Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 1481 



Subgenus PARALONCHURUS. 

 1867. PARALONCHURUS PETERSI, Bocourt. 



Head 3; depth 4; eye 8^ in head; snout 3f. D. X-I, 30; A. II, 9; scales 

 8-50-16. Body long and low; head slender, flattish, somewhat spongy 

 above, with protuberant snout; interorbital area 3^; mouth horizontal* 

 maxillary 2$ in head; teeth in villiform bands; upper jaw with a conspic- 

 uous outer row of larger ones ; chin with 5 pores, a multifid barbel at the 

 syinphysis; rami with a row of slender barbels along inner edge; dorsal 

 low, highest behind ; soft dorsal scaled at base only ; caudal pointed, as long 

 as head; anal spines small ; second spine as long as snout; pectorals very 

 large, 2;( in body ; scales rather large, cycloid. Color light olive with faint 

 stripes on rows of scales; pectoral dusky; other fins plain. Coast of Cen- 

 tral America, rare at Panama. Here described from the type. (Named for 

 Dr. Wilhelm Peters, late ichthyologist at the museum of Berlin, a versatile 

 writer on systematic zoology.) 



Paralonchurus pctersi, BOCOURT, Nouv. Archives du Museum, iv, 1869, 22, La Union, San 

 Salvador (Coll. F. Bocourt); JORDAN & EIOENMANN, I. c., 433, 1889. 



593. LONCHIURUS, Bloch. 



Lnnchiurus, BLOCK, Ichthyologia, 1793 (barbatug=lanceolatu8). 

 Lonchurug, BLOCK & SCHNEIDER, corrected spelling. 



Body long and low, the second dorsal with 35 to 40 rays. No pseudo- 

 branchiic- ; chin with two short barbels, none on sides of mandible. Air 

 bladder peculiar in form,* a short heart-shaped body with 5 horns. Verte- 

 braj 10 -f- 19 =29. Otherwise essentially as in Paralonchurus, from which 

 the long dorsal and the absence of barbels distinguish it. A singular 

 genus, with 1 known species. (Ao;^??, lance; ovpd, tail,) 



1868. LONCH1UBUS LAJJCEOLATUS (Bloch). 



Depth 4 in length. D. X or XI-I, 38 to 40 ; A. II, 7 or 8 ; lateral line 60 to 

 70. Body long and low, the profile straightish, depressed over the eyes ; 



* The air bladder is thus described by Dr. Giinther (Cat. Fishes, II, 317) : 

 " The form of the air bladder is very peculiar. "We may distinguish in it a body and 5 

 horns. The body is short, heart-shaped, and occupies a place beneath the third and fourth 

 vertebrae only ; its point is continued into the middle horn, which in a fish 9 inches long 

 has a diameter of only a line near its origin. It runs along the vertebral line of the 

 abdominal cavity, and, tapering to a fine point, terminates at the posterior extremity of 

 the abdomen. Ea<-h of the anterior parts of the heart-shaped body is divided into 2 horns, 

 the posterior of which is turned backward, long, and forms a tube similar to the median, 

 but with the lumen only $ as wide. It runs along the side of the latter, in a parallel 

 direction, and terminates in a fine point before reaching the extremity of the abdomen. 

 The anterior horn is very short, directed forward and outward, and nearly as thick as the 

 median. 



" The body of the air bladder is attached to the fourth vertebra and the nearest parts 

 of the abdomen by such a firm and dense cellular tissue, of a white color, that it can 

 scarcely be distinguished from the membrane of the air bladder. At some distance from 

 the vertebra it becomes gradually thinner, and is lost in the parietal part of the peritoneum. 

 The membrane of the air bladder itself is firm, thick, and of a shining white color, except 

 in the anterior notch of the heart-shaped body, opposite a process arising from the third 

 vertebra. This process forms an arched plate, open at its posterior side, which is directed 

 toward the notch of the air bladder; at the side which is directed toward the belly it is 

 covered with a thick white membrane, forming a sort of cupola, but with the hinder side 

 open. This cupola fits exactly into the notch of the air bladder, which is here closed by 

 a very thin membrane only. There is a string round the cupola from one anterior horn to 

 the other to fasten the air bladder to the cupola." 

 3030 - 16 



