DESCRIPTIONS OF SIXTEEN NEW SPECIES OF 

 PYGIDIID^.i 



By carl H. EIGENMANN. 

 (Read October 5, 1917.) 



The Pygidiid?e are a family of fishes found from southern 

 Panama to Patagonia, and from sea level to the highest Andes. A 

 monograph of this family, pretty well illustrated, is all but com- 

 pleted but may be delayed in publication. The new species and 

 genera are here described in advance of the publication of the mono- 

 graph. 



Ecologically this family is one of the most interesting ones of 

 South America. Some of the species attain considerable economic 

 importance, especially in the higher altitudes, as on the plains about 

 Bogota and in Titicaca and other high Andean lakes of Peru. 

 Others are minute and live as parasites in the gill-cavities of other 

 fishes. The new genus, Branchioica, belongs to this ecological group. 

 Still others attach themselves to other fishes and bathers like leeches, 

 making slight abrasions in the skin and swallowing the blood. Still 

 others have the evil reputation of entering the urethra of bathers, 

 causing severe complications or even death. The new species 

 Vandellia sanguinca belongs to this ecological group. 



The specimens were collected in the region and during the expe- 

 ditions mentioned in the preceding article and by Dr. John Hase- 

 man, who travelled in South America for the Carnegie Museum 

 between 1907 and 1910. A map showing his route was published 

 in the Memoirs of the Cartiegie Museum, Vol. VII., Plate I. Of 

 particular interest is the new genus Branchioica, which lives in the 

 gill cavities of other fishes. 



The numbers followed by the letter " I." refer to the catalog 



^ Contribution from the Zoological Laboratory of Indiana University, 

 No. 16. 



GOO 



