SCOMBROIDES.—CICHLIDA. 15 
The American species belong to the subgenus Oligoplites, Gill, with 4 or 5 dorsal 
spines and linear scales. They are six in number, viz.: S. saurus, Bl. Schn.; 
S. refulgens, Gilb. & Starks; S. altus, Gthr.; S. mundus, Jord. & Starks; S. saliens, 
Bl.; and S. palometa, C. & V. 
The first-named appears to be identical on the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts; the next 
three are known from the Pacific Coast only. J. saliens is an Atlantic species and 
Pacific records of it should be referred to S. mundus. 
1. Scombroides palometa. 
Chorinemus palometa, Cuv. & Val. Hist. Nat. Poiss. viii. p. 892 (1831) *. 
Chorinemus saliens, var. palometa, Giinth. Cat. Fish. i. p. 475 (1860) *. 
Oligoplites saliens palometa, Jord. & Everm. Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. xlvii. 1896, p. 899°. 
Depth of body 33 in the length, length of head 43. Snout as long as eye, the diameter of which is 44 in 
the length of head, interorbital width 31. Maxillary extending slightly beyond the vertical from the 
posterior margin of eye. 12 gill-rakers on the lower part of anterior arch. Dorsal IV, 119. Anal II, 
I 20. Pectoral § the length of head. Least depth of caudal peduncle 7 the length of head. Silvery, 
back brownish ; dorsal dusky, other fins yellowish. 
Hab. Guatemata, Lake Yzabal (Salvin)—VeEnezoELA, Lake Maracaibo ! 2, 
Here described from a specimen of 280 mm. from Lake Maracaibo. There isa 
small example (90 mm.) from Lake Yzabal in the British Museum. This species has 
not yet been recorded from other localities, but probably enters the sea. 
Fam. 5. CICHLIDA. 
This large family of fresh-water fishes is the dominant perciform group in Tropical 
America and Africa. In America the Cichlide extend from Texas to Argentina, and 
comprise about 150 species, which may be grouped into twenty-three genera. Africa 
appears to be somewhat richer in both genera and species, whilst a single genus with 
three representatives occurs in India and Ceylon. 
The study of the relationships of the American genera is of considerable interest in 
connection with their geographical distribution, and leaves no room for doubt that the 
Mexican and Central-American Cichlid fauna originated with immigrants from the 
southern continent. The fact that the most generalized South-American genus Acara 
is scarcely generically distinct from the African Paratilapia is also important, and, 
seeing that there is no reason to believe that the Cichlids have ever been other than a 
fresh-water group, it lends support to the theory of a land-connection between South 
America and Africa in Eocene times. 
I have recently monographed the American Cichlid, and, except where some 
amplification or alteration is necessary, a list of the species only, with keys for their 
identification, is here given. 
