THE SHORE FISHES OF PERU 225 



The Mission supplied four specimens, respectively 115, 250, 260, 

 and 280 nm. (84, 194, 200, and 208 nun. to base of caudal) long, 

 which were taken at Lobos de Tierra Island, and in Sechura Bay. 

 Another specimen, about 65 mm. (54 mm. to base of caudal) long, was 

 taken in the mouth of the Tumbes River by R. E. Coker. These form 

 the basis for the foregoing description. They seem to agree in all 

 respects with specimens from Panama with which they were com- 

 pared. The additional data here supphed confirm the stabihty of the 

 specific distmctions between the Atlantic and Pacific representatives of 

 the genus, as pointed out by Meek and Hildebrand (1925, p. 375). 

 S. brevoortii consistently has two to six more gill rakers on the lower 

 limb of the first arch than S. vomer, and when specimens of equal size 

 are measured it becomes evident that ^S. brevoortii is scarcely as deep 

 as S. vomer. 



Range. — Baja CaHfornia to Northern Peru. 



Family NEMATISTIIDAE: Papagallos 



Body compressed, deep anteriorly; head moderately short, blunt, 

 compressed; mouth large, oblique; maxillary reacliing far beyond an- 

 terior margin of eye, with a supplemental bone; teeth very small, in 

 bands on jaws, also present on vomer, and sometimes on palatines; 

 gills four; lateral line wdth a long, low curve, without a keel or scutes; 

 scales quite small; dorsal fins two, each with a high membranous 

 sheath; spines of first dorsal, exclusive of the first one, produced into 

 long filaments (except in young) ; second dorsal and anal each some- 

 what elevated anteriorly, the last ray of each enlarged, the anal much 

 shorter than second dorsal; caudal forked; ventral rather large, in- 

 serted under base of pectoral; pectoral very long and falcate in large 

 examples. 



A single genus, with one species, is known. 



Genus NEMATISTIUS Gill, 1862 

 The characters of the genus are included in the family description. 

 nematistius pectoraus gui 



Peje-chino 



Nematistius pecioralis Gill, 1862, p. 259, Cape San Lucas, Baja California (orig- 

 inal description). — Jordan and Evermann, 1896, p. 895, fig. 377 (descrip- 

 tion; synonymy). — Meek and Hildebrand, 1923, p. 330, Panama Bay 

 (synonymy; description; range). — Walford. 1937, p. 55, pi. 44 in color 

 (diagnosis; distribution; angling notes). 



Head 3.6; depth 3.4; D. VIII-I, 25; A. II, 15; P. 16; scales about 130 

 (too small and irregular to numerate accurately). 



Body compressed, deepest over base of pectorals, tapering posterior- 

 ly to the rather slender caudal peduncle; dorsal profile anteriorly 



