ICHTHYOLOGY OF VENEZUELA — SCHULTZ 53 



length of head; head notably longer than greatest depth of body, 

 nearly 4 times in standard length; snout bluntly rounded, projecting 

 less than half its length beyond tip of mandible, shorter than eye, and 

 contained 5.5 to 6 times in head; eye 3 to 4.2 times in head; maxillary 

 slender, not notably pointed, extending to or a little past joint of 

 mandible, 1.3 to 1.4 in head; mandible pointed, curved slightly up- 

 ward at tip, reachmg a little past a vertical line through front of 

 anterior nostril; teeth in lower jaw variable in size, usually 18 to 24 

 enlarged, the enlarged ones of upper jaw more numerous; cheek longer 

 than snout and eye, about 2.3 to 2.4 in head in specimens longer than 

 85 mm.; postorbital length of head 6.5 to 7.2 in standard length; gill 

 rakers slender, usually 16 to 18+20 to 23 on first arch; height of dorsal 

 fin about equal to postorbital length of head, its distal margin a little 

 concave; distal margin of anal a little concave; first branched ray of 

 pectoral fin longest, reaching to or a little past insertion of pelvics; 

 pelvic fins not reaching quite halfway to anal origin; caudal fm deeply 

 forked, the lower lobe a little longer and stronger than upper lobe; 

 origin of dorsal fin usually equidistant between midcaudal fin base 

 and rear margin of pupil; origin of anal fin under bases of fifth to 

 seventh branched rays of dorsal fin or a little behind middle of base 

 of dorsal fin; axillary scale of pectoral about three-fourths length of 

 pectoral fin. 



Color. — The color of preserved specimens in alcohol is grayish above 

 with a dark streak along middle of back; margin of caudal fin with a 

 narrow blackish band ; interradial membranes of caudal fin lobes with 

 black pigment, especially intense between the third and fourth from 

 middle on lower lobe and fourth and fifth from middle on upper lobe, 

 the middle rays between almost unpigmented; middle of snout with 

 black pigment; upper edge of maxillaries anteriorly with black pig- 

 ment; inner side or opercle heavily pigmented; peritoneum silvery; 

 silvery lateral band present and as wide as snout and eye over region 

 of anal fin origin. 



Remarks. — This new species is so distinct that it does not resemble 

 any form known at present. It is as slender as L. olidus but has 41 

 (rarely 42) vertebrae instead of 46 to 48. L. grossidens has 43 or 44 

 (rarely 45) vertebrae and a much greater depth of body than L. 

 limnichthys. In Hildebrand's review of the American anchovies 

 (1943, pp. 141-142), it would trace down to a new section in his key, 

 ddd on p. 141. It may be distinguished from other Venezuelan 

 anchovies by the key on page 50. 



The smallest female observed with fully mature eggs, apparently 

 ready for deposition, was 75 mm. in standard length and came from 

 the Rio Agua Caliente. 



Named limnichthys in reference to its occurrence in a lake. 



