216 On new Fishes in the British Museum, 



below ; mouth oblique, jaws equal ; maxillary equal to 

 snout and one-third or one-lialf of the eye ; premaxillary 

 with three teeth in the outer series, four in the inner, about 

 eleven teeth on the maxillary ; mandible with four large teetli 

 in front and minute ones on the side. 



Scales regularly arranged, no interpolated scales over the 

 anal ; a basal sheath of scales on anal and caudal, these fius 

 otherwise naked; few or no radial striae. 



Origin of dorsal fin about equidistant from snout and 

 middle caudal rays ; highest dorsal ray about 2 in the length ; 

 in adult male the outer and middle caudal rays are produced 

 in filaments about half as long as the body. Anal long, 

 slightly emarginate in front, its origin equidistant from base 

 of the middle caudal rays and the middle or end of the eye; 

 ventrals reaching beyond origin of the anal ; pectorals to or 

 beyond origin of anal. 



(In formalin) a broad black band from the eye down and 

 to the lower half of the caudal, margined above by a light 

 line, fading out downwards. Upper surface coppery in 

 life (?) ; dorsal filament, outer caudal filament, middle caudal 

 rays and filament, and submarginal anal band black ; margin 

 of anal hyaline. The dark lateral band most intense in 

 Novita specimens. 



Knodus meridce, sp. n. 



A specimen 53 mm. Merida, Venezuela. C. M. Briceno. 

 British Museum. 



Head 4 ; depth 4 ; D. 10 ; A. 16. Scales 4—33—2. Eye 

 3"25 in the head, about "8 in snout, 1*25 in the interorbital. 



Basal half of caudal scaled. Slender, di)rsal and ventral 

 profiles scarcely arched. Snout short, blunt. Second sub- 

 orbital covering the entire cheek, without a naked angle 

 below its anterior corner. Maxillary 2 in snout and eye. 

 Occipital process about one-eighth the distance of its base 

 from the dorsal. Five teeth in outer row of premaxillary, 

 the second retreated from the line ; four teeth in inner series 

 of premaxillary ; maxillary with 3 broad multicuspid teeth; 

 mandible with 8 graduated teeth. Two scales between lateral 

 line and anal; each scale of sides with numerous radii; 

 bases of anal and caudal witli large scales. First dorsal a 

 little nearer to snout than to the base of middle caudal rays, 

 the highest ray a little more than 5 in the length. Upper 

 caudal lobe nearly 5 in the length, the lower slightly shorter. 

 Anal scarcely emarginate ; ventrals reaching to anal; 

 pectorals not quite to ventrals. 



