THE CYPRINODONTS. 55 



indications of transverse bands on the caudal are a little more distinct. 

 Before modified by use the small teeth in the bands on the jaws appear to 

 be subtricuspid. The lateral cusps, being less robust than the central, do not 

 persist, as in P. vitfata, but in the wearing process assume irregular shapes 

 as in Plate V. Fig. 4, or finally such as are shown in Fig. 7 of the same 

 plate. The description of the pharyngeal teeth by Duvernoy is given below ; 

 whether they are equally movable in adults may be determined better from 

 fresh specimens. 



"B. 6; D. 7; A. 7; V. 6; P. 12; C. 20. 



" P. corpore compresso, capite squamato, supra depresso, lato, ore angusto, linea 

 lateral! dorso vicina, pinna caudae lata, bifida, ano capiti viciniore. 



" Corpus breve, caput trunco angustius, nudum, obtusum, argenteum, opercula 

 Isevia, nares simplices ante oculos, apertura brancliialis labium superius angustius, 

 dentium setaceorum series unica ampla, venter ab embryonibus turgidus, pinn^ 

 obtusse, radiatje, squamae rotundatae, integrae. 



" Habitat in aquis dulcibus Suriuami bipoUicaris." 



The above is the original description of Blocb and Schneider. Under 

 Pcedlia Schneideri Valenciennes has the following : — 



" Est-ce bien une pcecilie que le poisson d^crit et figur^ par Blocb dans I'^dition 

 de Schneider sous le nom de Poecilia vivipara ? Je n'en suis pas certain ; mais ne 

 sacbant oil le placer mieux, je le maintiens provisoirement a la suite du genre. II a le 

 corps comprim^ ; la tete couverte d'^cailles, plate et large en dessus ; la bouche f^troite ; 

 une rang^e de dents petites et fines comme des soies ; la caudale est fourcbue. B. 6 ; 

 D. 7 ; A. 7 ; Y. 6 ; P. 12; C. 20. Le nombre des rayons branchiosteges et meme 

 ceux de la dorsale et de I'anale ne sont pas de nos pcecilies. Blocb le colore de jau- 

 natre, avec cinq larges bandes transversales brunes. C'est un poisson long de deux 

 pouces, qui vit dans les eaux douces de Surinam." 



The peculiar coloration and the forked tail given this species by Bloch 

 in his description and figure would have made it unrecognizable without the 

 aid of his type. Happily this was preserved in the Berlin Museum. In 

 1864 Peters examined it carefully, compared it with the original figure, and 

 published the following remarks : — 



" Ich bemerke hierbei, dass das Originalexemplar von Bloch (No. 3465 unserer 

 Sammlung) ganz vortrefflich zu der Abbildung (Systema Ichthyol. Taf. 86) passt, 

 ■welche das Tbier von der Bauchseite gesehen darstellt, indem es dieselbe Grijsse bat 

 und auch der mit Jungen angefullte Bauch noch in derselben "Weise klafft ; auf dem 

 Boden des Glases liegen Junge in verschiedencr Entwickelung, die eben da abgebildet 



