ALESTES. 127 



5. ALESTES MACROLEPIDOTUS. 



(Plate XX.) 



Brycinus macrolepidotus, Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Poiss. xxii. p. 157, pi. ccccccxxxix. 



(1849). 

 Alestes macrolepidotus, Bilharz, Sitzb. Ak. Wien, ix. 1852, p. 469, pi. xxxvii. ; Kner, Denkschr. 



Ak. Wien, xviii. 1860, p. 19 ; Giinther, Cat. Fish. v. p. 313 (1864), and Petherick's Trav. ii. 



p. 242 (1869) ; Steindachner, Sitzb. Ak. Wien, lxi. i. 1870, p. 540, pi. i. ; Boulenger, Poiss. 



Bass. Congo, p. 158 (1901), part. 



Body moderately compressed, flattened on the back, its depth three and one-third to 

 four and a half times in the total length ; length of head three and a half to four and 

 two-thirds times. Head much flattened above, once and three-fourths to twice as long- 

 as broad, once and one-fourth to once and a half as long as deep, its width considerably 

 greater than its length to the occiput ; snout rounded and about as long as the eye in 

 the young, more pointed, projecting beyond the lower lip, and once and a half to twice 

 as long as the eye in the adult ; eye infero-lateral, not or scarcely visible from above, 

 well visible from beneath, its diameter three (young) to five and one-fourth times in 

 the length of the head ; adipose eyelid scarcely developed ; interorbital width twice to 

 twice and a half in the length of the head ; width of the mouth greater than the 

 diameter of the eye ; maxillary not reaching to below the anterior border of the eye ; 

 16 to 20 teeth (~^) in the upper jaw, 8 or 10 (~) in the lower; lower border of 

 second suborbital as long as or a little longer than the diameter of the eye. Gill-rakers 

 thin and moderately long, 18 to 22 on lower part of anterior arch. Dorsal fin with 

 II 8 (rarely 7) rays, above the middle of the space between the ventrals and the anal, 

 considerably nearer the caudal than the occiput ; first branched ray longest, three- 

 fourths to seven-eighths the length of the head. Adipose fin small, about twice as far 

 from the rayed dorsal as from the caudal. Anal fin with III 12-14 rays, pointed in 

 front, third simple ray longest, two-thirds to three-fourths the length of the head. 

 Pectoral fin as long as the head or a little shorter, sometimes nearly reaching the 

 ventral. Ventral fin shorter than the pectoral. Caudal fin deeply forked, the lobes 

 pointed, the lower usually a little longer than the upper. Caudal peduncle once to 

 once and a half as long as deep. Scales with numerous anastomosing canals, 

 22-26 o^ii, 1 or 2 between the lateral line and the root of the ventral fin. 



Brown or olive above, the scales with a darker edge, silvery white or pinkish 

 beneath and on the cheeks ; a pink band often extends along the side, from the cheek 

 to above the anal fin ; some specimens with interrupted dark brown bands along 



