180 



BLACK-SPOTTED GREEN PIMELODUS. 



Pimelodus insignis. 



PLATE VL 

 Wapisiana Indians, Kcnnaixu. Scuomh. Draivinjs, No. 33. 



This fish is more symmetrical in form than any of 

 the Pimelodi or their allies which occur in the Col- 

 lection. The head is comparatively small, the body 

 becomes fine or slender near the tail, and that mem- 

 ber is largely developed and forked, as in a fish 

 which possesses the power of swimming and m.oving 

 with ease and rapidity. The second dorsal fin oc- 

 cupies nearly the whole space between the first 

 dorsal and the tail, and the upper pair of cirrhi 

 exceed in length any of those we have yet de- 

 scribed, reaching to the termination of the anal fin. 

 The accompanying notes regard it as a " Rio Branco 

 species, pretty abundant, of a shining green colour, 

 on the back with a brush of purple and white, and 

 on the belly tinted with rose-colour. The head 

 rather small in proportion to the size of the fish, 

 tlie eyes placed near the middle ; the gill-lids 

 smooth-edged ; the surface of all the bones smooth, 

 except the opercle, which is slightly striated. The 

 cin-hi on the upper jaw very long, nostrils double, 



