EIGENMANN: THE FRESHWATER FISHES OF BRITISH GUIANA 



33 



marine cat-fishes or Banjamans, both groups excessively abundant in the brackish 

 water. 



The species most abundant were Pristella riddlei, a highly colored little characin 

 first reported from the Orinoco and also found at Wismar; Hemigrammus rodwayi, 

 another little characin confined to Georgetown and the northwest coast; the widely 

 distributed characins Pcecilwichthys bimaculatus and Charax gibbosus, the latter of 

 which was most abundant of all; the eels, Sternopygus macrurus, Eigenmannia 

 virescens, the pcecilid "Millions" and the cichlid Cichlasoma bimaculatum. 



Fig. 4. View of the drainage canal at Cane-Grove Corner. 



The fauna of the trenches as a whole is poor as compared with that of the 

 interior. This character the trenches share with the streams of the northwestern 

 territory near the coast, and the waters about Lama Stop-Off. Many of the species 

 are so small that our nets having one-quarter inch mesh permitted them to get 

 through without difficulty. This may in part account for the apparent restriction 

 of some of the species in the different trenches. Of Pristella riddlei we took with 

 our nets but eight specimens in the Georgetown trenches, while in the trench of 

 the Botanic Garden, which was drained, we obtained two hundred and thirty-three. 



Having packed the specimens from Georgetown we left on the 15th for Lama 



