CH.^NOJIUGIL.— POLTNEMID^. 73 



5. CHJENOMUGIL, Gill, 1863. 



Ch(eno7nugil, Jord. & Everm. Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. xlvii. 1896, p. 816. 



Mouth rather small, subterminal or inferior ; rami of lower jaw forming an angle ; teeth small, movable, in 

 several oblique series ; palate toothless. 



This genus comprises two species, one American, the other from the Sandwich 

 Islands. 



1. Chsenomugil proboscideus, Giinth., 1861. 



Chcenomugil proboscideus, Jord. & Everm. Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. xlvii. 1896, p. 816. 



Lips very thick ; mandibular angle very acute ; no adipose eyelid. Dorsal IV, I 8. Anal III 10. 38 to 41 

 scales in a longitudinal series. 



Hah. Pacific Coast from Mazatlon to Panama. 



" Common in rock pools " [Jordan & Evermann); not recorded from fresh waters. 



Pam. 3. SPHYR^NID-ffil *. 



The single genus Sphyrmia comprises about twenty species, pike-like carnivorous 

 marine fishes, with large mouth and strong dentition, often growing to a considerable 

 size. 



There appear to be no records of any of the American species occurring in the 

 fresh waters of Mexico and Central America, but one of them, S. guacltancho, Cuv. & 

 Val., has been recorded from the Congo f. 



Fam. 4. POLYNEMID-Sl I. 



This family comprises three genera with about thirty species, tropical shore fishes 

 which often enter rivers. They are easily recognizable on account of the peculiar 

 structure of the pectoral fin, which has a detached lower portion composed of free 

 filamentous rays. Pentanemus quinquarms, Linn., from the Tropical Atlantic, with 

 the prseoperculum entire and the anal fin much longer than the second dorsal, is known 

 to ascend West African rivers and has been recorded from Cuba; it is perhaps to be 

 met with in the rivers of the Atlantic slope of Tropical America. 



The fishes of the genus Polyiiemus, Linn., have the prseoperculum serrate and the 

 anal fin about as long as the second dorsal. Two species are found on the Pacific 

 Coast, ranging from California to Ecuador, viz., P. aj)])roximans. Lay & Bennett, with 

 5 or 6 pectoral filaments, and P. ojoerculans, Gill, with 8 or 9 pectoral filaments. 



* Jord. & Everm. Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. xlvii. 1896, p. 822. 

 t Bouleng. Les Poissons du Bassin du Congo, p. 364 (1901). 

 + Jord. & Everm. Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. xlvii. 1896, p. 828. 



BIOL. CENTE.-AMEE., Pisces, Mai/ 1907. L 



