8 p. ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references

Cape York Expedition (1948)

Nichols, John T. (John Treadwell), 1883-1958.

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications

AMEiRIICAN MUSEUMNOV)ITATE SPUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORYCITY OF NEW YORK NOVEMBER 7, 1949 NUMBER 1433RESULTS OF THE ARCHBOLD EXPEDITIONS.NO. 62FRESH-WATER FISHES FROM CAPE YORK,AUSTRALIABY JOHN T. NICHOLSThe Richard Archbold Cape York expedition of 1948, thoughprimarily interested in mammals, obtained a small collection offresh-water fishes as opportunity offered, which are of consider-able interest owing to the scarcity of such recently collected ma-terial from this area, and its proximity to New Guinea. The col-lection comprises 11 species, as listed below. One, and therace of another, of these appear to be previously undescribed.Nematalosa erebi (Gunther)Chatoessus erebi GUNTHER, 1868, Catalogue of fishes, vol. 7, p. 407.Four specimens of between 105 and 115 mm. standard lengthfrom the Coen River (Gulf drainage), at an elevation of 700 feet,August 7.Copidoglanis hyrtlii (Steindachner)Neosilurus hyrtlii STEINDACHNER, 1867, Sitzber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, vol. 55,p. 14, pl., figs. 3, 3a (text ref. pl. 1, figs. 4, 5 incorrect).Ten specimens between 85 and 145 mm. standard length fromthe Archer River (Gulf drainage), Wenlock Crossing, elevation400 feet, July 30 and 31.Melanotaenia nigrans (Richardson)Atherina nigrans RICHARDSON, 1843, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. 11, p. 180.Twenty specimens of between 40 and 95 mm. standard lengthAMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATESfrom Brown's Creek, Pascoe River (Pacific drainage), at an eleva-tion of 200 feet, July 17 and 18; two of between 35 and 95 mm.from the North Claudie River (Pacific drainage) at little elevation,June 26. Eight specimens of between 25 and 60 mm. from theArcher River (Gulf drainage), Wenlock Crossing, elevation 400feet, July 31. Also six young of between 30 and 45 mm. (speciesprovisional) from Musgrave, elevation 400 feet, August 29 (poolson Pacific side of divide), and Ebagoola, elevation 900 feet, August27 (pools on Gulf side of divide).Melanotaenia carteri (Whitley)Aidaprora carteri WHITLEY, 1935, Rec. Australian Mus., vol. 19, p. 224.Three specimens of between 45 and 85 mm. standard length fromthe Archer River (Gulf drainage), Wenlock Crossing, elevation400 feet, July 30 and 31; six of between 80 and 95 mm. from theCoen River (Gulf drainage), elevation 700 feet, August 7.Glossamia gillii (Steindachner)Apogonichthys gillii STEINDACHNER, 1867, Sitzber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, vol. 55,pt. 1, p. 11, pl., fig. 2 (text ref. pl. 1, fig. 1 incorrect).Three specimens of between 35 and 70 mm. standard length, twofrom Brown's Creek, Pascoe River (Pacific drainage), elevation200 feet, July 18; one from the Archer River (Gulf drainage),Wenlock Crossing, elevation 400 feet, July 31.Ambassis reticulata WeberAmbassis interrupta var. reticulatus WEBER, 1913, Nova Guinea, vol. 9, livr. 4,p. 574. New Guinea.Two specimens of between 45 and 50 mm. standard length, fromthe Archer River (Gulf drainage), Wenlock Crossing, elevation400 feet, July 31.Therapon unicolor GuintherTherapon unicolor GUNTHER, 1859, Catalogue of fishes, vol. 1, p. 277.Eighteen specimens of between 45 and 70 mm. standard lengthfrom the Archer River (Gulf drainage), Wenlock Crossing, eleva-tion 400 feet, July 30 and 31; one of 84 mm. from the Coen River(Gulf drainage), elevation 700 feet, August 7; two of between40 and 50 mm. from Ebagoola, elevation 900 feet, August 27,pools Gulf side of divide; and two between 40 and 75 mm. from2 NO. 1433FRESH-WATER FISHES FROM AUSTRALIAMusgrave, elevation 400 feet, August 29, pools Pacific side ofdivide.Therapon bidyana (Mitchell)Acerina Cernua bidyana MITCHELL, 1838, Three expeditions into the interiorof eastern Australia, vol. 1, p. 95, pl. 8.Pelates Romeri WEBER, 1910, Notes Leyden Mus., vol. 32, p. 233. NewGuinea.Nine specimens of between 60 and 110 mm. standard length fromthe Archer River (Gulf drainage), Wenlock Crossing, elevation 400feet, July 30.I identify these with Pelates romeri from New Guinea, and theyare presumably T. bidyana as recognized elsewhere in Australia.Therapon percoides yorkensis, new subspeciesTheraponfascitatus, CASTELNAU, 1878, Proc. Linnean Soc. New South Wales,vol. 3, p. 46, Norman River; not T. fasciatus Castelnau, 1876, Researches onfishes of Australia, p. 11, Swan River.Characterized by small mouth, pointed snout, the top, of theupper jaw on a level with the lower margin of the eye, high scalecount, and bold colors. Dorsal, XIII (rarely XII), 9 or 10.Anal, III, 8 or 7. Scales, 41 to 47 (average 44). Four narrow,vertical black bands from back across sides, the first just behindhead, fourth from a semi-oval blotch in the center of soft dorsalbase to last anal rays; a fifth variable, more or less imperfectband on side of peduncle, and sixth blotch or bar on caudal base.DESCRIPTION OF TYPE: No. 18535, the American Museum ofNatural History, from the Coen River, Cape York, Australia, at700 feet elevation, August 7, 1948, collected by G. M. Tate andH. M. Van Deusen.Length to base of caudal, 75 mm. Depth in this length, 2.6;head, 3.2. Eye in head, 3; snout, 3; interorbital, 3.5; maxillary,4; width of body, 1.7; least depth of peduncle, 2.5; its length,2.2; longest dorsal spine, 1.5; dorsal ray, 2.2; anal spine, 1.6;anal ray, 2.2; length of caudal, 1.4; of pectoral, 1.5; ventral,1.4; its spine, 2.1.Dorsal, XIII, 9; anal III, 8. Scales (lateral line), 45. Gill-rakers (on lower limb), 13.Compressed, back elevated, snout pointed, upper outline moreconvex than lower. Profile almost evenly convex, slanting upstraight to over eye where there is a slight backward angle, then a1949 3AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATESslight upward angle at the rounded nape. Mouth small, littleoblique, the lower jaw appreciably included; maxillary concealedexcept for its end, to under posterior nostril. Nostrils wellseparated, the anterior nearer the edge of preorbital than to theposterior, which is not far from the front border of the eye. Aseries of close-spaced, blunt conical teeth in jaws, and band ofsmall teeth behind it. Preopercle with strong serrae; operclewith one or two spines, the upper obscure. Gill-rakers short andthick.Dorsal spines strong, the first small, and increasing in length tothe fifth which is about four times the first, fifth to seventh sub-equal, then decreasing to next to last which is about one-half aslong as the fifth and appreciably shorter than the last. Analspines strong and heavy, the second about twice the first andappreciably longer than the third. Caudal emarginate. Ventralorigin about under that of dorsal, and behind pectoral base.Ventrals pointed, not reaching vent when depressed; pectoralvery bluntly pointed.Moderate-sized ctenoid scales on back and sides; somewhatsmaller scales on breast, opercle, cheek, postorbital, and appar-ently a few on base of preopercle; top of head, preorbital, snout,and jaws scaleless. Lateral line normal. Spinous dorsal, frontof soft dorsal, and entire anal with a basal sheath of scales; smallscales on the base of caudal which extend rather well out near itsupper and lower margins. Tips of four sharp spines on hindedge of suprascapular (post-clavicle) exposed. No enlargedventral axillary scale.General color (in alcohol) dark along the back, becoming paleon lower surfaces. Four narrow, black, vertical cross bands down-ward from the back, the first close behind the head, its narrowedlower end curving backward slightly to behind the pectoral base,crossing about two-thirds the depth of body; the second and thirdcrossing more nearly four-fifths the depth; the fourth is completefrom the center of the soft dorsal onto the base of the posterioranal rays. In addition there are a more or less vertical blackblotch on the peduncle and another on the base of the caudal.A dark lengthwise streak from edge of preorbital across cheekbelow eye. Spinous dorsal dusky, especially the membranes;soft dorsal with a basal semi-oval black blotch confluent with thefourth cross band, a vague dusky central band, and dark frontmargin and tip; anal pale, irregularly dusky on its front rays;4 NO. 1433FRESH-WATER FISHES FROM AUSTRALIAcaudal pale with a black lower border, narrowly dusky upperborder, broken dark stripes paralleling these inward, and twofaint cross bars indicated across the middle of the fin. Outer raysof ventral dusky, inner pale; pectoral pale with a faint dusky crossmark on its base.Nineteen specimens of between 40 and 90 mm. standard lengthfrom the Gulf side of the divide; 11 of between 45 and 90 mm. fromthe Archer River at 400 feet elevation, July 30; seven of between55 and 75 mm. from the Coen River at 700 feet, August 7; one ofbetween 40 and 45 mm. from pools at Ebagoola, 900 feet, August27.Their depth varies between 2.5 and 2.6 irrespective of size(2.8 in an exceptional one of 60 mm.). The color pattern isreasonably constant. A dark stripe from eye to snout is fre-quently appreciable. Especially in the Coen River material, acentral and two lateral curving narrow dark stripes may be presenton top of the head. The peduncular band may be complete ormerely a blotch, the blotch on base of caudal a vertical bar or around spot. The caudal is sometimes variously spotted orstreaked with black, and its dark cross marks, present in the type,are absent in other specimens. The interspaces between the fourmain cross bands on the sides are sometimes variously marked withdusky, with a suggestion of central lengthwise band posteriorlyin some Archer River specimens. These do not look exactly likethose from the Coen River, and sufficient comparable series wouldprobably show some population differences.This is probably the race Castelnau had from the Norman River,but it is very unlikely that it is the one he described earlier fromthe Swan River in southwestern Australia. There is no reason tosuppose that Datnia fasciata Steindachner, 1867 (Sitzber. Akad.Wiss. Wien, vol. 56, pt. 1, p. 322), obviously a T. percoides withprior claim to the name "fasciatus," is this Cape York fish.Whereas Ogilby and McCulloch, 1916 (Mem. Queensland Mus.,vol. 5, pp. 106-107), are probably right that percoides shows minorpopulation variations best disregarded in taxonomy, it will proveadvantageous to recognize a few of the major geographic varia-tions.ARCHERIA, NEW GENUSThis genus is proposed for a fish so closely resembling Gilbertiajamesoni (Ogilby) in shape, color, miscellaneous characters, and1949 5AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATESappearance that it might easily be mistaken therefor. However,it has 12 versus 10 dorsal spines and a much weaker mouthwith reduced dentition. It appears to be a less actively free-swimming fish somewhat related to Therapon percoides, but withsufficient aberrant characters (projecting lower jaw, elevated nape,etc.) to take it out of the genus Therapon.Archeria jamesonoides, new speciesA theraponid resembling marine Gilbertia jamesoni (Ogilby)in shape, color, and appearance, but with smaller, weaker mouthand different fin formulae.DESCRIPTION OF TYPE: No. 18533, the American Museum ofNatural History, from the Archer River, Cape York, Australia,at Wenlock Crossing, 400 feet elevation, July 31, 1948, collectedby G. M. Tate and H. M. Van Deusen.Length to base of caudal, 52 mm. Depth in this length, 2.4;head, 2.8. Eye in head, 3.3; snout, 3.5; interorbital, 4; maxil-lary, 3.2; width of body, 2; least depth of peduncle, 2.8; itslength, 2.8; longest dorsal spine, 2.3; dorsal ray, 2.5; anal spine,2.4; anal ray, 2.5; length of caudal, 1.6; of pectoral, 1.5; ven-tral, 1.5; its spine, 2.5.Dorsal, XII, 13; anal, III, 10. Scales, 58. Gill-rakers (onlower limb), 11.Body compressed; upper profile almost straight to nape, slightlyconcave where top of the head meets the elevated nape and back,lower profile almost equally, more evenly convex, with a bluntangle at the anal origin. Mouth moderately oblique, the lowerjaw slightly projecting; maxillary concealed, except for its end,to under front margin of eye. A series of bluntly pointed teethin jaws, with minute teeth (difficult to find) behind them. Mouthotherwise toothless. Preopercle with strong serrae, those at andbelow its angle blunt; opercle with two spines, the upper verysmall. Gill-rakers short and thick.First dorsal spine small, the spines increasing in length to thefifth, fifth to seventh subequal, then decreasing somewhat to thelast; first and second weak, the other strong. Anal spines strong,the second and third subequal, the first shorter. Caudal sub-truncate, slightly emarginate with rounded corners. Ventralorigin slightly behind pectoral axil, first ventral ray ending in ashort filament which does not quite reach vent when the fin isdepressed; end of pectoral rounded.6 NO. 1433FRESH-WATER FISHES FROM AtTSTRALIABody and opercle with moderately small ctenoid scales. Lat-eral line normal. Scales on cheek much smaller, increasingsomewhat in size around to behind the eye. Top of head, snout,jaws, and apparently preopercle scaleless. Spinous dorsal andentire anal fin with basal sheathes of scales; base of caudal wellscaled, and of soft dorsal scantily so. Suprascapular (post-clavi-cle) concealed by scales except the tips of two approximate flatspines on its hind margin. No noticeable ventral axillary scale.General color (in alcohol) irregularly dusky, paler from throatto ventrals, with irregular pale markings. These form two brokenpale stripes from upper and lower part of eye backward overopercle; a pale stripe from the corner of the mouth back across thecheek, separated from the eye by a dark stripe, and with a lessdefined one bordering it below. Pale blotches on sides which tendto fall into vertical series, small on the front of the back, large onthe peduncle, where they cover as much space as the ground color.Vertical fins dusky, the soft dorsal darker at the base, anal palerat the margin; pectorals grayish, ventrals black.A single specimen, the type, as above.The striking resemblance of theraponid T. percoides and Ar-cheria jamesonoides (especially the latter) to Australian marineserranoid Gilbertia semicincta and jamesoni, respectively, is re-markable. It is sufficiently close to suggest mimicry, but in thenature of the case mimicry seems unlikely. True relationshipmay be possible. Gilbertia is one of the more typical marineserranoids, and one thinks of less typical families and genera asderived from such. These two Australian fresh-water forms mighthave evolved in the new environment from invasion by the twomentioned forms of Gilbertia. It seems less likely, however, thatso great generic, even family, differences, while retaining speciesresemblances, should have evolved in fresh water-less likely thanin shore waters where fish competition is greater and evolutionpresumably more rapid. Is it possible that one's original conceptis wrong the modern serranid fishes derivative from, rather thanancestral to, related families, their resemblance one to the other amatter of habitus rather than of heritage?Mogurnda mogurnda (Richardson)Eleotris mogurnda RICHARDSON, 1848, The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S.Erebus and Terror ..., Ichthyology, p. 4, pl. 2, figs. 1-2.A single specimen of 97 mm. standard length from the Peach1949 78 AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES NO. 1433River (branch of the Archer, Gulf drainage), elevation 800 feet,August 10.Of the 11 species in the collection nine were taken from theArcher .River; of the other two, one from its branch, the PeachRiver, one from the Coen River, also Gulf drainage. Only threewere taken from the Pacific side of the divide, Melanotaenia ni-grans, Glossamia gillii, and Therapon unicolor (two specimens frompools at Musgrave), all of wide distribution in eastern Australia.There are plenty of Melanotaenia nigrans from Brown's Creek(Pacific drainage), but besides that species only two specimens ofGlossamia gillii, as contrasted with the nine species from theArcher River. This is presumably correlated with the less ex-tensive Pacific slope drainage, its smaller rivers, and hence therelative paucity of its fish fauna.

Fresh-water fishes from Australia

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