Fishes of the Western North Atlantic 1 6 1 



of the head are bright silvery; the lower part of the body shows a somewhat silvery 

 sheen, and there is slight evidence of a silvery lateral band on the anterior half of 

 the body. 



A specimen 70 mm long is shaped essentially like the type, which is 125 mm TL; 

 the body is proportionately about as deep in a 70-mm specimen as in the type; how- 

 ever, the gill rakers on the first arch are fewer, as 44 + 70 were counted, whereas about 

 70+140 seem to be present in the type. Furthermore, the smaller specimen retains 

 the silvery lateral band which the larger specimen has lost; it also retains the juvenile 

 dark markings along the base of the anal fin, which are missing in the larger one. 



Relationship and Variation. This species is very close to clupeoides, from which it 

 differs significantly in the number of vertebrae, the range in 17 specimens of nigra 

 being 39—41 and in 22 specimens of clupeoides 42 or 43. The anal fin may begin 

 under the middle of the dorsal base or well in advance of that point in nigra, consequently 

 it overlaps with clupeoides, in which this fin begins about under the beginning of the 

 second third of the dorsal base. Furthermore, nigra generally has fewer rays in the anal 

 fin than clupeoides, 28—32 (av. around 30) in 38 specimens, and 30—35 (av. 33) in 

 58 specimens of clupeoides. The lower average number of rays in the anal of nigra is 

 reflected in its somewhat shorter base, 3.2—3.85 in SL in 38 specimens of nigra, but 

 3.0—3.5 in 32 specimens of clupeoides. The pectoral fin of nigra extends well beyond the 

 base of the pelvic fin in smaller specimens and only slightly beyond this point in the 

 largest example, being variable with age in this respect; in clupeoides the pectoral gener- 

 ally does not extend quite so far back as the pelvic fin; nevertheless, enough overlapping 

 occurs so that the character is not diagnostic. However, the place of insertion of the 

 pelvic fin generally is diagnostic; in nigra it is nearly always inserted somewhat nearer 

 to the base of the upper pectoral rays than to the origin of the anal, whereas in clupeoides 

 its insertion generally is almost exactly equidistant between the two points mentioned. 

 Finally, the snout projects about 66 "/o of its length beyond the mandible in nigra, and 

 only about half of its length beyond the mandible in clupeoides. 



A. nigra is also closely related to A. rastralis of the Pacific coast of tropical America. 

 But in nigra the pelvic fins are inserted somewhat nearer to the pectoral base than to 

 the anal origin, whereas in rastralis they are inserted notably nearer to the anal origin 

 than to the pectoral base. The anal in nigra begins at, or more usually in advance of, 

 the vertical from the middle of the dorsal base, whereas in rastralis it generally begins 

 at or behind this point; and nigra has 39—41 vertebrae, whereas rastralis (like clupeoides^ 

 has 42 or 43. 



Habitat and Range. A. nigra is known only from the fresh or slightly brackish 

 water of Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela, and from the lower sections of its tributary 

 streams. Apparently it does not enter the salt water of the Gulf of Venezuela, where 

 clupeoides has been taken. 



Reference : 



Anchovia nigra Schultz, Proc. U. S. nat. Mus., 99, 1949: 39, fig. 4 (orig. descr.; type local. Lake Maracaibo, 

 Venezuela; type USNM 121761). 



