5° MORMYKID.E. 



2. GNATHONEMUS CYPRINOIDES. 

 (Plate VI. fig. 2 and Plate VII. fig. 3.) 



Mormyrus cyprinoides, Linnaeus, Mus. Ad. Frid. ii. p. 109 (1764), and Syst. Nat. i. p. 522 (1766) ; 



Cuvier k Valenciennes, Hist. Poiss. xix. p. 265 (1849) ; Gtinther, Cat. Fish. vi. p. 218 (1866), 



and Petherick's Trav. ii. p. 254 (1869). 

 Mormyrus salaliie, Lacepede, Hist. Poiss. v. p. 619 (1803). 

 Mormyrus labiatus, I. Geoffroy, Descr. Egypte, Poiss. p. 275, pi. vii. fig. 1 (1827) ; Riippell, 



Fortsetz. Beschr. n. Fische Nil, p. 9, pi. ii. fig. 2 (1832). 

 Mormyrus elongatus, Riippell, 1. c. fig. 1. 

 Mormyrus abbreviatus, Cuvier & Valenciennes, t. c. p. 270. 

 Mormyrops cyprinoides, Marcusen, Bull. Ac. St. Petersb. xii. 1854, p. 14. 

 Mormyrops elonyatus, Marcusen, 1. c. 

 Mormyrops abbreviatus, Marcusen, 1. c. 



Mormyrops labiatus, Marcusen, Mem. Ac. St. Petersb. (7) vii. 1864, no. 4, p. 137. 

 Gnatlwnemus cyprinoides, Boulenger, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1898, p. 805, and Poiss. Bass. Congo, p. 96 



(1901). 



Body more or less strongly compressed, its depth three to four times in the total 

 length ; length of head four to five and a half times in the total length. Head as 

 long as deep or slightly longer than deep, one-half to three-fifths as broad as long, 

 with curved upper profile ; snout short, rounded, about one-fourth the length of the 

 head, and once and one-third to twice as long as the eye ; interorbital width once and 

 a half to twice and one-fourth the diameter of the eye ; mouth small, on a line with 

 the lower border of the eye ; chin projecting, with a globular dermal appendage ; 

 teeth small, conical, normally 5 in the upper jaw, 6 in the lower. Dorsal fin with 

 25 to 30 rays, originating above the sixth to tenth ray of the anal, its length nearly 

 twice to twice and a half in its distance from the head. Anal fin with 30 to 37 rays, 

 equally distant from the base of the ventral and from the root of the caudal, or a little 

 nearer the latter. Both fins deepest in front, especially the anal of the males, the base 

 of which is more or less sinuous ; the posterior rays often produced in the males. 

 Pectoral fin pointed, as long as the head or a little shorter, rarely a little longer, 

 about twice as long as the ventral fin, reaching the base of the latter, or beyond. 

 Caudal fin scaly in its basal half or two-thirds, with pointed lobes. Caudal peduncle 

 as long as the head or a little shorter, twice and a half to three times as long as deep. 

 70 to 86 scales in the lateral line, 1 ^~ in a transverse series on the body, ^~ in a 

 transverse series between dorsal and anal fins, 16 (rarely 18) round caudal peduncle. 



The coloration is silvery, the back darker, bluish or greenish with iridescent 

 reflections; in some young specimens small blackish spots are scattered on the body 



This species does not appear to exceed a length of 300 millimetres. 



