96 BULLETIN 189, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



is available for comparison, the anal has 68 rays, and its base is con- 

 tained 1.65 times in the length to base of caudal; the dorsal has 

 only 11 rays and is situated over middle of anal; 31 ventral scutes 

 are present, the posterior ones with serrate margins; head 5.4 in 

 length; mandible 2.25 in head. 



Range. — Northern Peru to Panama. 



Family ENGRAULIDAE: Anchovies 



Body elongate, variable in depth, more or less compressed; chest 

 and abdomen compressed, often with a rather sharp edge, but not 

 serrate in American species; snout pointed, piglike, generally project- 

 ing far beyond tip of mandible ; eye generally in anterior half of head ; 

 mouth very large, usually horizontal; premaxillaries not protractile; 

 maxillary long, slender, usually reaching far beyond posterior rim of 

 eye; teeth typically minute, somewhat enlarged and uneven in the 

 jaws in some genera, present also on vomer, palatines, pterygoids, and 

 hyoids; gill membranes generally separate, connected by a membrane 

 in Cetengraulis; branchiostegals slender, rather numerous; pseudo- 

 branchiae present; gill rakers typically rather long and slender, often 

 numerous, denticulate; no lateral line; scales thin, usually lost in 

 preserved material, with smooth or indented membranous borders; 

 an enlarged scale present in axil of pectoral and ventral; dorsal fin 

 single, more or less over middle of body; caudal forked; anal usually 

 longer than dorsal. 



Three genera come within the scope of the present work.** 



KEY TO THE GENERA 



a. Gill covers separate, not connected by a membrane; body moderately to 



quite elongate, the depth usually being contained 4 or more times in the 



length. 



h. Body thick, not greatly compressed; anal fin smaU, with 20 to 24 rays, its 



origin far behind base of dorsal (in Peruvian species) ; gill rakers numerous, 



about 26 to 48 on lower limb of first arch; vertebrae about 46 to 49 (in 



Peruvian species) Engraulis (p. 97) 



hb. Body thinner, more strongly compressed; origin of anal generally under 

 base of dorsal, occasionally slightly behind it; gill rakers generally fewer 

 than 30 on lower limb of first arch; vertebrae about 40 to 42 (in Peruvian 



species) Anchoa (p. 98) 



aa. Gill covers broadly united by a thin membrane across isthmus, easily torn, 

 narrow in young; gill rakers long, slender, increasing from about 25 in small 

 specimens to 60 or more in large ones on lower limb of first arch; body deep 

 in adults, about 3.3 to 3.6 in length Cetengraulis (p. 104) 



«» In the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia there is a specimen labeled "Engraulis tapirulus 

 Cope," doubtfully from Pacasmayo Bay, Peru. This specimen, as stated by me (1943a, p. 147), probably 

 is Lycengraulis poeyi. I hesitate to list this species as definitely belonging to the Peruvian faima, because 

 of the doubtful place of collection of the specimen mentioned, and because recent collectors have not found 

 it in Peru. If taken it may be recognized from the enlarged teeth, especially those in the lower jaw, wherein 

 the species of Lycengraulis differ from all other anchovies. 



