THE CYPRINODONTS. 21 



Cyprinodon riverendi Jor., 1887, R- U. S. f . Com., 835. 



Ct/primdoa variegatits ricerendi Jor., 1S87, P. U. S. Mus., IX, 564. 



Ci/prinodon felicianus Jor., 1887, P. U. S. Mus., IX, 564. 



Var. bovinus. 



Ci/primdon bovinus B. & G., 1854, P. Pbil. Ac, 1853, p. 389 ; Grd., 1859, Mex. Bd. Tisb, 67, pi. 37, 

 f. 12-18; Blk., 1860, Cypr., 484; Gtli., 1866, Cat., VI, 307; Jor. & C, 1877, B. Buf. Soc, 111,141; 

 Jor., 1878, B. U. S. G. Sur., IV, 432, — 1887, R. U. S. F. Com., 835 ; Jor. & G., 1882, B. 16 U. S. Mus., 

 890 ; G. & B., 1883, P. U. S. Mus., V, 239. 



B. 6 (frequently 5) ; D. 11-12 (10-13) ; A. 11-10 (10-12) ; V. 7 ; P. IB- 

 IS ; LI. 27-29 ; Ltr. 12 ; Vert. 12+12 to 13. 



Body and head compressed, deep. Depth of large specimens one half to 

 two fifths of the length to the base of the caudal ; back strongly arched 

 from snout to end of caudal, highest in front of dorsal. Head short, as deep 

 as long, two thirds as wide as long, one third of the length to the caudal 

 base ; crown flattened. Snout short, blunt, as long as eye, nearly one fourth 

 of head. Mouth medium, oblique, slightly directed upward ; lower jaws 

 longer, firmly united ; upper short, protractile ; chin steep. Eye large, as 

 long as snout, three tenths to one fourth of head, two thirds of forehead. 

 Teeth in a single row on each jaw, chisel-shaped, tricuspid. In young stages 

 the cusps are sharp ; with age they are ground down or truncated. Dorsal 

 large, originating nearly midway from snout to base of caudal, anterior ray 

 strong. Anal much smaller than the dorsal and originating below its hinder 

 half, base and tip reaching a little farther backward than on that fin. Ven- 

 trals small, hardly reaching the anal. Pectorals larger, reaching behind a 

 vertical from the bases of the ventrals or from the oi'igin of the dorsal. 

 Caudal deep as long, shorter than the head, truncate. Scales large, wide, 

 short ; humeral scale larger. Some individuals have five branchiostegal rays 

 on one side ; rarely five are found on each side. Pharyngeal teeth com- 

 pressed, with a blade-like shoulder, above which there is usually a hook. 

 Intestine three to three and a half times as long as the fish. The young 

 are more elongate and less compressed than the old. 



Grayish or silvery in ground color, with transverse blotches of brown- 

 ish on the back and others more or less confluent with them and one 

 another on the flanks. Vertical bars of brown on the flanks more or less 

 y-shaped, wedge-shaped, broken or irregular ; varying from narrow and 

 numerous to wide and few. Commonly there are six to eight of the verti- 

 cal bars, about as wide as the interspaces and alternating with the dorsal 

 blotches. A vertical bar of darker color crosses the bases of the caudal rays, 

 and frequently the caudal is tipped with dark. A large white edged black 



