without any basal web." 



These external identification characters corre- 

 spond exactly with the specimen. 



Hemidactylium scutatum Tschudi has been 

 taken repeatedly at Silver Lake Park, in the hills 

 near the lake, usually in or under decaying logs. At 

 first glance it resembles a pale specimen of Plethodon 

 cinereus erythronotus, but the color is more nearly 

 yellowish-brown. The undersides decide the ques- 

 tion, being pure milky-white with small dark dots in 

 Hemidactylium but lead colored, or pinkish-gray in 

 Plethodon. The costal grooves are also very much 

 more pronounced than in the other genus. 



Spelerpes ruber Daud., one specimen (young), 

 found in a brook near Silver Lake, is too well known 

 to require description here. I only mention it on ac- 

 count of its apparent rarity in the district. 



Richard F. Decreet, 



New York, N. Y. 



OX ALFARO CULTRATUM. 



Alfaro cultratum is one of the most interesting 

 of the killifishes, and is abundant in the swift streams 

 of certain portions of the lower Caribbean slopes of 

 Costa Rica. Its most curious feature is a double row 

 of scales that extend below the ventral body line, 

 forming a thin edge, which is continuous with the keel 

 formed by the flattened anterior portion of the body, 



This is an evident adaptation for life in the very 

 fast water which the fish inhabits, although the species 

 does very well in an ordinary aquarium. It is one of 

 the live bearing forms, and on one occasion a captive 

 female approximately 70 mm. in length gave birth to 

 65 young, and, about three months later, to 75. The 

 young average about 7 mm. in length, and the scales 

 of the keel are plainly visible when the fish is held in 

 a proper light. Most live-bearing Poecilliidae breed 

 the year round in aquaria, and it seems probable that, 

 where conditions are favorable, they do so also in the 

 wild state. 



Lee S. Crandall, 

 New York, N. Y. 



Edited by J. T. Nichols, American Museum of Natural History 

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