154 THE CYPRINODONTS. 



inches in length. Young, half grown or less, appear darker on body and 

 fins, and clouded blotches of dark are sometimes arranged in three or four 

 series along the flank. 



The large snout serves to distinguish this species from 0. Mens ; its 

 breadth at the mouth makes the head less pointed and gives it more of 

 the appearance of being truncate. On old individuals the forehead is con- 

 cave and the snout turned upward so as to resemble that of 0. Cuvicri. 



Abundant in Lake Titicaca. 



Orestias luteus. 



Orestias luteus Val., 1S39, L'lnst, VII, 118. — 1846, C. V. Poiss, J.\Hl, 243 ; Blkr., 1860, Cyiir.. 

 487. 



Orestias Mitlen Gthr., 1866, Cat., VI, 330, in part. 



B. 5; D. 15; A. 15-lG ; P. 19-20; LI. 31-32; Ltr. 14; A^ert. 13 + 18. 



Body compressed, short, high in front of the dorsal. Head broad pos- 

 teriorly, flattened or concave on the crown, pointed at the snout, one third 

 as long as the body to the caudal, equal depth. Snout short, as long as eye, 

 pointed. Mouth small, cleft hardly reaching as low a level as the lower 

 edge of the eye. Eye as long as snout, half as wide as interorbital space, 

 two-ninths of head. First dorsal ray half way from occiput to base of 

 caudal, above third anal ray. Caudal short, broader than long, convex on 

 hinder margin. Scales large, rough, granulated, thickened on head and 

 shoulders, thirteen in the series between head and dorsal, three series on 

 cheek, three vertebral series wider. On large specimens the head is as wide 

 as long and the angles at the sides are very distinct. 



Olivaceous to yellowi.sh, with fine puncticulations of black, edges of 

 scales darker, lighter below the lateral line. Some are much clouded or 

 mottled with darker ; in cases this color extends down the cheeks to the 

 throat. Small ones have clouded spots of darker, traces of bands across the 

 fins, and a faint band of silvery, in which there is a narrow streak of dark, 

 along the flank. The scales of the young are not granulated, but are thin 

 and bear fine striations. A female in the collection, with mature eggs, is six 

 inches in length. The stomach contains small moUusca. 



Lake Titicaca. 



