BAKBUS. *0i 



33. BAEBUS ANEMA. 



(Plate XLVIL fig. 7.) 



Boulenger, Ann. & Mag. N. H. (7) xii. 1903, p. 533. 



Depth of body twice and two-thirds to three and one-third times in the total length, 

 length of head three and one-third to four times. Snout rounded, not prominent, 

 shorter than the eye, the diameter of which is twice and three-fourths to three times in 

 the length of the head and nearly equals the interorbital width ; mouth small, terminal; 

 lips feebly developed, not extending across the chin ; no barbels. Dorsal fin with 

 III 8 rays, last simple ray not ossified and nearly as long as head ; the border of the 

 fin scarcely notched ; origin of the fin midway between the end of the snout and the 

 root of the caudal. Anal fin with III 5 rays, longest about half the length of the 

 head, not reaching the root of the caudal. Pectoral fin acutely pointed, three-fourths 

 to four-fifths the length of the head, not reaching the ventral ; latter a little behind 

 the origin of the dorsal. Caudal fin deeply forked. Caudal peduncle not or but 

 slightly longer than deep. Scales smooth, 22-25 §J, 2 or 2£ between lateral line and 

 ventral fin, 8 to 10 round caudal peduncle. 



As preserved in spirit, the examples of this little fish are yellowish, silvery on the 

 sides, the fins white and transparent ; there is usually more or less of blackish pigment 

 about the borders of the scales above the lateral line, and this pigment may form 

 a conspicuous network dividing the scales of the dorsal area ; about the lateral 

 line dark dots are usually more crowded, and in some specimens they may be developed 

 to such an extent as to form a black lateral streak, which may be continued on 

 each side of the snout after passing through the eye ; specimens thus marked bear a 

 close superficial resemblance to, and have been confounded with, the West- African 

 B. camptacanthus, Blkr.* 



The largest specimen examined by me measures 37 millimetres. 



The first specimens, three in number, were obtained by Mr. Loat in the Nile 

 between Luxor and Assuan, between the latter half of August and the beginning of 

 September, 1900; about fifty were got in a kore at Fashoda, on March 15th, 1901, 

 and seventeen in the Nile at Gondokoro, on February 4th and 22nd and March 3rd, 

 1902. 



Barhis brazzce, Pellegrin, from the Congo, and B. joe, Blgr., from South Cameroon, 

 are other African species of this genus in which barbels are absent. The former 

 differs from B. anema in having as many as 28 scales along the lateral line, the 

 latter in having the caudal peduncle nearly twice as long as deep, and a very peculiar 

 coloration. 



* Boulenger, Ann. & Mag. ~N. H. (7) x. 1902, p. 263. 



2l 



