Jordan and Ever mann. — Fishes of North America. 2769 



its Tipper lobe the longer, somewhat falcate, l-^ in head ; anal rather high. 

 Color brown, with bluish reflections; lower parts dusky, with dark 

 punctulatious; fins all blackish; maxillary and onter mental barbels 

 dusky. A single male example 11 inches long was obtained at Panama 

 by Dr. Gilbert. (Jordan & Gilbert, Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., ii, 1882, 46.) 



185. XETUMA ELATTURA (Jordan & Gilbert). 



Head 3HH in total); depth .5f (6f) ; width of head 4|. D.I, 6; A. IV, 14. 

 Length (29408, U. S. Nat Mus.) 12i inches. Body low, not very elongate, 

 the head rather short and very broad, much broader than deep, the snout 

 depressed and very broadly rounded, almost truncate. Eye moderate, 

 placed rather high, its diameter 7 in head. Interorbital space '1\ in head ; 

 snout 3^; breadth of mouth 1|. Mouth large, with thickish lips, the 

 upper jaw considerably projecting. Teeth on vomer and palatines villi- 

 form, but bluntly conical, less acute than in most of the species. Vomer- 

 ine patches oblong, small, separated by a narrow interspace from each 

 other and from the palatine bands, which are roundish and comparatively 

 small, with a backward prolongation. Teeth in jaws in broad bands. 

 Barbels rather short, the maxillary barbels reaching a little past base of 

 pectorals, the outer mental barbels a little past gill opening, the inner a 

 little more than 4 head. Dorsal shield not very short, crescent-shaped, 

 with a distinct median keel, its length on the median line about \ its 

 breadth. Occipital process short, broadly triangular, with concave sides 

 which spread out abruptly near the base, forming a sort of shoulder, its 

 length scarcely e(iual to its width at base. Median keel well developed. 

 Fontanel broad and shallow, abruptly narrowed posteriorly at a point 

 a little nearer base of dorsal than tip of snout, but extending as a groove 

 to a point distant less than a diameter of the eye from the base of the 

 occipital process, this groove indistinct iu the smaller specimen. Greatest 

 width of fontanel scarcely more than \ the eye. Shields of head gran- 

 ular-striate, the roughness less coarse than in A. kessleri. Interorbital 

 space with 2 prominent ridges and numerous stri», none of them gran- 

 ular, the granulations chiefly confined to the region behind widest part 

 of fontanel. Opercle striate. Gill membranes forming a moderate fold 

 across isthmus. Dorsal spine low, shorter than pectoral spine, which is 

 1| in head, the anterior edges of both bluntly serrate; humeral process 

 broadly triangular, granulated, not | length of pectoral spine, much 

 smaller than in A. iiisculjjtus; no axillary pore; adipose fin long and low, 

 witliout free posterior margin; lower fins of moderate length; vent much 

 nearer ventrals than anal. Caudal short, the upper lobe longest, 1* in 

 head (a little more than i head in the smaller specimens). Color dusky 

 above, the lower parts soiled with dark points; fins all more or less dusky 

 with dark points; maxillary barbels dusky, others pale. One male indi- 

 vidual (29408) was obtained at Panama by Dr. Gilbert; another (30995) at 

 Panama by Mr. Kowell. (Jordan & Gilbert, Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., ii, 

 1882, 45.) ' 



