eo a ee 
Dec. 28, 1916. FisHes oF PANAMA— MEEK AND HILDEBRAND. 241 
Numerous specimens of this species were collected. It is found in 
all the streams of Panama. The specimens at hand vary in length from 
45 to 350mm. _ It is considered a food fish of some importance. In the 
Rio Tuyra Basin the Indians quietly wade around in the streams and 
seek their hiding places and take them with a spear. In this they are 
so adept that they seldom miss their aim. 
Habitat: Streams of both slopes of Central America, from Costa 
Rica southward to Ecuador. 
2. Genus Pimelodus Lacépéde. 
Pimelodus Lacépéde, Hist. Nat. Poiss., V, 1803 (species of several 
genera); Cuvier, Régne Animal, II, 1817, 203 (species having a 
single band of teeth in upper jaw); Litken, Dan. Vidensk-Selsk., 
Skr., (5) XII, 1875, 163 (type Pimelodus maculatus Lacépéde = Silu- 
rus clarias Bloch). 
Pseudariodes Bleeker, Nederl. Tijdschr. Dierk., I, 1863, 99 (type 
Pseudariodes clarias Bloch). 
Pseudorhamdia Bleeker, Nederl. Tijdschr. Dierk., I, 1863, 10x (type 
Pseudorhamdia maculata Lacépéde = Silurus clarias Bloch). 
Body elongate, head covered with thin skin, granulose; occipital 
process reaching dorsal plate; humeral process broad; fontanel not 
continued beyond anterior margin of eyes; eye with a free orbital mar- 
aa. ee 
orked. 
2. Pimelodus clarias punctatus (Meek & Hildebrand). 
Megalonema punctatum Meek & Hildebrand, Field Mus. Nat. Hist. 
Pub., Zodl. Ser., X, 1913, 77 (Rio Tuyra, Marrigante, Panama). 
Megalonema robustum Meek & Hildebrand, Field Mus. Nat. Hist. 
Pub., Zodl. Ser., X, 1913, 78 (Rio Tuyra, Marrigante, Panama). 
Head 3.9 to 4.1; depth 4.4 to 5.25; D. I, 6; A. 11 to 13. 
Body elongate, compressed; dorsal region elevated; head not much 
wider than deep, its width 1.34 to 1.6 in its length; snout not very broad, 
its length 2.04 to 2.25 in head; eye 4.7 to 6; interorbital 2.94 to 4; width 
of mouth a little less than length of snout; maxillary barbels reaching 
opposite anal or to base of caudal; occipital process rather wide, not 
fully united with the dorsal plate, its greatest width greater than eye, 
except in young of less than 150 mm. in length; teeth in villiform bands, 
none on palatines or vomer; gill-membranes free from the isthmus; 
humeral process rather narrow, pointed slightly upward; dorsal spine 
equal to or a little longer than head, a rudimentary spine at its base; 
