444 



Apure and the Oroonoko. In places where the 

 river was very limpid, and where not a fish ap- 

 peared, we threw into the water little morsels of 

 flesh covered with blood. In a few minutes a 

 cloud of caribes came to dispute the prey. The 

 belly of this fish has a cutting" edge, indented 

 like a saw ; a character that may be traced in 

 several kinds, the serra-salmes, the myletes, and 

 the pristigastres. The presence of a second adi- 

 pous dorsal fin ; and the form of the teeth, covered 

 by lips distant from each other, and largest in 

 the lower jaw ; place the caribe among the serra- 

 salmes. It's mouth is much wider than that of 

 the myletes of Mr. Cuvier. It's body toward the 

 back is ash-coloured, with a tint of green ; but 

 the belly, the gill-covers, and the pectoral, anal, 

 and ventral fins, are of a fine orange. Three 

 species (or varieties) are known in the Oroonoko, 

 and are distinguished by their size. The mean, 

 or intermediate, appears to be identical with the 

 mean species of the piraya^ or piranha, of Marc- 

 grav *. I described and drew -ft it on the spot. 

 The caribito has a very agreeable taste. As no 

 one dares to bathe where it is found, it may be 

 considered as one of the greatest scourges of 



*■ Salmo rhombeus, Lin. 



+ See the memoir on the fishes of Equinoctial America, 

 "which I published conjointly with Mr. Valenciennes, in the 

 Observ, de Zoologie, vol. ii, p. 145. 



