THE CATFISHES OF ^^ENEZUELA — SCHULTZ 205 



teeth broad with lateral end rounded; no teeth on vomer or palatines; 

 snout projecting beyond lower lip the width of the upper lip; maxil- 

 lary barbels reaching to anal fin or to caudal peduncle; outer mental 

 barbels reaching almost to insertion of the pelvics and inner mental 

 barbels extending a little past insertion of pectorals; the bases oi the 

 outer mental barbels are a little behind those of the anterior mental 

 barbels; pectoral spine with numerous sharp-pointed retrorse teeth 

 along its posterior margin and tiny numerous antrorse teeth along the 

 basal half of the anterior margin of the pectoral spine in the half-grown, 

 but in those specimens 200 mm. in standard length the front of the 

 spine is rough only; posterior margin of dorsal spine with numerous 

 retrorse teeth, anterior margin without teeth; length of gill rakers about 

 ^1 eye; posterior margin of dorsal fin a little concave; rear margin of 

 adipose truncate to a trifle concave; posterior margin of anal concave, 

 usually the first branched ray longest; first branched ray of pectoral 

 longest, the rear margin of this fin a little concave; caudal deeply 

 forked, usually the upper lobe is longest; in the almost perfectly pre- 

 served specimens the head is profusely supplied with very minute 

 papillae; head is depressed forward, but the supraoccipital process has a 

 rounded keel; caudal peduncle a little compressed; total length of adi- 

 pose fin less than length of snout and eye; dorsal spine 1% in distance 

 from snout to dorsal origin; adipose fin shorter than distance from 

 rear base of dorsal to adipose origin; pectoral spine not quite reaching 

 to pelvic insertion, and dorsal spme not reaching adipose origin; gill 

 membranes extend far forward, free from the istlmius. 



Color. — Color pattern variable but always with black spots or 

 blotches more or less separated by pale streaks along sides. The liolo- 

 type has the profusely spotted color phase, in which the spots are round 

 to elongate and more or less joined, giving a mottled pattern but with 

 a very distinct pale streak along the lateral line; predorsal plate with 

 black sides, this black color extending a short distance down on the 

 skin below the plate; adipose fin faintly spotted, but often plain grayish, 

 with its basal half a little yellowish; dorsal fin pigmented but usually 

 with hyaline areas on the membranes a third of the way out, followed 

 behind and below by intensification of the black pigment. Another 

 color phase, probably the commonest, consists of a wide pale streak 

 along the lateral line above and below, which is a row more or less of 

 black blotches or an irregularly blackish band; below this blackish 

 broken band another wide pale streak and then a series of blackish 

 pigment areas occurs; sometimes the black blotches or black streak 

 above the pale lateral band is set off by a pale streak from the blackish 

 blotches on upper part of the back; dorsal surface of head usually not 

 spotted, but sometimes blackish color bars more or less meet at middle 



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