372 NEW SPECIES OF MEXICAN FISHES. 



The aual is inserted uuder tlie third ra,\- of the dorsal. Its longest ray 

 is as long as the postorbital i)art of the head. 



The pectoral is inserted very slightly below the middle of the body, 

 its upper edge being nearly on a level with the lower edge of the orbit. 

 Its length is one-fifth of the total length without the caudal. 



The caudal is truncate, its length contained four or four and one-half 

 times in the standard length. 



The length of the head is contained three and two-thirds times in 

 the total without caudal, and is much less than the depth at the dorsal 

 origin. 



The length of the caudal peduncle equals that of the head. The 

 least height of the caudal peduncle is a little more than one-half the 

 greatest height of the body, which is rather more than one-third of the 

 length without caudal. 



The ventral reaches about to the vent ; its length is nearly one-half 

 that of the head. 



D. IG ; A. 10 ; scales 11-32. 



Coloration in sjririts. — ^^Upper parts biown ; lighter below, probably 

 orange in life ; the operculum silvery; a purple stripe along the mid- 

 dle of the body, its greatest width about equal to the length of the eye ; 

 abdomen silvery, this color extending up to the purple stripe ; a pur- 

 I)lish stri})e on the edge of the caudal peduncle, k'om the end of the 

 aual to the caudal. Iris, golden. 



Characodon ferrugineus, u. sp. (PI. XX, f . 3 ^, f. 4 9 ). 



The types of the present description are a male and female (No. 

 37810). The male is 2-fo inches long and the female 2 inches. 



This species is very readily distinguished from the two preceding by 

 its much larger eye as well as its coloration. The male is very deep 

 bodied and much compressed in its posterior half. The interorbital 

 space is nearly flat and the arch of the nape is very gradual. Theheight 

 at the pectoral origin is as great as at the dorsal origin and equals the 

 length of the head, which is one-third of the total, without the caudal. 

 The snout is short, shorter than the eye, and less than one-fourth the 

 length of the head. The lower jaw is obliquely placed and somewhat 

 projecting ; its length equals that of the eye, which is two-sevenths of 

 the length of the head. The upper jaw is moderately protractile. The 

 bicuspid teeth of the lower jaw are about twenty in number, and behind 

 them is a series of well developed villiform teeth. The teeth of the 

 upper jaw are similar to those of the lower. The jaws are moderately 

 stout. The mandible scarcely reaches to below the front margin of the 

 orbit. Its length is about three-fourths that of the interorbital space, 

 which is one-half of the length of the head without the snout. The scales 

 on the top of the head are somewhat enlarged. The opercle is connected 

 by membrane to the shoulder girdle, beginning at a point slightly above 

 the upper edge of the pectoral. The insertion of the dorsal is about 

 midway between the posterior margin of the eye and the end of the 



