ICHTHYOLOGY OF VENEZUELA — SCHULTZ 61 



Body compressed, tail rounded beyond end of anal fin; snout elong- 

 ate; rear margin of eye in front of middle of length of head, a distance 

 equal to the space between eye and posterior nostril; dorsal profile of 

 head usually a httle concave, sometimes nearly straight in the young; 

 pectoral fin equal to distance from rear of eye to snout tip ; margin of 

 eye free ; gill opening extending some distance above and below pectoral 

 fin base; anal origin under rear of base of pectoral fin; anus under 

 middle of length of head; lateral line straight, complete; scales on 

 upper sides of body and on tail a Httle enlarged; interorbital space 

 convex equal to distance from tip of snout to rear nostril; length of 

 head much longer than greatest depth; head about 5K to 6 times in 

 distance to end of anal fin; tail extends beyond anal fin a distance 

 about equal to or a little greater than length of head. 



Color. — Body uniformly dark brownish everywhere ; middle of sides 

 posteriorly with a narrow pale streak, lemon yellowish in living fish; 

 operculum with slight intensification of the pigment; all anal and aU 

 pectoral rays darkish, the interradial membranes pale. 



Remarks. — This new species is most closely related to Sternopygus 

 dariensis Meek and Hildebrand from Panama. It may be dis- 

 tinguished from it by having the pale streak along midaxis of body and 

 tail posteriorly and by the key on page 59. From S. macrurus the 

 new species differs in having the head with a concave dorsal profile, 

 and in addition, the interorbital space is more convex and narrower 

 in S. pejeraton. 



Named pejeraton, after the common name of this fish, peje rat6n, as 

 given to me many times in the Maracaibo Basin, in reference, no 

 doubt, to its rathke tail. 



Genus STEATOGENYS Boulenger 



Steatogenys Boulenger, Trans. Zool. Soc. London, vol. 14, No. 7, p. 428, 1898. 

 (Genotype, Rhamphichthys (Brachyrhamphichthys) elegans Steindachner.) 



STEATOGENYS ELEGANS (Steindachner) 



Rhamphichthys (Brachyrhamphichthys) elegans Steindachner, Denkschr. Akad. 



Wiss. Wien, vol. 42, p. 89, 1880 (mouth of Rfo Negro). 

 Tateichthys duidae La Monte, Amer. Mus. Nov. No. 373, p. 1, fig. 1, 1929 (Burned 



Mountain Creek, Mount Duida, Venezuela). 



Genus EIGENMANNIA Jordan and Evermann 



Eigenmannia Jordan and Evermann, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 47, p. 341, 1896. 

 (Genotype, Sternopygus humboldtii Steindachner [substitute name for 

 Cryptops Eigenmann].) 



KEY TO THE SPECIES OF EIGENMANNIA REPORTED FROM VENEZUELA 



la. Anal rays 185 to 224; rear margin of eye an eye diameter in front of middle 

 of length of head; dorsal profile of head convex; snout shorter than interor- 



