FISH. 



113 



Callichthys pat.eatus. Jen. 

 C. capite compresso Icevi : ore parvo, cirris maxillaribus ad utrumque angulum duobus, 

 hand ultra oculos pertingentibus ; labro inferiore reflexo, et in duos cirros breves 

 membranaceos producto : spina pectorali compressa, forti, margine interno leviter 

 dentato, externo Icevi, quintam partem totius longitudinis cequanti : caudali bifurca, 

 lob is cequalibus acuminatis. 



D. 1/7 — 1 ; A. 6 ; C. 14, &c. ; P. 1/7 ; V. 6. 

 Long. unc. 1. lin. 10. 

 Form.— General form resembling that of the C. punctatus. Depth, at the commencement of the 

 dorsal, one-third of the length, excluding caudal : thickness at the pectorals three-fourths of the 

 depth. Head slightly compressed, its height very little less than its length, this last, measured 

 to the gills, being rather less than one-fourth of the entire length. Profile falling from the dorsal 

 in one regular slope, and nearly rectilineal till it arrives before the eyes, where it curves down- 

 wards, making the extremity of the snout obtuse. Mouth small, the upper jaw a little pro- 

 jecting ; two maxillary cirri at each angle ; these nearly equal ; the lower one a little the longest, 

 reaching to beneath the middle of the eye : also two short cirri, only half the length of the 

 maxillary ones, pendent from the reflexed lower lip, a little separate from each other, one on 

 each side the middle. Teeth so minute as hardly to be distinguished ; a row can just be felt 

 on each jaw, and on the vomer. Head smooth. The number of dorsal lamina; twenty-one ; 

 that of the ventral twenty. 



Pectorals a little exceeding the length of the head ; the spine nearly as long as the fin 

 itself, but not exceeding one-fifth of the entire length ; very strong, compressed, and sharp- 

 pointed, with a few fine teeth or serratures on the inner margin, but smooth on the outer. 

 Height of the dorsal more than half the depth, and a little more than its own length, this last 

 equalling the space between it and the adipose : the spine strong, and similar to that of the 

 pectoral. Anal directly underneath the adipose, and hardly occupying more space. Ventrals 

 shorter than the pectorals, attached beneath the last third of those fins, or under the second 

 soft ray in the dorsal, and scarcely reaching more than half-way to the anal : the first ray, as 

 well as that of the anal, somewhat hispid. Caudal forked for half its length, which about 

 equals that of the head : the lobes equal and pointed. 



Colour. — (In spirits.) General colour yellowish-brown, with dusky spots and mottlings : 

 breast and edge of the abdomen whitish. Pectorals, ventrals, and anal, almost wholly dusky : 

 dorsal and caudal spotted. 



This species, in its general character, approaches so extremely near the C . 

 punctatus of Valenciennes, that perhaps I am in error in considering it distinct. 

 But it is remarkable for possessing, in addition to the four usual maxillary cirri, 

 two labial, which are neither represented in D'Orbigny's figure,* nor noticed in the 

 description given in the " Histoiredes Poissons," and which therefore I infer are not 

 present in that species, as they could hardly have been overlooked, or been deemed 

 unimportant to be noticed. The maxillary cirri also, which in the C. punctatus, 



* Voy. dans L'Amer. Meriil. Atl. Ichtli. pi. 5. fig. 1. 

 Q 



