Summary

Watercolour and pencil illustration of a Bearded Rock Cod, Pseudophycis barbata, from Port Phillip, Victoria, by Arthur Bartholomew. This work was commissioned by Frederick McCoy, the first Director of The National Museum of Victoria, for Plate 20 in 'The Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria; Figures and descriptions of the living species of all classes of the Victoria indigenous animals'.

While the illustrated specimen is Pseudophycis barbata, McCoy inadvertently included fin-ray and scale counts of five specimens of the Australian Red Cod, Pseudophycis palmata (Klunzinger, 1872) in his species description.

This plate forms part of the much larger Prodromus Collection. Many of the original illustrations and prints in the collection informed the production of The Prodromus, the first major publication of the National Museum of Victoria. Between 1878 and 1890, McCoy published his zoology 'Prodromus' as 20 parts in two volumes, with each part comprising 20 plates. Unfortunately, almost 90 plates in the collection remain unpublished, and hundreds of illustrations were either not completed or not printed.

Description of Content

Australian Red Cod, Pseudophycis palmata, by Arthur Bartholomew. Pencil, watercolour, lithographic ink, indian ink illustration on paper, 21cm x 15cm, published as plate 20 in The Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria by Frederick McCoy.

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