that island. 


An addition to the Queensland list is Cyprcea rhinoceros Souverbie (Journ. 
de Conch., vol. xiii, p. 156, 1865), described from New Caledonia, which was also 


84 


MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


collected at North-west, Island. Schilder correctly points out that this is distinct 
from interrupta Gray, but falls into a curious error in citing as a synonym coxeni Cox, 
a species quite unlike. While Schilder ranges rhinoceros with asellus it is somewhat 
aberrant and had better be separated as Blasicrura, and as to coxeni its relationships 
seem to be more with errones, but again it would be best to provide it with a new 
subgeneric name, Eclogavena, also. By this means, errors such as the above will be 
obviated. 

Another case of an extralimital species may be noted. Schilder includes 
the beautiful guttata Gray under the subgenus Erosaria, but it certainly deserves 
separation and I therefore introduce the new generic name Perisserosa for it alone. 
Schilder also cites t lie specific name from Gmelin, but, as Gmelin’s first two references 
certainly do not refer to this species, it will be more correct to propose a new name, 
Perisserosa brocktoni, for the specimen figured by Sowerby (Tlies. Conch., vol. iv, pi. 
xvii, ff. 104-105, 1880) under the name Cyprcea guttata Gray. This specimen should 
be in the collection of my friend Mr. J. R. le Brockton Tomlin, for whom it is named. 

Nivigena melwardi gen. & sp. nov. 

(Plate IX, figs. 12, 13.) 

Shell small, pyriform, spire depressed, shining bluish white, mouth fairly 
narrow. The extremities are a little produced, anteriorly a little pinched, the spire 
appearing semi-umbilicate, the edges thickened. The back is fairly convex with 
obsolete spiral ridges present ; the outer edge is thickened and recurved with faint 
suggestions of crinkling as in Erosaria ; the contraction of the anterior end recalls 
that of Stolida, the semiumbilicate spire similar to that of Stolida ; the mouth is 
narrow, the teeth fairly large, on the outer lip sixteen deep clear teeth being counted 
while on the inner lip fifteen are present which are continued inwards on to the 
columella and visible from the outside. 

Length 24 mm. ; breadth 16 mm. ; height 12 mm. 

Habitat : Queensland. Type from North-west Island, Capricorn Group. 

This beautiful species is not an albinism of any known Queensland species, 
differing in shape from C. stolida. Linne which otherwise it resembles most, the mouth 
easily separating it from that species. 

Family OVULID/E. 

For this family Schilder uses the name Amphiperatidse, probably correctly, 
based on the generic name Amphiperas of Gronow as used by Meuschen in a binomial 
sense. The name Amphiperas will then replace Ovula for the two species 
listed by Hedley in the Queensland list under the names ovum Linne and tortilis 
Martyn. The rejection of Martyn’s names will necessitate reversion to Lamarck’s 
costellata (Ann. Mus. Paris, vol xvi, 1810, p. 110) for the latter species. The other 
species included by Hedley were obviously not congeneric and I had separated 
them many years ago in manuscript, so I was delighted to find that Schilder 
had ruthlessly reorganised these species. I do not agree with his rejection of Bolten’s 
Volva in favour of the later Radius of Montfort, and therefore use Volva volva for the 


85 


QUEENSLAND MOLLUSCAN NOTUS, No. 

well-known Spindle Shell. The small species hitherto classed under Ovula and Radius 
have to be separated and grouped according to their facies and relationship. 1 had 
drawn up a scheme before I saw Schilder's classification, which is even more 
revolutionary than my own. Schilder separates the subfamily Amphiperatinse 
into two tribes (“ supergenera” would be a better name) and, under the European 
genus Simnia, proposes a subgenus, Prosimnia, with type semperi Weinkauff, a group 
of small elongate species including dentata Adams & Reeve from Australia. As 
Adams and Reeve’s choice had been anticipated the new name Prosimnia renovata is 
proposed. Reeve’s Ovulum angasi is placed by Schilder under Radius, but seems 
more closely allied to Prosimnia and may be there placed at present. This species 
was described from Port Curtis and has been collected there by most workers since. 
Messrs. Melbourne Ward and W. Boardman recently brought back a nice series 
taken from coral dredged in 9-12 fathoms, and these were immediately divided into 
two distinct species, the smaller one being the true angasi. The larger one is here 
described as Phenacovolva nectar ea nov., and is common as dead shells on the beach 
at Caloundra, and is apparently the species recorded by Shirley under the name 
Ovulum birostris Lam., and included by Hedley in the New South Wales List under 
the name philippinarum Sow. Schilder uses birostris Linn, for the former species, 
though Hanley had indicated an error in the traditional usage, and Schumacher s 
Radius brevirostris (Essai nouv. Test, 1817, p. 259) may be the valid name for the 
birostris of authorities. It may be remarked that Schumacher’s Radius appears 
to have been independently proposed. 

The small Ovuloid shells Schilder classes under Thiele's genus Primovula, 
introduced for a South African species beckeri Sowerby, and introduces a subgenus 
Pseudosimnia, naming carnea Poir., a European fossil, as type. As there are two or 
three distinct groups confused in Australian waters I introduce the new generic names 
Prionovolva and Diminovula for the Australian shells known as breve Sowerby and 
punctata Duclos respectively. As Sowerby described his shell from unknown locality 
and he had East Australian shells, it may be that his species, which has been continually 
credited to Australia, really belongs here. Our shell shows an excellent generic feature 
in the curious saw-teeth in the middle of the outer lip ; the strong cutting inside, 
the twisted posterior canal, the strong columella plait, and the callus towards the 
posterior canal on the body-whorl all distinguish this form from the punctata series 
with its strong sculpture ; its globose form with less twisted posterior canal and obsolete 
plication indicate its alliance therewith, but this is negatived by the weak crenulation 
of the outer lip and lack of body callus : the Australian shell known as punctata 
has coarser striation and larger dots placed farther apart, and may be called 
Diminovula verepuHMata. 

Phenacovolva nectarea gen. & sp. nov- 

(Plate IX, fig. 6.) 

Belonging to the “ birostris ” series but of different proportions. Shell 
elongate, swollen medially, extremities prolonged, mouth linear. Colour pink, 
extremities brownish, a narrow white band round the middle. Sculpture consisting 
of fine strise showing in the adult on the ends only but covering the immature. 


8(5 MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 

The posterior canal is a little longer than the anterior and narrow ; the anterior 
canal is also a little broader ; the mouth is a little more open anteriorly though still 
narrow ; the inner lip seen as a very fine glaze only with no posterior nodulation, and 
only a very slight swelling anteriorly. The columella shows a faint plication inter- 
nally. The outer lip is thickened and rolled back and shows no internal noduling. 

Length 38 mm. ; breadth 9-5 mm. 

Habitat : Queensland. Type dredged on corals in 9-12 fathoms, Port Curtis. 

Prosimnia angasi Reeve is much smaller, stouter, extremities shorter, outer 
lip more thickened, and carries a notable swelling medially on the inner lip. 

Colus boardmani sp. nov. 

(Plate. IX, fig. 7.) 

Shell somewhat small for this group but regularly Fusoid in shape. Shell 
narrow, last whorl more than half length of shell, spire long, canal very long, mouth 
narrow, outer lip thin. Colour white, covered with a thin brownish crinkled 
periostracum. Protoconch of one and a-half whorls, a little bulbous, tip planate, 
regular sculpture of deep rounded few longitudinal ribs overrun by spiral threads. 
These ribs become less pronounced as shell grows older, and only appear as a slight 
nodulation on the last whorl ; conversely the threads become more pronounced and 
are regular concentric lirse with strong intervening threads on the final whorl. Ten 
adult whorls may be counted. The mouth is a rather small oval, inner lip as a thin 
glaze, columella smooth, canal very long and straight, sometimes bent with age. 

Length 78 mm. ; breadth 31 mm. 

Habitat: Queensland. Type dredged in 9-11 fathoms, Port Curtis. 

Pleuroploca altimasta sp. nov. 

(Plate IX, fig. 9.) 

Shell broadly fusiform, spire as long as aperture, body-whorl two-thirds the 
length of the shell, mouth oval, canal of medium length, open. Colour brownish 
yellow' almost hidden with dark brown, mouth fleshy buff. Sculpture consisting of 
spiral threads, more or less obsolete on middle of body-whorl and developed as lirse 
on earlier whorls. Longitudinal noduling obsolete though faint indications are 
suggested on the juvenile whorls. Last whorl sub-shouldered, lirse more pronounced 
near the suture and basally round the canal. Mouth oval, outer lip thick but not 
varicose, inside closely lined wth fine entering ridges. Columella with three plica:* 
low down, the anterior one much larger than the other two ; inner lip as a thin glaze 
only, a short ridge present near posterior angle. 

Length 96 mm. ; breadth 36 mm. 

Habitat : Queensland. Type from Port Curtis. 

This appears to be the coastal representative of the coral living Pleuroploca 
filamentosa Bolten. 


QUEENSLAND MOLLUSC AN NOTES, No. 2. 


Cirsotrema kelea sp. nov. 

(Plate IX, fig. 16.) 

Shell elegantly conical, strongly varicose, whorls well rounded, sutures deep, 
mouth free, umbilicus present but choked by early varix. Colouration white. 
Sculpture consists of very fine frilled longitudinal ridges, interstices threaded. Apical 
whorls missing, eight adult whorls remaining. On the last whorl, three varices are 
present, earlier whorls showing many, but intermediate ones lacking. I he sculpture 
on the penultimate whorl shows about forty-five frilled laminae, and as these are 
recurved it is difficult to count the encircling threads. The last whorl shows three 
strong varices, the middle area being twice either of the other, showing twenty-seven 
lamina; against thirteen. At one place the frills are broken off and the spiral threads 
appear as thin cords with three or four minor threads between, the whole series 
minutely erenulate. Mouth oval, free, the outer varix in the type being strongly 
duplicated, very thin and finely wrinkled and recurved. Operculum normal. 

Length 24 mm. ; breadth 13 mm. 

Habitat : Queensland. Type dredged in 9-12 fathoms, Michaelmas Cay. 


For quick reference the new names in this paper are here listed : — 
Melaxincea n. gen. with type M. labyrintha n. sp. 

Melaxincea labyrintha n. sp. 

Macalia bruguieri refecta n. subsp. 

Leporimetis n. gen. with type Tellina spectabilis Hanley. 
Prophetilora n. gen. with type P. arizela n. sp. 

Prophetilora arizela n. sp. 

Fallartemis n. gen. with type F. amina n. sp. 

Fallartemis amina n. sp. 

Semelartemis n. gen. with type S. cetha n. sp. 

Semelartemis cetha n. sp. 

Coralastele n. gen. with type G. allance n. sp. 

Coralastele allance n. sp. 

Pseudovertagus excelsior n. sp. 

Darioconus n. gen. with type Conus omcvria Bruguiere. 
Regiconus n. gen with type Conus auratus Bruguiere. , 
Leporiconus n. gen. with type Conus glans Bruguiere. 
Cleobula n. gen. with type Conus figulinus Linne. 

Leptoconus ammiralis temnes n. subsp. 

Virroconus n. gen. with type Conus ebrceus Linne. 

Floraconus n. gen. with type Conus anemone Lamarck. 
Cancellaphera n. gen. with type G. amasia n. sp. 
Cancellaphera amasia n. sp. 

Arestorides n. gen. with type Cyprcea argus Linne. 

Evenaria n. gen. with type Cyprcea asellus Linne. 

Ravitrona n. gen. with type Cyprcea caputserpentis Linne. 


88 


MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 


Palmadusta n. gen. with type Cyprcea clandestine i Linne. 
Gratiadusta n. subgen. with type Cyprcea pyriformis Gray. 
Palangerosa n. gen. with type Cyprcea cylindriea Born. 
Bamlitrona n. gen. with type Cyprcea Isabella Linne. 
Leporicyprcea n. gen. with type Cyprcea mappa Linne. 
Paulonaria n. gen. with type Cyprcea beckii Gaskoin. 
Cleotrivia n. gen. with type Cyprcea pilula Kiener. 

Dolichupis n. gen. with type Cyprcea producta Gaskoin. 
Mystaponda n. subgen. with type Cyprcea vitellus Linne. 
MeUcerona n. subgen. with type Cyprcea listen Gray. 
Blasicrura n. subgen. with type Cyprcea rhinoceros Sowerbie. 
Eclogavena n. subgen. with type Cyprcea coxeni Cox. 
Perisserosa n. gen. with type P. brocktoni n. sp. 

Perisserosa brocktoni n. sp. 

Nivigena n. gen. with type N. melwardi n. sp. 

Nivigena melwardi n. sp. 

Prosimnia renavata nov. 

Phenacovolva n. gen. with type P. nectarea n. sp. 
Phenacovolva nectarea n. sp. 

Prionovolva n. gen. with type Ovulum breve Sower by. 
Diminovula n. gen. with D. verepunctata n. sp. 

Diminovula verepunctata n. sp. 

Coins board mani n. sp. 

Pleuroploca altimasta n. sp. 

Cirsotrema keha n. sp. 


EXPLANATION OF PLATE IX 
Figs. 1, 2. — Melaxincea labyrintha Iredale. 

Figs. 3, 4. — Melaxincea labyrintha Iredale. Juvenile. 
Fi :. 5. — Coralastele allance Iredale. 

Fig. 6. — Phenacovolva nectarea Iredale. 

Fig. 7. — -dolus boardmani Iredale. 

Fig. 8. Gancellaphera amasia Iredale. 

Fig. 9. — Pleuroploca altinto Safer Iredale. 

Figs. 10, I I . — Prophetilora arizela Iredale. 

Figs. 12, 13. — Nivigena melwardi Iredale. 

Figs. 14, 15. — FallaHemU amino Iredale. 

Fig. 16. — Cirsotrema kelea Iredale. 

Fig. 17. — Pseudovertagus excelsior Iredale. 

Fi„. Ig. — Semelartemis cetha Iredale. 


Anthony James Cumming, Government Printer, Brisbane. 


MEMO] US OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM, Vol. X, Plate IX. 



Queensland Mollusca. — Iredale. 


Face page 88. 









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