158 THE AMERICAN CHARACIDAE. 
Head 3.25 to 3.5; depth 2.5 to 2.75; D. 10 or 11; A. 22 to 26; scales 5-30 . 
to 33-8 to 3.5; eye 2.25 to 2.5 in head, snout little more than one half of the eye, 
interorbital about equal to the eye, 2.5 in the head. 
Compressed; depth of head at base of occipital process 1.33 in the great- 
est depth. Preventral region rounded, sometimes with a regular median series 
of 11 seales. Predorsal region rounded with complete median series of 11 
scales. \ 
Occipital process 5 in the distance from its base to the origin of the dorsal, 
bordered by about 3 seales. Interorbitals slightly convex. Frontal fontanel 
not narrower than the parietal, equal to the parietals without the occipital 
groove. Second suborbitals leaving a narrow naked margin behind and below. 
Snout rather short; mouth large. Maxillary slightly less than the eye. 
Mandible very little longer than the eye, about 2.33 in the head. Premaxil- 
lary with five, 3- to 5-pointed teeth in the inner row, and two to four smaller, 
3- to 4-pointed teeth in the outer row. Maxillary with two or three small 
tricuspid or conical teeth. Dentary with a graduated series of four large 5- 
pointed teeth, followed by nine or ten minute tricuspid and conical teeth. 
Gill-rakers 6 + 11. 
Anal sheath of about 13 scales, the first 7 extending over the bases of the 
first 11 anal rays, the remaining 5 or 6 quite small and inserted between the 
scales above the anal, but not touching the anal rays. Caudal scaled over the 
basal one third. Pores developed on 6 to 8 scales. 
Origin of the dorsal half the length of the eye nearer the caudal than the 
snout, the penultimate ray one third of the longest, which is 3+ in the length. 
Origin of the anal on the vertical from the middle or last dorsal ray. Anal emar- 
ginate, the longest ray 1.33 to 1.5 in the length of the base. Caudal less than 
the width of the eye longer than the head. Ventrals on the vertical from the 
second scale in front of dorsal; ventrals reaching to second or third anal ray. 
Pectorals reaching a little beyond the base of ventrals. 
Humeral spot distinet, vertically elongate, paralleled in front and behind 
by a bright bar nearly as wide as the humeral spot itself; a secondary, fainter, 
dark bar behind the posterior bright bar. A black (brown in very old aleoholic 
specimens) caudal spot not extending much, if at all, onto the middle caudal 
rays; a bright ring around the entire caudal peduncle, from the caudal spot 
to last anal ray, iridescent above the narrow sharp gray lateral stripe. The 
base of the caudal lobes and upper part of the peduncle a rusty red in life. 
Dorsal somewhat dusky, with an orange tinge when alive, caudal and anal 
