34 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



A BEVIEW OF THE SILUBOID FISHES FOUND ON THE PACIFIC 

 COAST OF TROPICAL AMERICA, WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF THREE 



NEW SPECIES. 



By DAVID S. JORDAN and CHARLES II. GILBERT. 



Our knowledge of the marine Siluridoe of the west coast of Mexico 

 and Central America has been due entirely to the labors of Gill, Giin- 

 tlier, and Steindachner. Sixteen species apparently valid have been 

 made known by these authors, to which three others are added in the 

 present paper. Fourteen species were obtained by Mr. Gilbert at Ma- 

 zatlan and Panama. All of these we have here redescribed, and the 

 synonymy of the remaining species is given, together with a key by 

 which they can be readily distinguished. 



Genus yELUBICHTHYS Baird & Girard. 

 Ailurichthys Baird & Girard, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. vii, 26. 



ANALYSIS OF SPECIES OF ^ELURICHTHYS. 



*. Dorsal spine produced in a band-like filament which nearly or quite reaches the 

 caudal fin ; maxillary barbel and pectoral filament reaching past the vent ; fon- 

 tanelle distinct, broader than pupil; occipital process little conspicuous; anterior 

 lobe of anal not reaching base of last rays; anal and usually ventrals above, with 

 a conspicuous black blotch Pinnimaculatus, 1. 



aa. Dorsal spine not produced in a filament ; maxillary barbel reaching little if any 

 more than half way to vent ; pectoral filament rarely reaching vent ; fontanelle 

 inconspicuous, not so broad as pupil; occipital process prominent, especially in 

 the males ; anterior lobe of anal high, in the adult reaching past last rays ; anal 

 and ventrals without conspicuous black blotch Panamensis, 2. 



1. -SJlurichthys pinnimaculatus Steindachner. 



Mluridhihys pinnimaculatus Steindachner, Ichthyol. Beitrage, iv, 15, 1875, 

 taf. viii. (Altata ; Costa Rica ; Panama. ) 



Habitat. — Pacific coast of tropical America; Mazatlan; Altata; west 

 toast of Costa Rica; Panama. 



Head 4^ (5| in total with caudal); width of head 5; depth 5i (7). D. 

 1, 7; A. 5, 23. Length (28347) 20 inches. 



Body elongate, compressed, the head broad and depressed, the anterior 

 profile concave, rising rapidly to the front of the dorsal fin; head con- 

 siderably broader than deep; interorbital space about 1£ in head; 

 breadth of mouth about 2, length of snout 5. Eye moderate, anterior, 5 

 to 7 in head, placed close to the angle of the mouth, and not much above 

 its level. 



Teeth all pointed; vomerine and palatine teeth, forming a continuous, 

 rather narrow, cresceutiform band, the four different components indi- 

 cated by slight constrictions, which are most distinct in the young ; 

 vomerine hands somewhat broader than palatine bands, which are not 

 prolonged backward. 



