Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 2767 



behind, its margins straight, becoming concave forward, its width at 

 base about equal to its length; fontanel an almost obsolete groove, its 

 posterior end not reaching base of occipital process by about the diam- 

 eter of the eye, the groove extending forward to a point about midway 

 between tip of snout and base of dorsal spine ; anterior to this point is 

 an equilateral triangle, flat, covered with smooth skin, the base, of the 

 triangle formed by the smooth, flattish interorbital area. Shields of 

 head rather coarsely granular-striate, the granulations beginning anteri- 

 orly about opposite posterior margin of eye; opercle scarcely striate; gill 

 membranes forming a moderate fold across the isthmus. Dorsal spine 

 high, about equal to pectoral spine, and but little shorter than head; no 

 axillary pore; humeral process triangular, granulated, a little more than 

 \ length of pectoral spine ; adipose fin rather long ; upper lobe of caudal 

 the longer, a little shorter than head; ventrals and anal moderate. Color 

 brownish, not very dark; belly pale, thickly speckled with brown; fins 

 more or less dusky ; maxillary barbels black ; mental barbels pale. Two 

 specimens were obtained by Dr. Gilbert at Panama. They disagree in 

 several details from Steindachner's description, and it is barely possible 

 that they belong to a different species. The head in Steindachner's types 

 is 3f to 3| in length, and the occipital process is narrower and less 

 widened anteriorly. (Jordan & Gilbert, Bull. U. S. Fish Comrn., n, 

 1882,42.) 



183. NETUMA PLATYPOGON (Giinther). 



Head 33 (4f); width of head 4f; depth 5 (6f). D. I, 7; A. IV, 

 14. Length (28286) 15| inches. Body rather elongate, the head not 

 very broad nor much depressed, a little broader than deep. Eye rather 

 large, 5 to 6 in head. Interorbital space slightly more than \ head, a 

 trifle less than width of mouth; length of snout 3^ in head. Teeth all 

 pointed; bands of vomerine teeth small, roundish, their boundaries 

 traceable by a slight depression in the young, in the adult fully confluent 

 with each other and with the palatine bands; palatine bands broad, 

 ovate, several times as large as the patches on vomer, continued back- 

 ward over the pterygoid region ; premaxillary band rather broad, 5 to 6 

 times as broad as long; maxillary barbel reaching past base of pectoral 

 in the young, not to gill opening in the adult, its base a little broader 

 and more compressed than usual ; outer mental barbels 2 in head ; inner 

 2. Dorsal shield very short, lunate, subtruncate in front", its breadth 

 more than 3 times its length on the median line ; occipital process long, 

 triangular, with straight margins, its length about If times its width in 

 front, its broad median line rather sharply keeled. In the young it is 

 proportionally shorter, little longer than broad. At the beginning of 

 this keel is the end of the long, narrow, groove-like fontanel, which 

 extends forward to a point just behind the eye, where it merges into the 

 flattish and smooth anterior part of the head. Shields of the head all 

 finely granular, the granules rarely forming distinct lines. Dorsal spine 

 long, li to 1| in head, the soft rays projecting beyond the spine; pec- 

 toral spine about as long as dorsal, sharply serrate behind, the anterior 



