BABBITS. 241 



21. BARBUS MACROPRISTIS. 



(Plate XLVI. fig. 2.) 



Boulenger, Ann. & Mag. K H. (7) xiii. 1904, p. 449. 



Depth of body equal to the length of the head, four times in the total length. 

 Snout rounded, three and a half to four times in the length of the head ; diameter 

 of eye four to four and a half times in the length of the head, interorbital width 

 twice and three -fourth s ; mouth terminal, its width four times in the length of 

 the head ; lips feebly developed ; barbels two on each side, the anterior half the 

 diameter of the eye and as long as its distance from the posterior, which measures 

 the diameter of the eye. Dorsal fin with III 7 rays, last simple ray very strong, 

 bony, strongly serrated behind, nearly as long as or a little longer than the head ; 

 free edge of the fin emarginate ; its distance from the occiput a little less than 

 its distance from the caudal fin. Anal fin with III 5 rays, longest three-fifths the 

 length of the head. Pectoral fin about four-fifths the length of the head, reaching 

 the base of the ventral ; latter fin entirely in advance of the vertical of the origin 

 of the dorsal. Caudal fin deeply forked. Caudal peduncle twice as long as deep. 

 Scales with fan-shaped striation, 39 ^r 1 , 3 between the lateral line and the ventral 

 fin, 16 or 18 round the caudal peduncle. 



Silvery, dark grey on the back ; fins whitish in spirit. 



Measurements (in millimetres). 



Total length 128 112 



,, „ (without caudal) . 115 100 



Greatest depth of body 28 25 



Length of head 28 25 



Width of head 13 12 



Diameter of eye 6 6 



Width of mouth w . 7 6 



Length of bony ray of dorsal 31 23 



„ longest ray of anal 18 16 



„ pectoral „ . , 23 20 



Two specimens were obtained in Lake Victoria by the late Mr. Doggett in 1903 

 and presented to the British Museum by Col. Delme Radcliffe. 



Barkis macropristis is closely related to the East- African B. paludinosus, Peters, 

 from which it differs in the longer spine of the dorsal fin, the longer posterior barbels, 

 and the greater number of scales in the lateral line. Specimens from Kavirondo Bay 

 have been referred by Pellegrin (Mem. Soc. Zool. France, xvii. 1905, p. 177) to 

 B. paludinosus, but they should be compared with B. macropristis, 



2i 



