32 Synopsis of the Fresh Water Fishes, 



from the snout to the margin of the operculum. Less than one 

 and a lialf of these diameters separates the eyes from each 

 other, and the same distance intervenes between tliem and the 

 muzzle. The superior nasal openings are very small, and 

 nearly equidistant between the anterior borders of the orbits 

 and the muzzle. The upper jaw is shorter than the lower. The 

 maxillary barbies reach as far back as the end of the anal, and 

 often even to the tail. The opercula are 'radiatedly striated. 

 The pectoral spine is rather slender, shorter than the first soft 

 ray, and generally denticulated along the whole of its internal 

 border, and on its external one towards the extremity. The 

 first dorsal ray is a very slender spine, which is sheathed in a 

 membrane that extends much beyond the spine itself. The 

 ventrals are nearly under the dorsal's posterior ray. The cau- 

 dal is unequally forked, and its lower lobe is larger, and has its 

 margin rounded. 



The radial formnla, inclusive of the rudimentary rays, may 

 be rendered as follows : 



D. I. 6. A. 10. C. 3. I. 5. 4. I. 10. P. I. 8. Y. 6. 



The color of the upper regions of the body is brown ; beneath 

 it is pearly. The caudal, anal, ventral, and pectoral fins are 

 minutely punctate. At the base of the dorsal there is a rather 

 broad longitudinal dusky band ; this is succeeded above by a 

 pearly band, which is about as broad, or sometimes broader 

 than the preceding; the remainder of the fin is of a lighter 

 color than the basal band, the dusky apj^earance being caused 

 by the numerous dots with which the membrane is covered. 



This species appears to be more nearly allied to the Pimele- 

 notus Sellonis, described by Messrs. Miiller and Troschel in their 

 " Horse Ichthyologicae," than to any species that has yet been 

 discovered. It diff'ers from that fish, however, in the greater 

 length of the barbies, the position of the anal, and the number 

 of its rays, and also in the proportions of its parts to each 

 other. 



