207 



THE GUAVINA OF TAOARIGUA. 



Erytkrinus guavi'na^ HUMBOLDT. 



PLATE XXIX. 



A SPECIES of Erythrinus, or of a fish allied some- 

 what to it, was procured in Lake Valencia or Taca- 

 rigua, at an elevation of 220 toises above the sea. 

 It is named provisionally Eryihrmus guavina ; but 

 M, Valenciennes, in his Notes, seems to have some 

 hesitation in referring it to the old genus, thinking 

 that it may form the type of one entirely new. It 

 is a remarkable species, extremely voracious ; the 

 teeth pointed, stand in an arrangement of one 

 large, with a smaller on each side, or to appear- 

 ance, in the sketch, of a tricuspid tooth ; under the 

 throat there is a loose fleshy dependent membrane, 

 of which the use is not hinted at ; the scales large, 

 round, and loosely imbricated, the centre and mar- 

 gins olive. It is about twenty inches in length. The 

 colours are said to be a silvery yellow, the fins 

 green, and in the Plate these are represented as 

 barred narrowly and transversely with a darker 

 shade. It is said to be the prey of a large Saurian 

 reptile called, by the native inhabitants, Bava. We 

 have thought it would assist researches by giving a 

 figure from Humboldt's representation of this curious 

 fish, and would also invite attention to the large 

 Saurian. 



