The Bump on a Snapper's Head

Frederick McCoy described many commercially important species of fish in the first volumes of the Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria. Towards the end of his life he had grand plans for another volume that would feature several more.

Many lithographic plates for the volume were actually produced, and remain in storage at the Museum. By the early 1890s, a testy and increasingly ill Professor was not providing written descriptions to accompany all the images. This frustrated the government of the day and, with economic depression starting to bite, further funding for the project was withheld. The series was aborted at Plate 284 - a large Stingray.

Among the most interesting prints of the unpublished plates are a series featuring Victoria's most prized commercial fish, the Snapper. There are three Snapper plates; an immature 'Pinkie', a female and a pair of males with grotesque bumps on their heads.

The reason why large Snappers have these large bumps has long been a matter for ichthyological and angling conjecture, and in the absence of McCoy's own records we can only speculate why these particular specimens aroused his interest. Was it a reflection of the Victorian fascination with the pseudo-science of phrenology? Or did these gentlemen of the sea subconsciously remind him of the city patriarchs, as they emerged, ruddy-nosed from their clubs of an evening?

The series of plates was also supported by unpublished drawings, indicating that the species had been considered for illustration long before the series was finally printed. Due to McCoy's dispute with the Government the series has remained unpublished to this day.