288 CHARACINID^:. 



4. Corynopoma searlesii. 



Nematopoma searlesii, Gill, I. c. p. 429, 



D, 10. A. 26. V. 6. P. 10. 



Operculum with a triangular spiniforra dilatation which is pro- 

 duced into a very long slender setaceous filament with a compressed 

 expansion at the extremity, extending to behind the dorsal. The 

 dorsal fin commences above the fifth or sixth anal ray, and when 

 bent back, extends beyond the root of the caudal ; it is five times as 

 high as long ; anal fin increasing in height posteriorly. The pec- 

 torals extend as far backwards as the ventrals, beyond the origin of 

 the anal. Coloration as in the preceding species. {Gill.) 



Trinidad. 



Second Group. CURIMATINA. 



Characinidae with an imperfect dentition and with a short 

 dorsal fin. 



South America. 



6. CURIMATUS. 



Curimatus, sp., Cuv. Regue Anim. 



Anodus, Spix, Pii^c. Bras. p. 60 ; Midi. Sf Trosch. Hor. Ichth. iii. p. 6. 



Dorsal fin placed nearly in the middle of the body ; adipose fin 

 present ; anal rather short or of moderate length ; ventrals below 

 the dorsal. Body oblong or elevated, with the belly rounded or 

 flattened before the ventrals. Cleft of the mouth transverse, lips 

 none, margins of the jaws trenchant. No teeth whatever. Intestinal 

 tract very long and narrow. 



South America. 



The species may be subdivided thus : — • 



* Scales of moderate size ; L. lat. less than 70 : Curimatus, p. 288. 

 ** Scales small; L. lat. more than 80: Anodm, p. 293. 



* Scales of moderate size ; L. lat. less than 70. 



1. Curimatus spUurus. 



D. 12. A. 9 (without fii-st rudimentary ray). V. 9. L. lat. 33. 

 L. transv. 6/6. 



The length of the head is contained thrice and two-thirds or four 

 times in the total (without caudal). The upper profile is a little 

 concave above the occiput. Snout scarcely shorter than the eye, the 

 diameter of which is somewhat less than the width of the interorbital 

 space ; eye with a narrow anterior and posterior lid. Caudal lobes 

 longer than the head. The origin of the dorsal fin is considerably 

 nearer to the extremity of the snout than to the base of the caudal. 

 The pectoral terminates at some distance from the ventral, its length 



