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Show 188 MR. J. W.CLARK ON A [Mar. 18, 2. On a Sea Lion from the East Coast of Australia (Otaria cinerea, Peron). By J. W . CLARK, F.Z.S. [Eeceived March 18, 1884.] In the New South Wales Court of the Fisheries Exhibition which was held last year at South Kensington, there were four stuffed Otarias belonging to the Australian Museum, Sydney. They were labelled : " A group of Australian Eared Seals. The Grey Sea-Lion (Arctocephalus cinereus, Gr.), from the Seal Rocks near Port Stephens, N e w South Wales."1 The following notes on the four specimens were partly communicated to m e by my friend Mr. E. P. Ramsay, Curator of the Museum, partly written by myself. 1. A male from which the skull (figs. 1 and 2) had been extracted. The animal was between six and seven feet long ; the hair short, stiff, and bristly, especially on the nape of the neck; the underfur red and very sparse. Colour a uniform brown, rather lighter on the head and on the back of the neck 2. 2. A n animal nearly as large as the former, and said to be a female of the same species. Hair bristly ; the general colour brown, but paler on the back than in the male, and on the head and neck inclining to a dusky yellow ; on the under surface of the body and on the upper surface of the ' pes ' and ' manus ' a dark brown. The stuffer had fortunately set the jaws open, so that the teeth could be examined. The molars were 5-^, each having a posterior and anterior cusp, with the exception of the first tooth in each row. 3. A small Otaria rather less than three feet long. It had no skull, and therefore the age could not be ascertained. Hair short and fine, with a dense underfur. Colour a yellowish grey, paler on the under surface of the body, and becoming a light brown on the upper surface of the ' pes' and ' manus.' 4. A very young Otaria, about two feet eight inches long, of a uniform dark brown on the back, lighter underneath. It appears to me that nos. 1 and 2 are rightly referred to the same species, but I doubt about their being male and female ; and no. 4 may very likely be a cub of the same species also. It appears to be a rule among the Otariida that the cubs are of a dark brown colour ; and Mr. Ramsay informed me that this animal had unquestionably been taken from the same rocks as the former. On the other hand, I suspect that no. 3, from the density of the underfur, is a specimen of the Fur Seal of Australia, for which I ventured to revive the name Otaria forsteri (P. Z. S. 1875, pp. 650-677) ; and which is, I believe, the same as Dr. Hector's Arctocephalus cinereus (Trans. N e w Zealand Inst. 1871, iv. p. 196). Besides these specimens I purchased a few months since a complete skeleton, not quite full-grown, said to have been obtained from 1 Port Stephens is an inlet about 100 miles to the north of Sydney. 2 This specimen is now in the British Museum. |