The Fishes of Australia

Abstract

THIS useful handbook deals, not only with the Selachians (sharks, rays and chimaeras) of the seas of Australia and New Zealand, but also with creatures such as the lancelets, lampreys and hag-fishes, and the unique lung-fish of Queensland. It is complete in itself, but is designed to form the first of a series of volumes on the fishes of Australia, which, when complete, should go far towards providing a long-standing desideratum. Within the compass of some 160 pages, the author has managed to include a brief description and figure of every known species of shark and ray, together with notes on its local range, maximum size attained, and so on. It is perhaps to be regretted that keys are not provided to assist identification of specimens; but the excellence of most of the illustrations, based almost entirely upon authentic local specimens, should serve to compensate for this omission. There can be little doubt that the intelligent reader making use of the systematic section of this book should have very little difficulty in determining most of the fishes likely to come to hand.

The Fishes of Australia.

Part I: The Sharks, Rays, Devil-Fish and other Primitive Fishes of Australia and New Zealand. By Gilbert Percy Whitley. (Australian Zoological Handbook). Pp. 280. (Sydney: Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, 1940.) 7s. 6d.