182 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 282 



lower surface of head usually immaculate; abdomen and base of 

 pelvic fin with numerous, round brownish chromatophores; a faint 

 brown bridge of pigment crosses abdomen just anterior to pelvic 

 fins; blotches of brown pigment sometimes present on pelvic fin in 

 addition to the brown chromatophores; pectoral fin rather heavily 

 mottled, some blotches present, margin of rays pale, yellowish to 

 whitish; anal fin pigmented at base and sometimes with distal and 

 medial dark brown bands, its edge whitish; basal saddle of dorsal 

 fin extending posteriorly to third ray; lower one-half of fin dusted 

 with small chromatophores, followed distally by a relatively clear 

 area, a broad dark brown distal band extending from spine to last 

 dorsal ray, and finally with white tips to dorsal spine and soft rays; 

 spine heavily pigmented, dark brown; caudal fin with two broad 

 dark crescents, one subterminal and one medial, both somewhat 

 connected across upper and lower procurrent rays and tending to 

 form a basicaudal bar; adipose fin dusky anteriorly, with a clear 

 free flap; adipose blotch, with few exceptions, extending to fin margin; 

 base of dark blotch or saddle at adipose fin not, or but weakly, 

 connected with other blotches; a rectangular dark saddle, nearly 

 confined to dorsal surface, lies between the dorsal and adipose fins; 

 anterior saddle extending to below lateral line, anteriorly to about 

 midway between the dorsal spine and head, and posteriorly to third 

 dorsal ray ; saddle encloses or tends to enclose two rather large, light 

 predorsal spots; area over air bladder dark gray. 



In life the bright colors consist mostly of yellow or shades of gold 

 that vary considerably in intensity. The light pigmented areas of 

 the body, except the abdomen, may be covered with a golden or 

 yellowish sheen. The abdomen is apparently whitish in life. 



HoLOTYPE. — The holotype is a male, 50.5 mm. in standard length. 

 It has 6 soft dorsal rays, 17+7+9 + 14=47 caudal rays, and 13 anal 

 rays. On each side there are nine pelvic rays, eight soft pectoral rays, 

 eleven preoperculomandibular pores, eight posterior serrae on the 

 pectoral spine, and two pores between the nares indicating that the 

 supraorbital and infraorbital canals are separate anteriorly. The head 

 length is stepped 2.9 times in the standard length. The distance from 

 the rear end of the adipose fin to the tip of the caudal fin is stepped 

 1.75 times in the distance from the origin of the dorsal fin to the rear 

 tip of the adipose fin. Further measurements are given in table 28. 



Variation. — Additional specimens that have become available 

 since the original description of N. munitus have permitted a compari- 

 son of populations in the three main river systems from which it is 

 known. In a few specimens from the Tombigbee River the adipose 



