Fishes of the Western North Atlantic 235 



Table IX. Frequency Distribution of Gill Rakers in Lycengraulis.* 



, Number of Gill Rakers on Upper Limb of First Arch v^ 



^P^*^'" 9 10 II 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 



grossidens — — — — 4 '5 ^ 7 ' — — — 



olidus ______ 315 8 4 I 3 



batesii 3 2 4 5 2 — — — — — — — 



abbotti — — I I — — — — — — — — 



barbouri I 3 4 — ' — — — — — — — 



* When the number of counts exceeds the number of specimens reported in the text, the gill rakers were counted 

 on both anterior arches of at least some of the fish. 



Table X. Frequency Distribution of Gill Rakers in Lycengraulis. * 



, Number of Gill Rakers on Lower Limb of First Arch ^ 



Species 



13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 



grossidens . — — — — — i 9 '3 '5 ^ — — 



olidus ______ 2 5 6 20 7 5 



batesii. ... — 3 7 2 — — — — — — — — 



abbotti ... — — — — I I — — — — — — 



barbouri . . i 6 i — — — — — — — — — 



* When the number of counts exceeds the number of specimens reported in the text, the gill rakers were counted 

 on both anterior arches of at least some of the fish. 



flexed, its origin rather variable, most frequently nearer to base of caudal than to poste- 

 rior margin of eye. Anal with base 3.75-4.2 in SL, its origin generally under middle 

 of dorsal base. Pelvic small, extending much less than halfway to anal, usually in- 

 serted nearer to anal origin than to pectoral base. Pectoral often reaching nearly to 

 base of pelvic, i.i 5-1. 35 in head. Axillary scale of pectoral about 0.75 of length of 

 fin, 1.5— 1.9 in head. 



Co/or. In alcohol, grayish above. Sides of head and lower 67 "/o of body uniform 

 silvery in adults. Young under 90 mm long with a distinct silvery lateral band nar- 

 rower than eye, much broader than eye and less distinctly outlined ventrally in speci- 

 mens 120 mm long, intergrading completely with the silvery color of lower parts of 

 body in somewhat larger individuals. Margin of caudal blackish in adults. 



Size. Examples having a maximum total length of 280 mm (i 1.2 in.) have been 

 reported, but the largest in the collections studied is only 220 mm TL. 



Relationship and Variation. L. olidus (Giinther) is a very near relative of L. grossi- 

 dens, the two probably intergrading in southern Brazil. If specimens from Venezuela or 

 northern Brazil are compared with examples from extreme southern Brazil, Uruguay, 

 and Argentina, it is at once evident that those from the more southern localities have a 

 more slender and less strongly compressed body, a shorter and less pointed maxillary, 

 smaller teeth in the upper jaw but still much larger than those of other American genera, 

 a greater average number of gill rakers, and more numerous vertebrae. See Table viii 

 for comparison of L. grossidens with L. olidus. 



L. poeyi of the Pacific coast of Panama is also a near relative of the Atlantic species. 



