188 PLATYSTOMA VAILLANTII. 



of the Rio Branco ; the hody, without scales, is of 

 a lead colour, spotted and striped with black ; the 

 belly is white, with a long black bar. The body is 

 much elongated, the cranium hard and bony, gill- 

 lid smooth-edged, the opercle striated ; snout flat ; 

 upper jaw produced an inch, the cirrhi there very 

 long. Eyes flat, oval, dull blue ; nostrils double, 

 situate behind each other near the snout; lateral 

 line bent from the top of the opercle, reaching the 

 middle of the body under the dorsal fin, and pro- 

 ceeding straight to the middle of the tail. The teeth, 

 a series thickly set in both jaws, of a fine needle- 

 shaped form. The intestines form one flexure ; the 

 air-bag is single, flat, and heart-shaped. This spe- 

 cies also takes the hook readily, and small fish are 

 found in the stomach." 



D. 7— P. 1/1 0_V. 6— A. 12_C. 18— Vert. 45. 



Among the Platystoma described by Valenciennes 

 there is one placed among his section having 15, 16, 

 or 17 rays to the gill-covers, which was received 

 from Guiana, — the P. Vaillantii^ Yalenc. It is 

 remarkable for the excessive length of its cirrhi, of 

 which the maxillary ones, in young specimens, ex- 

 ceed the end of the caudal fin, although it even has 

 the points of its lobes prolonged into long filaments. 

 In one specimen the filament of the superior lobe is 

 double that of the rest of the fin. When fresh, the 

 colours are said to be lead colour and silvery, while 

 in spirits they appear of a dull fawn colour. They 

 have been observed from from six inches to two feet 



