The Statute of Limitation - stability or chaos
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1964
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:15036 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020218
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- Date Issued: 1964
The rare big-eye Pristigenys Niphonia (C&V) in South Africa
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1966
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:15044 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020226
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- Date Issued: 1966
The rare "Furred-Tongue" Uraspis uraspis (Gunther) from South Africa, and other new records from there
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1962
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:15001 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019711 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 26
- Description: During the past century at odd mostly long intervals there have appeared records and descriptions of certain rather small Carangid fishes, characterised by edentate white furred tongue and inside of mouth, and sometimes by the unusual armature of the straight part of the lateral line. These have almost always been single specimens, most rather small. Until recently records have been from the western north Atlantic (5), Red Sea (1), Persian Gulf (1), Western Pacific (5), Hawaii (3), Australia (2). In 1961 Williams reported 3 small specimens from equatorial East Africa, the first from the western Indian Ocean. Recently a specimen has been found at Algoa Bay, the first from South Africa, fortunately still alive, and of particular interest as being the smallest ever described. These fishes fall in the genus Uraspis Bleeker, 1855. , ABBYY FineReader 12 , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
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- Date Issued: 1962
The Parrot fishes of the Family Callyodontidae of the Western Indian Ocean
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1956
- Subjects: Western Indian Ocean , Parrotfishes , Callyodontidae , Parrot fishes , Scaridae
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14964 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018535 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 1
- Description: Parrot fishes are so abundant in the tropical parts of the Western Indian Ocean as to be of considerable economic significance. The majority are taken in traps and nets, some by spearing, fewer on lines. The flesh of even the largest is delicate and tasty, mostly eaten fresh as it is not easily preserved. It is esteemed by almost all races and classes, excepting only the Portuguese of Mozambique who do not regard these gaudy fishes with favour. In British territories, however, they are eagerly sought by the Whites. It has been stated that in some parts Parrot fishes are toxic, but as far as could be ascertained no species are ever unwholesome in East Africa or north of Madagascar to Seychelles. It is only in certain specific cases that laymen and even the native fishermen are able to distinguish individual species of Parrot fishes. Most species are more or less lumped together as “Parrots” with prefixes such as “Green” or “Red.” To the native fishermen they are known as follows: Red Sea to Suez, “Harid”; Somaliland, “Jello” or “Ponno”; Kenya to North Mozambique, “Pono”; Seychelles and vicinity, “KAKATOI”; Mauritius, “KAKATOI” or “GATEAU,” some species characterised more closely by descriptive adjectives. These fishes are commonly subject to what appears to be a parasitic infection of the nostrils, resulting in considerable swelling of the snout. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation) , The main funds were provided by the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, enabling expeditions to be made to Mozambique, Tanganyika, Zanzibar, Pemba, Kenya, Seychelles and the other islands north of Madagascar, whose authorities provided valuable aid and facilities in support. It had been intended to include French territories but this was unfortunately not possible. This publication and its ample colour illustration have been made possible by a generous special grant from the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
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- Date Issued: 1956
The moray eels of the Western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1962
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14991 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019663 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 23
- Description: The reefs of the Western Indian Ocean hold a dense population of marine eels of all kinds, and the morays are well represented. On some reefs in the more remote parts not often visited by humans we found a swarming population of morays, at low tide great numbers were moving freely all over the reef. In more inhabited areas there are fewer as the natives kill all they can, fearing them as much as snakes. Some species attain a large size, in East African coral reefs we have seen some with bodies the thickness of a man’s thigh. Native divers have told us that they fear these eels more than any other marine creature, as they have been known to seize a diver under the water, and so held he is powerless and drowns in a short time as there is no escaping from their powerful grip. While in some parts morays are eaten, they are apparently nowhere valued as food. In East Africa only certain natives eat them, but a number are dried for sending inland. In some parts the flesh of the moray produces an intoxication that may prove fatal (Ichthyosarcotoxism) and for which no antidote is known. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
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- Date Issued: 1962
The lizard shark Chlamydoselachus Anguineus Garman, in South Africa
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1967
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:15045 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020227
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- Date Issued: 1967
The Labrid Fishes of the Subgenus Julis Cuvier, 1814 (In CORIS Lacepede, 1802), from South and East Africa
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1957
- Subjects: Coris Lacepede , Labridae
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14970 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018544 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 8
- Description: Various subgenera have been proposed, among other features the absence of a canine in the angle of the mouth in the type species has been used to justify this, while the genus Julis Cuvier, 1814, generally assigned only sub-generic rank, covers a fairly well defined group with distinctly smaller scales. In this latter group the following Indo-Pacific species have been proposed: (1) gaimard Quoy & Gaimard, 1824, Hawaii. (2) greenovii Bennett, 1829, W. Pacific. (3) formosa Bennett, 1834, Ceylon. (4) pulcherrima Gunther, 1862, East Indies. (5) frerei Gunther, 1866, Zanzibar. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
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- Date Issued: 1957
The Indian genus Bathymyrus Alcock, 1889 with description of a new species from Vietnam
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1965
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:15037 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020219
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- Date Issued: 1965
The identity of Scarus gibbus Ruppell, 1828 and of other parrotfishes of the family Callyodontidae from the Red Sea and the Western Indian Ocean
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1959
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14978 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018777 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 16
- Description: Parrotfishes have long been one of the major problems of the taxonomist, largely as a result of classification based on preserved material. Workers such Bleeker, who handled fresh specimens, provided useful descriptions and at least passable illustrations of Parrotfishes. There has, in consequence, been a general tendency to use such names in preference to those of earlier workers, notably Lacepede and Valenciennes, most of whose descriptions, based on long dead specimens, not only lack accurate, or indeed any, illustration, but rarely contain critical diagnostic data. In consequence, the nomenclature has been in a state of utter chaos, and any worker privileged to travel and examine early type specimens incurs a good deal of responsibility, since the majority of other workers are usually not in a position to query his opinions about their identities. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
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- Date Issued: 1959
The Gunnellichthid Fishes with description of two new species from East Africa and of Gunnellichthys (Clarkichthys) Bilineatus (Clark), 1936
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1958
- Subjects: Microdesmidae , Wormfishes , Paragobioididae
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14971 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018545 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 9
- Description: A few specimens of a tiny fish taken by poison in tide pools in northern Mozambique in 1950 set in train a series of researches of world-wide scope, which have resulted in the revelation of unsuspected relationships in fishes long a puzzle. The species concerned, because of its obvious relationship to Paragobioides grandoculis Kendall and Goldsborough, 1911 (from Marshall Islands, Pacific), was described as Paragobioides copleyi (Smith, Ann. & Mag.Nat.Hist., 1951, (12) IV, 518, figs. 1, 2) , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
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- Date Issued: 1958
The fishes of the Family Sphyraenidae in the Western Indian Ocean
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1956
- Subjects: Western Indian Ocean , Sphyraenidae , Sphyraena , Barracudas , Sphyraenoidei
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14966 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018540 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 3
- Description: Although the Sphyraenidae occur in all warm seas, there are probably less than twenty valid species, about twelve in the Indo-Pacific, one of which occurs in the Atlantic as well. The larger species are in most parts more of angling than commercial significance, but some of the smaller at times occur in great shoals in shallow water where they may be netted. The Sphyraenidae are of some importance as food, the flesh of all species being delicate and well flavoured. In some parts there have been reliable reports that the flesh of certain species may cause acute poisoning, but we found no evidence of this in the Western Indian Ocean. As may be deduced from the torpedo-like body and the huge mouth with formidable sabre-like teeth, the large species are fierce predators and much feared as they move with great speed and do not hesitate to attack man. They are not generally ranked very high as game fishes, for most are taken on heavy tackle put out for larger types such as Tunny and so are easily subdued. In South African seas only few species are known, and only rarely below about 32°S. They are a not uncommon catch in Natal waters, where they are known as “Sea Pike.” , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation) , The main funds which made possible the extensive traveling necessary for adequate investigation of these wide-ranging fishes came from the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. We acknowledge also extensive facilities and assistance received in the Western Indian Ocean from the authorities of Mozambique, Tanganyika, Kenya, Zanzibar, Pemba, Seychelles and all islands, excepting French territories, there. I am indebted to my wife, Margaret Mary Smith, for the illustrations. The publication of this bulletin has been made possible by a special grant from the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
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- Date Issued: 1956
The fishes of the Family Scorpaenidae; Part 2: The sub-families Pteroinae, Apistinae, Setarchinae and Sebastinae
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1957
- Subjects: Scorpionfishes , Scorpaenid fishes , Scorpaenidae , Scorpaenids
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14968 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018542 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 5
- Description: Moderately compressed body with moderate to small cycloid or ctenoid scales, head partly scaly. 12-13 dorsal spines, usually elongate, separate, free from membrane. Anal usually with 3 spines, (rarely 2), the third longest. Pectoral elongate to very long, rays sometimes all simple, filamentous and free. In smallest stadia the pectoral is short, at first rapidly increases with growth, then shortens. The head with spines, variably single or multifid, spination usually increases with age, in some cases very markedly. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
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- Date Issued: 1957
The fishes of the Family Scorpaenidae; Part 1: The sub-family Scorpaeninae
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1957
- Subjects: Scorpionfishes , Scorpaenid fishes , Scorpaenidae
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14967 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018541 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 4
- Description: Within the order Scleroparei, characterised by the well-developed suborbital stay, many systematists pack the typical family Scorpaenidae with an enormous assemblage of fishes, which while showing certain fundamental relationships are so divergent as to render such an arrangement out of keeping with the generally accepted range of a systematic family group. While this large group will eventually doubtless be divided into numerous families of a lesser range, there is adopted here the fairly well defined cleavage into two main groups, based chiefly on the nature of the dorsal fin. These with the closely related families Synanciidae and Caracanthidae form a natural sub-group in the order. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
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- Date Issued: 1957
The fishes of the family Eleotridae in the Western Indian Ocean
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1959
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14973 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018772 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 11
- Description: Family Eleotridae - The Gobioid fishes are one of the major trials of ichthyologists, and when general regional collections are worked up, these fishes tend to be pushed aside, and are apparently often identified with some impatience by those not especially interested. It is not indeed uncommon for later workers to find several species in a bottle supposed to contain only one, or to find one and the same fish in the same collection labelled with different names. All this is understandable, for not only are there numerous species, but almost all are small to minute, so that accurate description and especially illustration are no light undertaking. In addition, they are generally covered with mucus, so that two exactly similar living specimens, preserved in different media, e.g. alcohol and formalin, can emerge looking so completely different, that the purely museum worker may be forgiven for considering them different species. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
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- Date Issued: 1959
The Congrid eels of the Western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea
- Authors: Castle, P H J (Peter Henry John)
- Date: 1968
- Subjects: Conger eels -- Indian Ocean , Conger eels -- Red Sea , Conger eels
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:15005 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019723 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 33
- Description: The eel family Congridae is now known to be represented in the western Indian Ocean (here regarded to be west of 60 E. from and including the Red Sea, to Cape Point) by 11 genera and 19 species as well as at least five distinct larval forms which have not yet been identified. More than half of these species inhabit the shallow and offshore waters of the tropical western Indian Ocean. The remainder are known only from cool-temperate waters off the Cape, with one deep-water Atlantic species and one Mediterranean species also present in this area. Considerable additions to this fauna can be expected as the deep waters off the east coast are more fully sampled. Congrina wallacei sp. nov., de- scribed here from 260-270 fathoms off southern Mozambique and Durban, has rather large teeth on the jaws, a long snout and about 168 vertebrae. At least one species spawns off the Cape, but the majority probably do so over the western edge of the oceanic basins north and south of Madagascar. The shallow-water species show strong affinities with the tropical and cool-temperate Indo-Pacific. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
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- Date Issued: 1968
The clingfishes of the Western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1964
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:15017 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019796 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 30
- Description: In only few cases is anything definite known about the reproduction of Clingfishes. Probably all produce eggs, in some cases (see Eckloniaichthys below) this somewhat abnormally follows internal fertilization by copulation. In those cases that have been studied the eggs are laid in a single layer and are strongly adhesive to the surface of the rock, weed or shell on which they are deposited. The number of eggs varies from about a dozen to many hundreds. The female of the large South African Chorisochismus dentex has been observed to guard the eggs and to assist aeration by fanning. In some species there is marked sexual dimorphism in body shape and in dentition, while males may have a large genital papilla. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
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- Date Issued: 1964
Swordfish, marlins and sailfish in South and East Africa
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1956
- Subjects: Indian Ocean -- African coast , Xiphiidae Perciformes Billfishes Marlins Sailfish
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14965 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018537 , Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 2
- Description: Chiefly arising from their sporting potentialities in big game angling, the large “Bill-fishes”, or Marlin, and Sword-fishes have attracted considerable attention in recent times. Commercial fishermen of Japan and anglers of the United States have been most ardent in the pursuit of these peculiar creatures. While a good deal has been learnt about them, there still remains much to discover. In the case of the Marlins, for example, hardly anything is known of their reproduction, of the larval or postlarval early forms, and even those who have studied these fishes from ample material over a wide area are as yet uncertain of the absolute identity of the species, and are often unable to identify with any certainty the rare occasional reasonably small specimens that are encountered. In South Africa shore angling is so good throughout virtually the entire year that there has been little incentive to explore the possibilities further out, especially as quiet seas are a rare condition. Quite recently, however, big game angling at sea has developed almost explosively and increasingly large fishes are being captured. During our extensive travels in the tropical Western Indian Ocean it became obvious that great numbers of the larger angling fishes were present, including those treated here. Although that area is windy and storm-lashed for much of the year, remote from facilities, and barren, its potentialities are relatively unexplored, but are clearly so great that it will not be long before it becomes recognised as one of the chief big game angling areas of the world. These fishes are at present placed in the families Xiphiidae and Istiophoridae. The latter embraces the Sailfishes, the Marlins and the Spearfishes, usually granted distinction by only generic rank. In my opinion, however, they merit at least sub-family rank. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation) , The main funds for this work were provided by the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, who also made a special grant in February 1956 to cover considerable traveling that numerous Marlin catches rendered necessary.
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- Date Issued: 1956
Studies in carangid fishes no.3: the genus Trachinotus Lacepede, in the western Indian Ocean
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1967
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:15049 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020231
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- Date Issued: 1967
Studies in carangid fishes no. 4: the identity of Scomber Sansun Forsskal, 1775
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1986
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:15050 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020232
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1986
Studies in carangid fishes no. 2: the identity of Scomber Malabaricus Bloch-Schneider, 1801
- Authors: Smith, J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley), 1897-1968
- Date: 1967
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:15048 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020230
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1967