432 BULLETIN 189, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



angle, rest of its posterior margin slightly convex; snout short, blunt, 

 4.5 to 5.2 in head; eye 2.8 to 3.4; interorbital 2.7 to 3.7; mouth terminal, 

 quite oblique; premaxillary curved; maxillary extending below an- 

 terior margin of eye; teeth present in both jaws, pointed, mostly in 2 

 series anteriorly, reduced to a single series posteriorly; gill rakers 

 scarcely longer than pupil, 15 to 18 on lower limb of first arch; scales 

 small, cycloid, 3 complete rows between lateral band and origin of 

 first dorsal, only 1 complete row wholly included in lateral band above 

 base of anal, forming a sheath on base of anal, consisting of 2 rows 

 anteriorly, reduced to a single row somewhere on posterior half of fin ; 

 first dorsal with very slender flexible spines, its origin over that of 

 anal; second dorsal small, over posterior part of anal, the two fins 

 being coterminal; anal long, its origin about equidistant from tip of 

 snout and base of caudal, its base longer than head, 3.0 to 3.5 in length; 

 ventral fins close together, inserted notably nearer tip of snout than 

 end of anal; pectoral pointed, reaching well beyond base of ventral, 

 nearly as long as head, 4.8 to 5.5 in length. 



Color of preserved specimens yellowish above, pale below; back, 

 including snout and mandible, coarsely punctulate with brown; top 

 of head with a pale area, a dark spot generally present on each side of 

 area, and another pair of dark dots usually present on snout near 

 anterior nostrils; lateral band dark in specimens at hand, no doubt 

 silvery in life, with a black margin above, band about three-fourths 

 width of eye above base of anal, somewhat restricted on caudal pe- 

 duncle, wider again at base of caudal; ventrals pale; other fins with 

 dusky punctulations; anal with dark dots at base. 



The Mission secured 6 specimens, 24 to 67 mm. (19 to 54 mm. to 

 base of caudal) long, which were collected at Samanco, Tortuga Bay, 

 Chilca Bay, and at La Lagunilla. These were taken in part with a 

 seine, some in a dredge, and one under an electric light. The speci- 

 mens listed form the basis for the foregoing description. One paratype 

 from Paita, 52 mm. long to base of caudal, and 32 paratypes from 

 Guayaquil, Ecuador, the largest 105 mm. (82 mm. to base of caudal) 

 long, also are at hand. The body increases in depth with age and 

 growth. In 5 specimens, 49 to 82 mm. long to base of caudal, the 

 depth is contained 4.25 to 4.5 in the length, whereas in 4 specimens, 

 19 to 36 mm. long to base of caudal it is contained 4.75 to 5.4. 



The single paratype of Nectarges nepenthe Myers and Wade at 

 hand is decidedly slenderer and less strongly compressed than speci- 

 mens of similar size of E. nodurnus, the depth being contained 4.95 

 in the length. It is noticed, however, that the authors had some 

 deeper fish, as they gave a range of 4.22 to 5.22 of depth in length. 

 In A^. nepenthe, unless the paratype at hand is distorted which does 

 not seem to be the case, the ventral outline anteriorly is decidedly 

 less convex than in E. nodurnus. The margin of the opercle is not 



