THE CYPRINODONTS. 147 



body compressed ; head angular Page 



scales granulate, in part ; 



snout large ; mouth wide 

 snout narrow ; mouth small 

 scales smooth, in part ; back high 

 Short ; belly covered with scales ; 



body much compressed l7ic<B 155 



Orestias Cuvieri. 



Plate III. Fig. 11, teeth. 



Orestias Cuvieri Val., 1839, L'last., VII, 118, — lSi6, C. V. Poiss., XVIII, 225, pi. 532 ; Blkr., 

 1860, lud. Cjpr., 487, — 1863, Atl. lobth., Ill, liO ; Gthr., 1866, Cat., VI, 328 ; Garni., 1876, Bull. M. C. 

 Z., Ill, 276; Eig., 1891, P. U. S. Mus., XIV, 65. 



Orestias Humboldtii Val., 1839, L'lust, VII, 118,-1846, C. V. Poiss., XVIII, 233, pi. 534; Blkr., 

 1860, Cypr., 487- 



Orestias PentlaniU Cast., 1855, Exp. Am. Sud, Poiss., 52, pi. 27, fig. 2. 



B. 5; D. 15-16; A. 17-18; P. 18; LI. 41-43; Ltr. 13-16; Vert. 

 14 + 20. 



Body elongate, slightly compressed ; caudal pedicel rather slender, broad- 

 ening at base of the fin. Head large, one third of length, without caudal ; 

 crown broad, depressed and concave at occiput and snout, flattened in the 

 middle. Snout large, broad, blunt, rounded, nearly twice as long as eye ; 

 chin vertical. Mouth wide, oblique, cleft reaching below the lower level of 

 the orbit. Teeth strong, in band.s, numerous, hooked, subconical. Eye 

 medium, about half the length of the snout, one sixth of that of the head, 

 and three fifths of the width of the interorbital space. Scales of head and 

 shoulders granular; a series of about twenty large vertebral scales, in front 

 of the dorsal ; scales of the lateral line larger than those on each side of it ; 

 belly scaleless. On young individuals all the scales are flat, thin, and con- 

 centrically striate ; the granulation and thickening appear first at the head 

 then gradually extend farther back. Dorsal origin near half way from head 

 to caudal ; fin low, rounded on upper margin, third ray above origin of anal. 

 Anal extending a little farther back than dorsal, in base and fin. Pectorals 

 about the size of anal, reaching half way to the vent. Caudal broad, hinder 

 margin concave, more deeply indented in the young. Specimen described 

 ten and a half inches in length. 



Brownish on back, lighter on flanks, centres of scales lighter ; white 

 beneath ; fins clouded with browni.sh ; young with blotches and spots on the 

 upper surface, and several series of small spots across dorsal and caudal. 



