FAMILY, lY— CYPRINODONTID^. 521 



Family, IV— CYPRINODONTID^. 



Branch iostegals from four to six : pseudobranchiae absent. Eyes lateral. Margin of the upper jaw 

 formed solely by the premaxillaries. Barbels absent. Teeth in both jaws, also in the superior and inferior 

 pharyngeal bones. A single spineless dorsal fin situated in the posterior half of the body. Scales on head 

 and body. Stomach without any blind sac. No pyloric appendages. Air-vessel simple, and destitute of a 

 pneumatic duct. 



This family 1ms been sub-divided into : — Cypriiiodontidce carnivoi-m having united mandibles and short 

 intestines ; and G. limnophag(e having separated mandibles and long intestines. 



SYNOPSIS OF GENERA. 



1. Cyprhiodon. Mandibular bones united. Teeth in a single row. 



2. Haplochiltis. Mandibular bones united. Teeth in narrow bands. Anal fin more or less elongated. 



Genus, 1 — Ctprinodon, Lacepede. 



Lebias, Cuvier : Aphanms, Nardo : Mieromugil, Gulia. 



Gajje of mouth small : m,andibles short and united at the sym2jhi/sis. Teeth of moderate size, in a single 

 compressed row, and notched at their summits. Origin of dorsal fin anterior to that of the anal, and largest in the 

 male sex. Scales rather large. The colour of the sexes often different. Intestines of moderate length or rather shoii. 



Geographical distribution. — Southern Europe, North Africa, Syria, Persia, along the shores of the Red Sea 

 to Cutch. 



SYNOPSIS OP INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. 

 1. Cyprinodon dispar, D. 9, A. 10, L. 1. 2'j--27, L. tr. 8. Grayish ; the caudal fin in the males with dark 

 semilunar vertical bands : narrow vertical bands on the body in the female. Cutch. 



1. Cyprinodon dispar, Plate CXXI, fig. 1 (male), 2 (female). 



Lebias dispar, Ruppell, Atl. Fi.sche, p. GO, t. 18, f. 1 (male), 2 (female). 

 Cyprinodon lunatus, Cuv. and Val. xviii, p. 161. 



Cyprinodon hammonia, Richardson, P. Z. S. 1866, p. 371 (not Cuv. and Val.) 



Cyprinodon dispar, Giinther, Catal. vi, p. 303 (not P. Z. S. 1859, p. 470) ; Klunz. Verh. z. b. Ges. Wien, 

 1871, p. 587. 



Cyprinodon Stoliczhanus, Day, Journ. As. Soc. of Beng. 1872, p. 258. 



B. iii, D. 9, P. 17, V. 7, A. 10, C. 15, L. 1. 26-27, L. tr. 8. 



Length of head Sf to 4, of caudal 5 to 5|-, height of body 3f to 4 in the total length. Eyes — diameter 

 3j in the length of the head, nearly 1 diameter from the end of snout, and 1^- apart. Lower jaw somewhat the 

 longer, the maxilla does not reach to below the front edge of the eye. Teeth — in a single tricuspid row in both 

 jaws. Fins — dorsal elevated in the male, it -commences midway between the middle of the eye and the base 

 of the caudal fin, and above the tenth .scale : whereas in the female it is not elevated and commences midway 

 between the opercle and base of the caudal. Ventral is also elongated in the males but not in the females. 

 Caudal lunate. Colours — Male : greenish-yellow reticulated with darker, a small dark shoulder spot. Dorsal 

 fin spotted, anal more sparingly so. Caudal yellowish, with a wide crescentic black band, having a white 

 edge in its last half : another narrow one between it and the root of the caudal which is also dark. Female : 

 silvery, with from seven to nine narrow vertical bands. 



Ova very large, almost equalling the diameter of the eye. Length of the intestinal canal about three 

 times that of the abdomen. 



Habitat. — Abyssinia, Palestine, shores of the Red Sea, and common in Cutch, from whence Dr. 

 StoHczka brought 28 specimens. 



Genus, 2 — HAPLOCHrLtrs, McClelland. 



Aplocheilus, McClelland : Panchax, Cuv. and Val. : Zygonectes, Agassiz : Micristius, Gill. 



Branchiostegals from five to six. Body somewhat elongated and compressed. Upper surface of head and- 

 nape broad and depressed. Mandibular bones united at the symphysis. Teeth villiform in the jaws, present or absent 

 on the palate. Dorsal fin shoii, commencing behind tlie origin of the anal, which latter has an elongated base. 

 Scales cycloid and of medium size. Lateral-line absent. Intestinal canal of moderate length. 



Bleeker restricts genus Panchax to those species possessing palatine teeth : and Haplochilas to those 



3 s 



