eigenmann: fresh water fishes. 271 



not known to have representatives in Patagonia. The three families may- 

 be distinguished as follows : 



a. Parietals separating the frontal from the supraoccipital ; post-temporal simple ; precaudal 

 vertebrae with autogenous parapophyses. 



b. Margin of the upper jaw formed by the premaxillaries and the maxillaries ; basis cranii 

 simple ; no adipose dorsal fin. Galaxudce. 



bb. Margin of the upper jaw formed by the premaxillaries only ; basis cranii double ; adipose 

 dorsal fin present. AplochitonidcB. 



aa. Frontals in contact with the supraoccipital ; precaudal vertebrae without well developed para- 

 pophyses ; border of mouth formed by prema.xillaries only ; dorsal and anal without spines ; 

 scales cycloid, or with erect spines ; no adipose fin ; mouth protractile ; ventral fins if present 

 with 5-7 rays. Poeciliidce. 



Family V. GALAXIID^. 



Galaxies Miiller, Abhandl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1844, 187. 

 Galaxida Giinther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. VI, 208, 1866. 



This family consists of two genera,^ Neochanna with a single species 

 inhabiting New Zealand, where it sometimes burrows in damp clay some 

 distance from water, Galaxias with 26 recognized species, of which six 

 are found in southern South America or adjacent islands, two at the Cape 

 of Good Hope, and the remainder in New Zealand, Tasmania and 

 Australia. One of them, atteunatits, is probably common to American, 

 Australian and New Zealand waters. The species range from the ocean 

 to an elevation of 6,000 feet. Some are evidently land-locked, while 

 others descend to the sea to spawn. 



The Galaxias of the Cape of Good Hope is the only type of fishes 

 south of the tropic of Capricorn in Africa that is not found north of it. 



Neochanna is distinguished from Galaxias by the absence of ventrals. 



9. GALAXIAS Cuvier. 



Galaxias Cuvier, R^gne Animal, II, 183, 181 7 [tntttaceus). 

 Mesites ]tx\yw'?,, Voy. Beagle, Fishes, 118, 1842, sp. 



Austrocobitis Ogilvie, Proc. Linn. Soc, New South Wales, XXIV, 1899, 



158, {fide Regan). 



Boulenger (Nature, Nov. 27, 1902) says concerning Galaxias: "Most 



text-books and papers discussing geographical distribution have made 



much of the range of a genus of small fishes, somewhat resembling trout, 



' Cromeria from the White Nile has been shown to be not related to the Galaxiidcr. 



