Dec. 28, 1916. FisHes oF PANAMA— MEEK AND HILDEBRAND. 351 
Philypnus dormitator Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., XII, 
1837, 255; Poey, Memorias, II, 1860, 381; Regan, Biol. Cent. Amer., 
Pisces, 1906, 5. 
Eleotris longiceps Ginther, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1864, 151 
(Nicaragua). 
Philypnus dormitor Jordan & Evermann, Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., XLVII, 
1898, 2194; Meek, Field Col. Mus. Pub., Zodl. Ser., V, 1904, 226 
(Mexico), and Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Pub., Zodl. Ser., X, 1914, 129 
(Atlantic slope of Costa Rica). 
Head 3.2 to 4.3; depth 4.65 to 6.2; D. VI-I, 9; A. I, 9; scales 61 to 64. 
Body elongate, nearly as wide as deep anteriorly, compressed poste- 
riorly; head long, somewhat depressed, its width at preopercular margin 
1.55 to 2.3 in its length; the cheeks rounded; snout long, depressed, 
2.95 to 3.6 in head; eye 4.75 to 7.8; interorbital 3.7 to 6.65; mouth large, 
oblique; lower jaw projecting; maxillary reaching middle of eye, 2.05 to 
2.5 in head; teeth small, pointed, all depressable except the outer ones, 
in bands on jaws and on vomer; gill-rakers undeveloped; gill-arches with 
small, elevated patches of pointed teeth; lateral line wanting; scales 
small, ctenoid; origin of spinous dorsal about an eye’s diameter behind 
base of pectorals, the spines weak and rather variable in length, but 
never reaching origin of soft dorsal when deflexed; origin of soft dorsal 
an eye’s diameter in advance of origin of anal, the margin convex; caudal 
fin scaly at base, its margin rounded; anal fin similar to soft dorsal; 
ventral fins inserted slightly behind base of pectorals, rather short, not 
nearly reaching vent; pectoral fins reaching to or beyond tips of ven- 
trals, 1.53 to 1.74 in head. 
Color brownish. Young with a dark lateral band, becoming more 
obscure with age. Back and sides often with marbling of dark brown, 
and sometimes with dark bars. Fins all more or less reddish in life. 
The dorsals, caudal, and usually the pectorals and anal with rather large 
dusky spots, so arranged as to form cross-bars. 
In the present collections there are 118 specimens, ranging from 40 
to 359 mm. in length. It is most common in the brackish and fresh 
waters of the lowland streams, but stragglers occur in the upper courses 
of the Chagres and its tributaries. It usually inhabits shallow water 
where it lies quietly among the vegetation, presumably in wait for its 
prey. The alimentary canal is short, and without blind sacs. It feeds 
on crustaceans, fishes, water beetles and apparently any other aquatic 
animal life of suitable size. In Panama it is of little importance as a 
food fish. 
Habitat: Atlantic coast streams, from Texas south to Brazil, and 
the West Indian Islands. 
