200 CHABACiyoiD FISHES WITH CTENOID SCALES— GILL. vol.xm.i. 



scales have been developed independently and lu forms by no means 

 closely related. Each of the genera in question manifests peculiarities 

 in the development of the ciliation or ctenoid type. 



II. 



The new species of Curimatina* belongs to the genus named Fsectro- 

 ^«sfer by Professor and Mrs. Eigenmann, and maybe intercalated in 

 the ^'Analysis of the Species" recognized' by them with tlie following 

 characters : 



a-. "Origin of dorsal about eijuidistant between tip of suont and base of npper 

 caudal fulcra. Origin of ventrals nearer to base of caudal than to 

 tip of snout. 

 h. Body "rhoniboidal, the dorsal and ventral outlines making angles at the 

 origin of tlie dorsal and of the ventral fins;" scales, 5o\^..rhomboides. 

 hh. Body saliuoui form, the dorsal and ventral outlines being regularly con- 

 vex; scales 54-55{7, aiirofiis. 



aa. "Origin of dorsal about equidistant from tip of snout and from 1ip of adi- 

 pose Hn. 



c. "Depth ,-f and 9 about 2] : Lat. 1. 49-56" amazonicus. 



cc. "Depth 9 2,'^; scales Hfi; jirofile convex ciliatus. 



Such would be the position of the P. auratus on the assumption that 

 the primary characters have already been indicated, but in fact the 

 new species seems to be more differentiated from all the others than 

 any one of them is from the other, and the following analysis would 

 appear to be more nearly expressive of the comparative divergence of 

 the several species : 



a. Depth of body 1:2^-25; color "plumbeous above, gradually becoming lighter 

 below; a dusky area., .at end of lateral line."""' 



h. Depth 2i-2| rltomhoides. 



bh. Depth 2^ ama^oiiicus. 



Ihh. Depth 2f (? -2^ 9 cUiatus. 



a. Depth of body 1:2*; color golden immaculate aitraius. 



'A Revision of the Edentulous Genera of Curimatinfe, etc. <^ Ann. N. Y. Acad. 

 Sci., IV, pp. 409-440, 1889. A most useful summary of our knowledge of the grouii. 



-The categories "a" and "aa" are primarily distinguished by the Eigenmaims by 

 the (a) "air bladder extending to origin of anal" contrasted with the (rtrt) "air 

 bladder extending to posterior end of anal," but as there is only a single specimen 

 of the new species, the rules of the ^Museum preclude dissection to reveal the char- 

 acter in the species now to be described. 



•The Eigenmanns describe the color only in P. rhomboides, but declare that /'. 

 amazonicus "agrees in almost all respects with P. rhomboides,'' and that the male of 

 P. eUUifits "can not be told from specimens of /'. amozonicus." Miiller and Troschel 

 call the color of P. ciliatus " metallischen schillernd." 



