THE CATFISHES OF VENEZUELA — SiCHULTZ 331 



where it joins a group extending between the pectoral bases; a series 

 of plates extends from front of pelvics forward to pectoral base, and 

 the space between the midventral series and ventral lateral series is 

 naked; no naked area behind the base of pectorals; the upper and 

 lower lips are filamentous, and their margins have numerous branched 

 barbels, the only place without barbels being a small space on the upper 

 lip in front of the teeth of upper jaw; in the mouth behind teeth of 

 upper jaw are two barbels in the midline with a pair behind them; 

 area around teeth of lower jaw without barbels; usually 14 barbels 

 on margin of lower lip between maxillary barbels, the latter long, ex- 

 tending a little past gill opening; teeth small, a httle cupped in shape, 

 with a smaller lobe on their outer side; outer ray of pelvic a little 

 produced, reaching a little past the anal origin; outer ray of pectoral 

 longest and reaching a little past the base of pelvics; first ray of dorsal 

 longer than second, the posterior margin of this fin truncate; middle 

 rays of anal longest, the margin rounded ; posterior margin of pectoral 

 a little concave; orbital rims elevated, interorbital space concave, the 

 center of which, however, is convex; supraoccipital with a double 

 keel converging and then diverging a little near rear of that bone; 

 plate in front of dorsal with a single keel, then the next two forward 

 with two keels; gill opening m front of base of pectoral fin; tip of 

 snout bony; this bony snout in front of naked area around mouth 

 is equal to bony area between the nostrils; one or two plates in front 

 of the anus, three series of plates from anus to anal origin. 



Color. — Pale or white below, speckled above with darker brown on 

 a lighter browTi background; all fins mottled except the anal, which is 

 usually plain white, about 9 to 14 black spots on the first ray of 

 dorsal. 



Remarks. — This new subspecies may be distinguished from Loricaria 

 variegata variegata by its wider body and by the extra keeled plate 

 along front of dorsal fin. That variegata is a more elongate sub- 

 species than venezuelae is obvious by comparing the measurements 

 recorded in table 25. 



Named venezuelae in honor of the country in which it was collected 

 and in recognition of the courtesy shown me' while collecting speci- 

 mens there. 



LORICARIA GYMNOGASTER LAGOICHTHYS. new subspecies 



Plate 13 



Holotype.—V.S.'N.M. No. 121092, a specimen 305 mm. in standard 

 length, collected in the Kio Palmar near Totuma, about 100 km. 

 southwest of Maracaibo, by Leonard P. Schultz on February 21, 1942. 



Paratypes (all collected by L. P. Schultz).- U.S.N.M. No. 121096, 

 18 specimens, 53 to 272 mm. in standard length, collected along with 

 the holotype and bearing the same data; U.S.N.M. No. 121098, 433 



