86 THE CYPRINODONTS. 
Gambusia punctata. 
Plate IV. Fig. 4, teeth; Plate VIII. Fig. 6, male. 
Gambusia punctata Poey, 1855, Mem., I, 384, 390, pl. 32, fig. 5-9, —186], Mem., II, 383, — 1868, 
Repert., IL, 410, —1876, An. Soc. Esp. V, 140; Blk., 1860, Cypr., 485, — 1863, Atl. Ichth., III, 140; 
Gth., 1866, Cat., VI, 334, — 1880, Intr, 616, fig. 280; Jor., 1878, B. U. 8. G. Sur., IV, 411, —1887, P. 
U.S. Mus., IX, 34, 564. 
B. 6; D. 10-11 (rarely 9); A. 115 VoG3 Be lo; Shi 30-325 treo 
Vert. 14+ 20. 
Stout, much compressed behind the head ; caudal pedicel deep. Head 
depressed, flat on the crown, about one fourth of the total length, less than 
the depth of the body. Snout broad, not deep, blunt, rounded, little longer 
than the eye. Mouth large, wide, slightly oblique — seen from the side ; 
mandibles comparatively long, firmly united ; intermaxillaries broad, protrac- 
tile. Teeth in bands, conical, hooked, outer series larger. Eye large, 
shorter than snout, four sevenths of interorbital space, three tenths of head. 
Dorsal origin midway from eye to end of caudal, nearly above middle of 
anal. Anal originating close to middle of total length, on large specimens 
slightly concave on the outer margin. Caudal broad, three fourths as long 
as head, median rays longer, hind border convex in upper half, concave in 
lower, or concave in both. Males have the dorsal farther forward, while the 
anal is so much advanced as to lie below the end of the pectoral. The anal 
of this sex is small and has the second to the fourth rays elongate and other- 
wise modified ; its length is less than one fourth of the total. Ventrals 
small in both sexes, below the hind half of the pectorals. Pectorals large, 
broad, rounded. Scales wide, short. Extended the intestine reaches the 
base of the tail. A female of medium size contained fifteen embryos. 
Back light olivaceous, more or less greenish, with a darkish streak along 
the middle of the side, with a dark vertebral line, and with two to five series 
of dots, vitte, along the flank behind the pectorals, formed by small spots 
on the base of the scale. Dorsal and caudal with transverse series of dots, 
more or less faint in many cases. Occiput-dark, top of snout light. Black 
blotches are rare. Occasionally darker edges of scales form a network. 
Belly and lower half of head light to silvery. Usually the sides of the 
belly show something of the blackness of the inner lining, but not in 
blotches as on G. Holbrookii and G. puneticulata. 
Females reach a length of two and three fourths inches, males about one 
and one half. In the small streams around Havana, Cuba, this species is 
excessively abundant. 
