FUNDULUS HISPANICUS. 371 



occasionally become confluent in lines. Generally the spots are limited to the 

 hinder half of the anal fin. The proportions of the body are nearly the same 

 as those of the female. The diameter of the eye is about one-third of the 

 length of the head. In the greatest length there are twenty-three to twenty- 

 four scales in a row ; and in the greatest height nine scales. In the lower 

 jaw there are fourteen to sixteen, and in the pre-maxillary bone sixteen to 

 eighteen teeth, each of which has three yellow-brown points. The abdominal 

 wall is black. The intestine, which has three marked folds, is nearly twice as 

 long as the body. 



This species lives chiefly on small mollusca. It spawns at the end of 

 April and during May. It is most abundant where the Vega canal enters 

 lake Albufera in Valencia ; and Dr. Steindachner, to whom we are indebted for 

 these observations, also found it in the canals of the plains of Muroia. The 

 species is known to the fishermen as Pececillo. It is very nearly allied to 

 Cyprinodon calaritanus, of the head of the Adriatic. 



GENUS : Fundulus (LACEPEDE) . 



Fundulus is a Cyprinodont genus, which is represented by many species in 

 Central America, the West Indies, northern part of South America, and the 

 south of the United States. In the Old World a species is found on the 

 east coast of Africa, and another in Spain. The bones of the mandible are 

 firmly united, and the upper jaw is protractile. The teeth are conical, and 

 adapted to the insectivorous habits of the fish. The dorsal fin is opposite 

 the anal. 



Fundulus hispanicus (VAL.). 



In this species the males and females differ in the size and shape of the 

 body. In both sexes the colour is the same and the back greenish, dotted 

 with golden-brown, while the belly is golden-yellow. At the base of the 

 scales, on the upper part of the head, there are brown spots, which become 

 more numerous farther back, and are arranged into four or five longitudinal 

 rows in the upper part of the body. The caudal region is also marked with 

 delicate spots, which are arranged to give the aspect of a net-work. The cheeks 

 and operculum are spotted with black. 



In the female there is a median blue-grey band, which extends along the 

 side from the orbital border to the caudal fin. The dorsal and caudal fins are 

 very faintly and partially spotted with brown. In the female the anal fin is 



