1 6 8 Memoir Sears Foundation for Marine Research 



Body quite elongate, rather strongly compressed, its depth 4.0-5.2 in SL, in- 

 creasing somewhat with age and growth. Head 3.6—4.0 in SL, its depth scarcely 

 exceeding its postorbital length. Snout projecting nearly its full length beyond man- 

 dible, 6.6—7.5 ^"^ head. Eye small, 4.2—5.0. Postorbital part of head long, 1.5— 1.7 

 in head. Maxillary long and pointed, reaching to or nearly to margin of opercle, 

 1. 1 -1. 25 in head. Mandible 1.22— 1.4. Cheek in large specimens much longer than 

 snout and eye, about equal to snout and eye in specimens about 80 mm TL; posterior 

 angle sharp, about 30°. 



Dorsal fin high anteriorly, its longest ray reaching far beyond tip of last ray if 

 deflexed, its origin generally rather more than an eye's diameter nearer to tip of snout 

 than to base of caudal. Anal 2.8-3.0 in SL, its origin generally somewhat in advance 

 of middle of dorsal base. Pelvic reaching about 66 "/o of distance to anal, inserted 

 about equidistant between origin of anal and base of pectoral. Pectoral large, reaching 

 to, and generally beyond, base of pelvic, 1.3— 1.5 in head. Axillary scale of pectoral 

 broad, reaching somewhat beyond midlength of fin, 2.4—2.9 In head. 



Color. In alcohol, pale above. Lower half of side silvery. Young sometimes with a 

 poorly defined silvery lateral band. Back with dusky punctulations. Fresh specimens 

 125 mm TL and upward (taken in Pedro Miguel and MIraflores locks. Canal Zone) 

 bright orange, this color contrasting conspicuously with black margin of caudal fin. 



Size. The largest specimen seen, about 175 mm TL or 7 inches (caudal fin dam- 

 maged) and 138 mm SL, is probably near the maximum size attained. 



Range and Habitat. The range In the Atlantic, so far as known, extends from 

 Panama to Santos, Brazil. On the Pacific side it is known from Panama Bay to Guaya- 

 quil, Ecuador. The West Indies has been included in the general range (7: 410), but 

 I have seen no specimens from that locality and have found no other record. In 

 rather extensive collecting on the Atlantic coast of Panama (during the dry seasons), 

 only a single small specimen was secured; but on the Pacific side it was exceedingly 

 abundant in Pedro Miguel and MIraflores locks when these were drained in 1937; 

 however, it was not seen elsewhere during four different seasons of collecting. The 

 water ranges from near oceanic salinity in the lower flights of MIraflores Locks (at sea 

 level) to fresh In Pedro Miguel Locks. 



Synonyms and References: 



Engraulis spinlfer Cuvier and Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., 21, 1848: 39 (orig. descr.; type local. Cayenne, 

 French Guiana); Giinther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., 7, 1868: 394 (descr., type local.); Steindachner, 

 Ichthyol. Beitr., 8, 1879: 58 (descr.; Guiana; Bahia and Cachoeira, Brazil; w. coast of Panama). 



Stokphorus spini/er^oidin and Evermann, Bull. U. S. nat. Mus., 47 (i), 1896: 448 (descr., range); Eigenmann, 

 Mem. Carneg. Mus., 5, 191 2: 449 (synon., descr., Georgetown, British Guiana); Puyo, Bull. Soc. Hist, 

 nat. Toulouse, yo, 1936: 65, 163 (diagn., habitat French Guiana); Puyo, Bull. Soc. Hist. nat. Toulouse, 

 80, 1945: 105, fig. 3 (descr., French Guiana); Puyo, Faune Emp. Fran^., 12, Poiss. Guyane Fran?., 

 1949: 156, fig. 79 (descr., French Guiana). 



Anckovia spinifera Gilbert and Starks, Mem. Cal. Acad. Sci., 4, 1904: 46, pi. 8, fig. 15 (descr. based on two 

 from Panama Bay); Meek and Hildebrand, Field Mus. Publ., Zool., J5 (l), 1923: 207 (synon., descr., 

 range); von Ihering, Rev. Industr. Anim., Anno i (3), 1930: 233 (ref., diagn.); Hildebrand, Zoologica, 

 N. Y., 24 (i), 1939: 25, 30, 36 (Panama Canal locks). 



