86 THE CYPRINODONTS. 



Gambusia punctata. 



Plate IV. Fig. 4, teeth; Plate Vlll. Fig. 6, male. 



Gambusia punctata Poey, 1855, Mem., I, 384, 390, pi. 32, fig. 5-9,-186], Mem., II, 383,-1868, 

 Repert., II, 410,-1876, An. Soc. Esp., V, 140; Blk., 1860, Cypr., 485,— 1S63, All. Ichth., Ill, 140; 

 Gtli., 1866, Cat, VI, 334,-1880, Intl., 616, lig. 280; Jor., 1878, B. U. S. G. Sur., IV, 411,-1887, P. 

 U. S. Mus., IX, 34, 564. 



B. 6 ; D. 10-11 (rarely 9) ; A. 11 ; V. 6 ; P. 15 ; LI. 30-32 ; Ltr. 9 ; 

 Vert. 14 + 20. 



Stout, much compressed behind the head ; caudal pedicel deep. Head 

 depressed, flat on the crown, about one fourth of the total length, less than 

 the depth of the body. Snout broad, not deep, blunt, rounded, little longer 

 than the eye. Mouth large, wide, slightly oblique — seen from the side ; 

 mandibles comparatively long, firmly united ; interraaxillaries broad, protrac- 

 tile. Teeth in bands, conical, hooked, outer series larger. Eye large, 

 shorter than snout, four sevenths of interorbital space, three tenths of head. 

 Dorsal origin midway from eye to end of caudal, nearly above middle of 

 anal. Anal originating close to middle of total length, on large specimens 

 slightly concave on the outer margin. Caudal broad, three fourths as long 

 as head, median rays longer, hind border convex in upper half, concave in 

 lower, or concave in both. Males have the dorsal farther forward, while the 

 anal is so much advanced as to lie below the end of the pectoral. The anal 

 of this sex is small and has the second to the fourth rays elongate and other- 

 wise modified ; its length is less than one fourth of the total. Ventrals 

 small in both sexes, below the hind half of the pectorals. Pectorals large, 

 broad, rounded. Scales wide, short. Extended the intestine reaches the 

 base of the tail. A female of medium size contained fifteen embryos. 



Back light olivaceous, more or less greenish, with a darkish streak along 

 the middle of the side, with a dark vertebral line, and with two to five series 

 of dots, vittJB, along the flank behind the pectorals, formed by small spots 

 on the base of the scale. Dorsal and caudal with transverse series of dots, 

 more or less faint in many cases. Occiput dark, top of snout light. Black 

 blotches are rare. Occasionally darker edges of scales form a network. 

 Belly and lower half of head light to silvery. Usually the sides of the 

 belly show something of the blackness of the inner lining, but not in 

 blotches as on G. IIolbrooHi and G. puncticulaia. 



Females reach a length of two and three fourths inches, males about one 

 and one half. In the small streams around Havana, Cuba, this species is 

 excessively abundant. 



