Dec. 28, 1916. Fishes of Panama — Meek and Hildebrand. 351 



Philypnus dormitator Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., XII, 



1837, 255; Poey, Memorias, II, i860, 381; Regan, Biol. Cent. Amer., 



Pisces, 1906, 5. 

 Eleotris longiceps Giinther, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1864, 151 



(Nicaragua) . 

 Philypnus dormitor Jordan & Evermann, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., XLVII, 



1898, 2194; Meek, Field Col. Mus. Pub., Zool. Ser., V, 1904, 226 



(Mexico), and Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Pub., Zool. Ser., X, 1914, 129 



(Atlantic slope of Costa Rica) . 



Head 3.2 to 4.3; depth 4.65 to 6.2; D. VI-I, 9; A. I, 9; scales 6i to 64. 



Body elongate, nearly as wide as deep anteriorly, compressed poste- 

 riorly; head long, somewhat depressed, its width at preopercular margin 

 1.55 to 2.3 in its length; the cheeks rounded; snout long, depressed, 

 2.95 to 3.6 in head; eye 4.75 to 7.8; interorbital 3.7 to 6,65; mouth large, 

 oblique; lower jaw projecting; maxillary reaching middle of eye, 2.05 to 

 2.5 in head; teeth small, pointed, all depressable except the outer ones, 

 in bands on jaws and on vomer; gill-rakers undeveloped; gill-arches with 

 small, elevated patches of pointed teeth; lateral line wanting; scales 

 small, ctenoid; origin of spinous dorsal about an eye's diameter behind 

 base of pectorals, the spines weak and rather variable in length, but 

 never reaching origin of soft dorsal when deflexed; origin of soft dorsal 

 an eye's diameter in advance of origin of anal, the margin convex; caudal 

 fin scaly at base, its margin rounded; anal fin similar to soft dorsal; 

 ventral fins inserted slightly behind base of pectorals, rather short, not 

 nearly reaching vent; pectoral fins reaching to or beyond tips of ven- 

 trals, 1.53 to 1.74 in head. 



Color brownish. Young with a dark lateral band, becoming more 

 obscure with age. Back and sides often with marbling of dark brown, 

 and sometimes with dark bars. Fins all more or less reddish in life. 

 The dorsals, caudal, and usually the pectorals and anal with rather large 

 dusky spots, so arranged as to form cross-bars. 



In the present collections there are 118 specimens, ranging from 40 

 to 359 mm. in length. It is most common in the brackish and fresh 

 waters of the lowland streams, but stragglers occur in the upper courses 

 of the Chagres and its tributaries. It usually inhabits shallow water 

 where it lies quietly among the vegetation, prestunably in wait for its 

 prey. The alimentary canal is short, and without blind sacs. It feeds 

 on crustaceans, fishes, water beetles and apparently any other aquatic 

 animal life of suitable size. In Panama it is of little importance as a 

 food fish. 



Habitat: Atlantic coast streams, from Texas south to Brazil, and 

 the West Indian Islands. 



