334 SILUEID^:. 



Chrysichthys capito. Bleeker, 1. c. 



Chrysichthys macrops, Gunther, Cat. Fish. v. p. 71 (1864), Petherick's Trav. ii. p. 230 (1869), and 

 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1899, p. 719, fig. 2. 



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

 length of head three and one-third to three and a half times. Head moderately- 

 depressed, once and one-fifth to once and one-third as long as broad, its upper surface 

 more or less rugose, the rugosities usually showing under the thin skin ; occipital 

 process narrow, extending to the small interneural shield ; snout broadly rounded ; eye 

 large, transversely oval, its diameter once (young) to once and three-fourths in the length 

 of the snout, three to four and a half times in the length of the head, once and one- 

 fourth to twice in the interocular width ; mouth inferior, its width equal to or a little 

 greater than the interocular width ; praemaxillary band of teeth twice and a half to three 

 and a half times as long as broad ; vomero-pterygoid teeth forming a narrow band 

 narrowly interrupted in the middle, sometimes reduced to the vomerine part. Nasal 

 barbel one-fifth to three-fifths the diameter of the eye ; maxillary barbel three-fifths to 

 nearly once the length of the head ; mandibular barbels shorter, the inner about tw T o- 

 thirds or three-fourths the length of the outer. Gill-rakers rather short, 10 to 12 on 

 lower part of anterior arch. Humeral process short, acutely pointed. Dorsal fin with 

 I 6 rays ; the spine strong, feebly serrated behind, three-fifths to two-thirds the length 

 of the head ; first soft ray usually more or less produced, sometimes much longer than 

 the head *. Adipose dorsal fin as long as or longer than the base of the rayed dorsal, 

 usually shorter than its distance from the latter. Anal fin with 11 to 13 rays, 6 or 7 

 (rarely 8) branched. Pectoral fin shorter than the head, not reaching the ventral, 

 with a strong spine bearing 5 (young) to 13 strong serrae on the inner side. Ventral 

 fin a little nearer the root of the caudal fin than the end of the snout. Caudal fin 

 deeply forked, the lobes acutely pointed, the upper often produced into a short 

 filament. Caudal peduncle once and one-third to once and two-thirds as long as 

 deep. 



In life the fish is of a more or less dull buffish grey above, silvery white beneath, 

 the whole body more or less shot w T ith light green and pale pink, the green colour 

 more marked on a band along each side of the back and on a patch behind the eye ; 

 an ill-defined dark transverse band behind the head and another in front of the dorsal 

 fin; pectoral, ventral, and anal fins sometimes tinged with pale yellowish orange; the 

 caudal and anal fins sometimes tinged with pink or red. 



Total length not exceeding 220 millimetres. 



Chrysichthys auratus inhabits the Nile from Damietta to Gondokoro. It has 

 recently been found in Lake Chad. 



* This character is not in any way connected with age, being as strongly marked in some young as in 

 adult. 



