Jordan and Evcrmann. Fishes of North America. 1523 



spot below lateral line ; a black spot also at base of caudal fin, mostly 

 above lateral line; breast and lower surface of head bronzed or blackish 

 toward maturity; dorsal at its spinous part dusky and immaculate, but 

 in its soft portion diversified by dusky areas in 3 or 5 rows, separated by 

 narrow light interspaces; anal more nearly uniform, but still has a few 

 light spots; caudal reticulated by bright interspaces on a dusky ground; 

 pectorals spotless; ventrals dusky. Lake Nicaragua. (Gill & Brans- 

 ford.) Fin rays not described. The species is said to be closely related 

 to Hcros affinis, which has D. XVI, 8 or 9 ; A. VIII or IX, 8 or 7. (rostratiis, 

 long-nosed.) 

 Heros rostra tim. GILT. & BRANSFORD, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sc.i. Pliila. 1877, 181, Lake Nicaragua. 



1916. CICHLASOMA MELAXOPOGON (Steindachner). 



Head 31 ; depth 2*. D. XVI or XVII, 12; A. VI, 9; scales 6f-30-13; eye 



4 in head; pectoral 4 in body. Fold of lower lip interrupted in middle; 



5 or 6 series of scales on cheek. Color reddish brown, with 4 black 

 blotches along base of dorsal ; another row of black blotches along side 

 behind pectoral reaching base of caudal; lower fins with spots of mother- 

 of-pearl, which also extend on the black blotches ; 2 black cross streaks on 

 forehead. Length 4^ inches. Central America. (Steindachner.) 



black; TtosyGav, beard.) 



Heros melanopogon, STEINDACHNER, Chromiden Mejicos, 16, in Denkschr. Akad. Wiss. 

 Wien, xxin, 1864, 72, taf. 1, fig. 3, Central America; GiJNTHER, Fish. Centr. Am., 450, 

 1869. 



1917. C1CHLASOHA MELANITRUM (Giinther). 



Head nearly 3; depth 2* to 2|. D. XVII, 11; A. VI, 8; scales 5-33-13. 

 Head higher than long; a fleshy hump on nape in large individuals; 

 snout compressed, rather high, of moderate extent, its length \ or \ that 

 of head. Preorbital wider than orbit; cleft of mouth oblique, lower jaw 

 scarcely prominent; maxillary not extending to vertical from front mar- 

 gin of eye; jaws protractile, armed with a broad band of villiform teeth, 

 those of outer series the larger, and brown at tip. Eye as distant from 

 extremity of snout as from that of operculuin. Scales on cheek con- 

 siderably smaller than those on opercles. Vertical fins scaleless. Dorsal 

 spines of moderate strength and length, the length of twelfth \ that of 

 head; soft dorsal and anal extending somewhat beyond root of caudal; 

 free portion of tail nearly as long as high; anal spines strong and long; 

 caudal rounded, total length; pectoral shorter than head, extending 

 nearly to origin ol anal fin; distance of vent from root of ventral f 

 length of head. Fold of lower lip subinterrupted in middle;* 5 series of 

 scales on cheek. Orange colored or purplish brown, with a more or less 

 irregular deep-black band along middle of tail ; sometimes a series of more 

 or less confluent black blotches on back. Mature individuals having 

 whole of lower parts of head, belly, and tail deep black; dorsal, caudal, 

 and pectoral orange colored or purplish brown, with a few scattered spots 



* The fold is distinctly interrupted in specimens from 6 to 10 inches long, while it appears 

 to be slightly continuous in young individuals of 3 to 4 inches in length. 



