132 GUIANA GAR-PISH. 



From the European examples of Belone, these as 

 Avell as the Guiana fish differ in the tail being 

 rounded or fan-shaped instead of being forked ; the 

 anal fin is also shorter than the dorsal, which is 

 not so in the others; and in Swainsons system, 

 these are made to assist in generic value. The 

 European species of Belone are sea fishes, but those 

 of India alluded to, inhabit, according to Buchanan, 

 the ponds, ditches, and smaller streams. That of 

 Guiana " seldom exceeds fifteen inches in length, 

 and was taken in the river Padauiri in February ; 

 it feeds on insects, beetles, and wood-ants. The 

 scales are very small and deciduous. The intestines 

 are straight, and the air-bladder is single and ex- 

 tends to the anal fin." The upper jaw is slightly 

 shorter than the under, and the edges of both are 

 represented as thickly set with minute teeth. The 

 colour of the whole fish is a uniform dark olive, 

 paler on the sides, and inclining to bluish on the 

 belly. The ventral fins are tipped with orange-red, 

 and the anal has a band of the same colour along 

 its outer edge. 



