Table 7. — Lateral line scales in three species of Argentina 



the snout in a gentle curve; the interoi-bital space 

 between the supraocular canals is broadly concave. 

 The frontals laterad to the canals arch upward 

 slightly. The dorsal portion of the maxillary is 

 hidden under the lacrimal and the jugal bones. The 

 distal end of the maxillary is closer to the anterior 

 margin of the eye than to the snout. Some speci- 

 mens have a slight, bony knob at the symphysis of 

 the lower jaw. The jaws are subequal ; the upper 

 broadly rounded, the lower less so. The palatine 

 and the head of the vomer bear a continuous band 

 2 to 4 teeth wide composed of small, closely spaced, 

 conical teeth; about 50 on the vomer and 25 to 30 

 on each palatine; dentary teeth are lacking. The 

 ceratobranchial of the fifth gill arch bears 7 to 10 

 small, conical teeth ; two patches of similar teeth, 

 5 to 10 on the anterior i^atch and 10 to 15 on the 

 posterior patch, are found at the anterior end of 

 the fourth suprabranchial. The tongue bears 6 

 strong recurved teeth (description of dentition 

 based on a single alizarin-stained specimen). The 

 gill rakers are elongate, compressed, and relatively 

 widely spaced; the longest gill rakers are equal 

 to about one-third of the interorbital distance. 



The pectoral fin originates slightly ahead of a 

 vertical through the posterior tip of the opercle. 

 The anterior end of the pectoral fin base is elevated 

 from the horizontal by an angle of 30 to 45 degrees. 

 The distance between the bases of the innermost 

 rays of the pectoral fins is less than the least depth 

 of the caudal peduncle. The gi-eatest height of the 

 dorsal fin is usually greater than the maximum 

 depth of the body. The greatest height of the anal 

 fin is greater than the least depth of the caudal 

 peduncle. The pectoral fins extend more than one- 

 half the distance between the bases of the pectoral 

 and ventral fins; the ventral fins are slightly 

 shorter. 



The scales lack spines. The lateral line scale 

 count is summarized in table 7. 



The peritoneum is colored with large, dark 

 chromatophores, which are most densely dis- 

 tributed in the antero-dorsal section of the body 

 cavity; the gut is immaculate. Ten to 14 pyloric 

 caeca are present in 12 specimens. The body cavi- 

 ties of all specimens examined contained consider- 

 able amounts of fat. 



The elongate swimbl adder extends from about 

 the level of the curve of the stomach to about the 

 midlength of the ventral fin. The anterior tip of 

 the swimbladder bears some silvery pigment, and 

 the posterior one-third to one-half of the organ is 

 strongly impregnated with silvei-y pigment. 



Pigmentation in alcohol of adult specimens is 

 light straw-colored on the lower two-thirds of the 

 fish ; the dorsum is darker ; the muzzle is dusky, as 

 are the nape and the upper portion of the opercle. 

 Many specimens have the remnants of an irides- 

 cent band along the midline. In fishes less than 

 about 95 mm. standard length, there is a series of 

 8 to 10 dusky blotches along the upper third of 

 the body. In life the fish is a bright silvery color 

 (H. A. Fehlmann, Smithsonian Oceanographic 

 Sorting Center, personal communication). 

 Teratology 



A single specimen from Anton Brnmn sta. 640-B 

 (USNM 202472) lacks pectoral fins. An X-ray 

 photograph shows that a pectoral girdle is present 

 Distribution 



A. aliceae is known from nine localities along 

 the northern coast of Peru, where it has been 

 trawled at depths of 50 to 54 fm. (91-99 m.) to 

 105 to 170 fm. (192-311 m.) ; most specimens were 

 taken between 55 and 88 fm. (100-161 m.). 

 Habits 



This species has been taken only in bottom 

 trawls and like most other Argentina apparently 

 travels in schools a short distance above the bot- 

 tom. The largest catch recorded was from Anton 

 Bruun sta. 641-A, where 1,440 individuals weigh- 

 ing 44 kg. were taken. Several specimens examined 

 had their stomachs tightly packed with partially 

 digested crustaceans. Annotated station data from 

 Anton Bruun cruise 16, which collected most of 

 the study material, are presented by Chin (1966). 

 Name 



Named for Alice Holland, former Secretary of 

 this Laboratory, in recognition of her devoted 

 services to ichthyology. 



ADDITIONS TO A REVISION OF ARGENTININE FISHES 



21 



