344 Annals of the South African Museum. 



Dorsal ii 8 ; originates immediately behind base of ventral and 

 nearer to root of caudal than to point of snout ; longest ray f to 

 nearly same length as head. Anal iii 15-17. Pectoral i to nearly 

 same length as head, not reaching ventral. Caudal deeply forked, 

 lobes pointed; caudal peduncle 1^ to It times as long as deep. 



Scales 28-30 ^ ; 2 rows of scales between lateral line and base of 



ventrals. Scales with a duct along centre. 



Colour (of preserved specimens), silvery, dark above, with a broad 

 silvery lateral band ; extremity of dorsal fin black. 



Seven specimens, ranging from 38 mm. to 58 mm. in length, from 

 Maromba River, a tributary of the Zambezi River (A. Stephenson). 



6. DISTICHODUS. 

 Mull, and Trosch., Hor. IchthyoL, i., p. 12 (1845). 



" Mouth small, inferior or sub-inferior ; teeth small, bicuspid, 

 usually in two series on each jaw, no teeth on maxillary ; nostrils 

 close together, separated by valvular flap ; gill-membranes attached 

 to isthmus. Dorsal with 16-27 rays. Body strongly compressed." 



A small or moderately large adipose dorsal fin. Small scales cover 

 the whole or the greater part of the caudal and adipose dorsal fins. 



DISTICHODUS MOSSAMBICUS, Peters. 



Peters, Mon. Berl. Ac., 1852, p. 275 ; and Reise Mossamb., iv., p. 71, 

 pi. xiii., fig. 1 (1868) ; and Bouleng., Cat. Fresh. Fish. Africa, i., 

 p. 268 (1909). 



" Teeth in one or two series in each jaw, those of the inner series, 

 if present, very small ; 14-18 teeth in outer series. Depth of body 

 2| to 3 times in total length, length of head 3^ to 4 times. Head 

 longer than deep, 2 to 2| times as long as broad ; snout feebly com- 

 pressed, rounded, but little shorter than postocular part of head, 

 about 1^ times diameter of eye, which is 4 to 44- times in length of 

 head ; interorbital width 2^ to 3 times in length of head ; maxillary 

 not extending to below nostrils. 



Dorsal 23-27 (4 unbranched), equally distant from occiput and 

 from caudal, its base twice as long as its distance from adipose fin. 

 Anal 14-16 (4 unbranched), its base much shorter than that of 

 dorsal. Pectoral shorter than head. Caudal forked, with obtusely 

 pointed lobes ; caudal peduncle deeper than long. Scales 67- 



70-^-, 11 or 12 between lateral line and root of ventral. 



