* 



XXXIX. BASn.ICHTHYS 87 



lateral band, the fine, basally radiate scales, etc., are well indicated by 

 Girard. These considerations remove any doubt regarding the pertinence 

 of the name Basilichthys to the present genus. 



140. Basilichthys archasus (Cope), 1878.-^"'- 



Gastropterus arch^us Cope. Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc, 17, 700, 1878; Eigenmann, 

 Repts. Princeton Univ. Exp. Patagonia, 3, 464, 1910. 

 Gasteropterus arch^us Fowler, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 40, 138, pi. 43, 



1904, upper figure. 

 Type-locality. — Arequipa, on the Pacific slope of Peru ; elevation, 7500 feet. 

 PisciREGiA beardsleei Abbott, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila, 342, 1899. 



Gastropterus beardsleei Eigenmann, Repts. Princeton Univ. Exp. Patagonia, 3, 



464, 1910. 

 Type-locality. — Callao, Peru. 

 ,, Atherinopsis REGIUS Steindachner, Denk. Akad. Wiss. IVien, 72, 39, 1902; Ever- 

 / ^- mann and Kendall, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 95, 45, 1917 (not Atherina regia 



/ Humboldt = Austromenidia regia). 



Range. — Andean streams and possibly coasts of Peru. 



We provisionally recognize this species as distinct from B. micro- 

 LEPiDOTUS, the scales being apparently not quite so fine. The two require 

 further comparison, however. The species may also be the same as the 

 next. It is possible that the type of Pisciregia beardsleei came from a 

 river. 



141. Basilichthys semotilus (Cope), 1874.-^'- 



Protistius semotilus Cope, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 66, 1875; Fowler, ibid., 

 40, 737, pi. 44, 1904. 

 Type-locality. — Some portion of the Peruvian Andes ; elevation said to be 12,000 

 feet. 

 Range. — Pacific slope streams of the Peruvian Andes. 



The specimen of Protistius semotilus before us comes from the 

 Andes at an elevation of 7700-9000 feet. It was collected by Dr. Eigen- 

 mann in the Rimac River at Matucana, Peru. Head, 4.0 ; depth, 4.7 ; 

 dorsal rays, I-I, 12; anal, I, 13 ; about 82 scales in the median longitudinal 

 series; snout, 3.0; eye, 5.0; gill-rakers, 2-f 12; length to caudal, 

 100 mm. 



Dr. Eigenmann, in a letter just received, notes the unexpected fact 

 that the presence of but one dorsal spine, supposed to distinguish the 

 genus Protistius from Basilichthys, which has four or five, is wholly 

 untrustworthy. 



Of Basilichthys (Protistius) semotilus, Dr. Eigenmann has 

 specimens from Arequipa and Rio Rimac. "Of these, two have no 

 dorsal spines whatever, nine have one, nine have two, one hundred have 

 three, eighty-one have four, and six have five. Where is the line be- 

 tween Protistius and Basilichthys? Of course, Cope's type of Pro- 

 tistius semotilus did not come from 12.000 feet elevation." (Eigen- 

 mann, in lit. J November, 1919.) 



