436 BULLETIN 189, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



age and therefore apparently are not significant, is evident from the 

 Panama specimens. 



A juvenile, 12 mm. long, taken in a surface net off Paita, at lati- 

 tude 5°52'30" S., longitude 81°28'30'' W., though it differs considerably 

 from the adult, seems to belong to this species also. It has 9 separate 

 rays on a somewhat distinct base below the pectoral, the rays are far 

 from filamentous, as they are notably shorter than the connected rays 

 of the pectoral. The spines in the fins are not yet fully developed. 

 The soft rays, however, may be counted fairly accurately, the dorsal 

 having 12, the anal 14, and the pectoral 16. The snout is very short, 

 and projects little beyond the premaxillaries. The color is quite 

 dark, large chromatophores being present. 



Range. — Mouth of the Gulf of California to northern Peru. Pre- 

 viously recorded from only as far south as Panama Bay. 



POLYNEMUS APPROXIMANS Lay and Bennett 



Barbudo 



Polynemus approximans Lay and Bennett, 1839, p. 57, MazatMn, Mexico 

 (original description). — Regan, 1913, p. 279, Pacasmayo (fresh water), 

 Peru. — Meek and Hildebrand, 1923, p. 290, Panama Bay (synonymy; 

 description; range). 



Polydactylus approximans Abbott, 1899, p. 344, Callao, Peru. — Starks, 1906, p. 

 783, Guayaquil, Ecuador; Callao, Peru. — Evermann and Radcliffe, 1917, 

 p, 52, Tumbes, Peru (references; description; range). 



Head 3.25 to 3.5; depth 3.0 to 3.5; D. VIII-I, 12 or 13; A. Ill, 14; 

 P. 13 or 14; scales 55 to 59. 



Body quite compressed, its depth at origin of second dorsal about 

 three times as great as its thickness; caudal peduncle strongly com- 

 pressed, its depth 1.9 to 2.2 in head; head compressed; snout projecting 

 about three-fourths its length beyond mandible, 4.5 to 5.5 in head; 

 eye 3.9 to 4.5; interorbital convex, 4.0 to 4.9 in head; mouth mod- 

 erately large, nearly horizontal; maxillary broad, its posterior margin 

 slightly concave, 2.1 to 2.2 in head; teeth and preopercle as in P. 

 opercularis; gill rakers long, slender, 15 or 16 on lower and 11 or 12 on 

 upper limb of first arch; lateral line nearly straight, forked at base of 

 caudal, the branches extending on the fin; scales as in P. opercularis; 

 dorsal fins rather remote from each other, the origin of the first a little 

 behind base of pectoral, slightly nearer eye than second dorsal, the 

 third spine longest, 4.0 to 4.8 in length; second dorsal elevated 

 anteriorly, the last ray somewhat longer than the preceding one ; anal 

 similar to second dorsal, its origin under that of second dorsal, its base 

 4.2 to 5.1 in length; ventral much smaller than pectoral, inserted much 

 nearer origin of anal than tip of mandible ; pectoral variable in length 

 among specimens, sometimes failing to reach tip of ventral and some- 

 times reaching far beyond it, usually about as long as head, 3.1 to 4.2 



