70 MOBMYEmaS. 



6. HYPEROPISUS. 



Gill, Proc. Ac. Pkilad. 1862, p. 443 ; Gimther, Cat. Fish. vi. p. 222 (1866) ; Boulenger, Proc. Zool. 



Soc. 1898, p. 819. 

 Phagrus, Marcusen, Mem. Ac. St. Petersb. (7) vii. 1864, no. 4, p. 111. 



Teeth in the jaws small, notched, few (3 or 5 in the upper jaw, 5 or 6 in the 

 lower) ; parasphenoid and tongue with a pavement of large spheroid teeth ; mouth 

 terminal, below the level of the eyes. Nostrils moderately far apart, remote from the 

 eye. Body elongate ; ventral fins much nearer the pectorals than the anal. Dorsal 

 fin very short, anal very long. Vertebrae 55-59 (15-16 + 4-6 + 35-38). 



One species, of wide distribution, occurs in the Nile ; a second, from Lake Chad, 

 has recently been described. 



1. HYPEEOPISUS BEBE. 

 (Plate V. fig. 2.) 



Kaschone, Sonnini, Voy. Egypte, ii. p. 283, pi. xxi. fig. 3 (1799). 



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



Mormyrus dorsalls, I. Greoffroy, Descr. Egypte, Poiss. p. 276, pi. viii. figs. 1 & 2 (1827) ; Cuvier 



& Valenciennes, Hist. Poiss. xix. p. 271 (1846) ; Griinther, Petherick's Trav. ii. p. 256 



(1869). 

 Phagrus dor sails, Marcusen, Mem. Acad. St. Petersb. (7) vii. 1864, no. 4, p. 142. 

 Hyperopisus dor sails, Glinther, Cat. Fish. vi. p. 222 (1866) ; Steindachner, Sitzb. Ak. Wien, lxi. i. 



1870, p. 554, pi. iv. fig. 2. 

 Hyperopisus occldentalls, Giinther, Cat, t. c. p. 223. 

 Hyperopisus bebe, Boulenger, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1898, p. 820. 



Body strongly compressed, its depth three and two- thirds to five and a half times 

 in the total length ; length of head four and two- thirds to five and two- thirds times in 

 the total length. Head a little longer than deep, with strongly curved upper profile, 

 twice, or rather less than twice, as long as broad ; snout about one-fourth the length 

 of the head, rounded ; eye moderate, its diameter six to nine times in the length of the 

 head, interorbital width twice and three-fourths to four and one-fourth times, width 

 of month one-sixth to one-fifth. Dorsal fin small, with 12 to 16 rays, twice and a half 

 to three and a half times as distant from the head as from the caudal fin. Anal fin 

 with 58 to 68 rays, deepest in front, especially in the males, originating at equal 

 distance from the end of the snout and from the root of the caudal fin, or a little 

 nearer the latter. Pectoral fin obtusely pointed, two-thirds to four-fifths the length 

 of the head ; ventral fin one-third to two-fifths the length of the head. Caudal fin 



