700 Bulletin 47 ', United States National Museum. 



small ; in the male modified into an intromittent organ and inserted in 

 advance of middle of dorsal, its origin about halfway between snout 

 and base of caudal, the fourth ray longest and thickest, \\ in head ; in 

 females the origin is under twelfth ray of dorsal, and about midway 

 between tip of caudal and tip of snout. Caudal rounded, about equal- 

 ing length of head in females, i greater than head in males. Ventrals 

 inserted behind vertical from origin of dorsal, reaching beyond vent in 

 females; in males the first and second rays are thickened, the second 

 filamentous, \\ in head. Pectoral long, longer in males, where it reaches 

 beyond middle of veiitrals, and is very slightly less than length of head. 

 Scales in very regular rows, 26 in a longitudinal series, 9 or 10 in an 

 oblique series forward from vent to middle of back; humeral scale not 

 enlarged. Intestinal canal about 2i times total length of fish (with cau- 

 dal). Color, male light olive green, marbled with darker and spotted 

 with pale green; each scale on back and sides with an oblong, blackish 

 spot, these forming continuous lengthwise stripes; head dusky above; 

 opercle and cheek minutely speckled; an orange stripe above opercle; 

 lower parts of head mostly orange; some orange tinge on breast. Dorsal 

 translucent, its basal half with about 5 series of linear, blackish, hori- 

 zontal spots, forming interrupted lines; above middle of fin, on membrane 

 between each pair of rays, is a large, roundish dark spot ; between these 

 spots and above them are many small, round bronze spots; membrane 

 between second and third rays red at base ; all of these markings irregu- 

 lar on first and last rays ; caudal narrowly margined all around with 

 black, its base lavender, its lower parts mostly whitish, the middle 

 orange, the upper parts pale, with round orange spots ; other fins pale 

 orange. Females have dorsal and caudal olivaceous, with' indistinct, 

 narrow cross bands, formed by series of small dark spots on the rays. 

 Length 2| to 3 inches. South Carolina to northern Mexico, in lowland 

 swamps and streams ; very abundant. The male a fish of remarkable 

 beauty. It often enters the sea, the gorgeous dorsal fin of the male 

 being conspicuous in the shallow water about the wharves at Pensacola. 

 (latus, broad; pinna, fin.) 



Mollienesia lalipinna, LE SUEUR, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., u, 1821, 3, New Orleans; male; 



GtiNTHER, Cat., 348, 1866; JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 347, 1883. 



Pcecilia multiUneala, LE SUEUR, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., n, 1821, 4, New Orleans; female. 

 Poecilia lineolata^ GIRARD, U. S. Mex. Bound. Surv., Ichth., 70, pi. 35, figs. 9 to 11, 1859, Rio 



Grande, near Brownsville, Texas. (Coll. Van Vliet and Clark.) 

 Limia poeciloides, GIRARD, U. S. Mex. Bound. Surv., Ichth., 70, pi. 38, figs. 8 to 14, 1859, Indian- 



ola, Texas. (Coll. Clark.) 



Limia matamorensis, GIRARD, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1859, 116, Matamoras. 

 Mollienesia latipinna, JORDAN & GILBERT, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1882, 258; JORDAN & GILBERT, 



Synopsis, 347, 1883. 

 Mollienesia lineolata, JORDAN & GILBERT, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1882, 258. 



1041. MOLLIENISIA PETENENSIS, GUnther. 



Head 4 to 4; depth 3; eye 3 in head. D. 15; A. 8 or 9; B. 6; scales 

 30-10 ; vertebrae 17 -f 13. Eye equal to length of snout, rather less than 

 half of width of interorbital space. Length of dorsal fin of male half dis- 

 tance between eye and root of caudal, in the female f ; caudal rounded, 



