480 DR. GUNTHER ON THE FISHES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 
fins midway between preoperculum and root of the caudal, extending nearly to the end 
of the base of the anal. The dorsal commences far in advance of the anal, its anterior 
rays being half as long as the head. The distance between the first dorsal ray and the 
first rudimentary caudal ray equals the length of the head. There are thirty-four scales 
between the occiput and origin of the dorsal, and nine longitudinal series of scales 
between the origin of the dorsal and the lateral line. Pectoral with numerous small 
roundish blackish-brown spots and with the lower and upper rays whitish. Ventral 
white, the middle rays greyish. 
Two examples, 10 inches long, were obtained by Capt. Dow on the Pacific coast of 
Panama. 
CHARACODON. 
Giinth. Fish. vi. p. 308. 
Cleft of the mouth small, developed laterally and horizontally ; mandible short, with 
the bones of each side firmly united. Snout short. Teeth rather small, bicuspid, in a 
single series; but there is a narrow band of villiform teeth behind the series of incisors. 
Scales of moderate size. Origin of the anal fin opposite, or nearly opposite, to that of 
the dorsal. Sexes not differentiated. Intestinal tract but slightly convoluted. 
247. CHARACODON LATERALIS. (Plate LX XXII. fig. 2, fem.) 
D. 10-11. A. 13 in fem., 15-16 in male. L. lat. 35. L. transv. 12. 
In general habits very similar to a Cyprinodon. Body rather elevated, with the neck 
somewhat arched, its greatest depth being rather more than the length of the head, 
and one-third of the total (without caudal). Head thick and broad, with the snout 
obtuse, as long as, or rather longer than, the diameter of the eye, which is one-fourth 
or two-ninths of the length of the head. The mandible ascends obliquely, and is longer 
than the eye. There are about twenty smallish teeth in each jaw, their apex is indistinctly 
notched. Interorbital space flat, its width being two-fifths of the length of the head. 
‘he origin of the dorsal fin is a little nearer to the end of the caudal than to the 
occiput, and a little behind that of the anal. Both fins are small and rounded. In the 
male the six anterior rays of the anal are of nearly equal length, but considerably 
shorter than the following, forming a very distinct portion of the fin; all these rays 
are very closely set. Caudal fin small, truncate or slightly convex. The distance 
between dorsal and caudal is somewhat more than the least depth of the tail, and equal 
to the distance between eye and gill-opening. Brownish olive (in spirits), with a darker 
band running from the eye to the root of the caudal: this band is sometimes broken up 
into a more or less regular series of brownish-black spots. 
There are several examples, from 13 to 2} inches long, in the British Museum; they 
are from Dr. Seemann’s collection, who obtained them in Southern Central America. 
