;37(» THE i'i;ksii.\vati:i{ fisuks uf Europe. 



The body^ without the caudal lui, is three times as h^ns;' as hig-h, and four 

 times as long- as the head. The head is broad, with a bhmt snulj snout; 

 the lower jaw is more prominent than the u])i)er, and the cleft of the mouth 

 is nearly vertical. The eye is more than one (juarter of the length of the 

 head, and is equal to the length of the snout. The frontal interspace is nearly 

 twice as wide as the orbital diameter. The dorsal and anal fins are high in 

 males, and would reach to the caudal lin if laid back, though the dorsal 

 commences in about the middle of the body at the eleventh scale of the lateral 

 line, while in females it is somewhat farther back, though still corresponding to 

 the same scale. The first anal ray is below the fifth ray of the dorsal ; the 

 tail is compressed, and the caudal fin is truncated. 



Canestrini says that cats and small dogs which eat these fishes die poisoned. 



Dr. Gunther recognises a second Italian species, (\i/pnii<>ilon f,i><cininx, 

 known from males only, which has only eight or nine rnys in tlie anal fin. It 

 is recorded from brackish waters at Venice, and in Sardinia. But neither 

 Canestrini nor Giglioli accepts the species, which seems to us to be only a variety 

 of Cijprinodoa calarltaHus. 



Cyprinodon ibericus (Yal.). 



D. 10— 1-2, A. 9—10. Scales : lat. line :2.'5— :2J., transverse 9. 



In this species the females arc larger than the males, and of different 

 aspect. The female is about one inch and three-quarters long, and the male 

 measures less than an inch and a half. The female is ornamented on the sides 

 of the body with two to four rows of long-itudinal round black spots, which 

 become more marked and may occasionally assume the aspect of bands towards 

 the caudal region. In the anterior \x\vi of the tail there are sometimes one or two 

 ill-defined transverse bands. The dorsal and anal fins, which are nearly opposite 

 to each other, are sometimes slightly spotted with brown; the dorsal fin contains 

 ten to twelve rays. The anal fin has usually ten rays, though they are 

 occasionally reduced to nine. The length of the body is from three and a half 

 to four times the greatest height ; the head is about one-fourth the entire 

 length of the fish. 



The males are adorned with from twelve to sixteen transverse bands of a 

 bright silver colour, which are at first short and limited to the middle of the 

 side, above the base of the pectoral fin, but subsequently encircle the body. 

 They are separated from each other by broad Ijrown transverse bands. The 

 caudal fin is slightly rounded, as in the female, and is ornamented with from 

 three to five dark brown transverse baiids. The anal and dorsal fins are 

 marked with blnck s])o1s, which are arranged in longitudinal bands, and these 



