FISHES OF EL SALVADOR 
279 
not near at hand when the collections were made. The contents of 5 stomachs 
examined consisted of the remains of fish, snails, insect larvae, and plant fragments. 
This species heretofore has been recorded from western Guatemala. The 
specimens in the present collection are from Lake Metapan, Lake Guija, Rio Lempa 
at Suchitoto and San Marcos, Lake Ilopango, Rio San Miguel at San Miguel, and 
Lake Olomega. 
21. Cichlasoma motaguense (Giinther) 
Guapote; Moeo; Pando 
Heros motaguensis Giinther, Trans., Zool. Soc, London, VI, 1868, 462, PI, LXXVII, fig. 2 (Rio Motagua, Guatemala); Jordan 
and Evermann, Bull., U. S. Nat. Mus., XLVII, 1898, 1534. 
Cichlasoma motaguense Regan, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., XVI, 1905, 336, and Biol. Cent. Amer., Pisces, 1906, 29. 
Head 2.35 to 2.8; depth 2.2 to 3; D. XVII or XVIII (rarely XIX), 10 to 12; 
A. VII (rarely VIII) 8 to 10; scales 30 to 32. 
Body comparatively elongate; dorsal profile gently convex over the eyes in 
young, a little concave in adults; caudal peduncle short, its depth 2.55 to 3 in head; 
head longer than deep; snout long, its length 2.4 to 2.7 in head; eye 3.25 to 6.1; 
interorbital 3 to 4; preorbital only slightly more than half the diameter of eye in 
young (specimen 45 millimeters long), a little broader than eye in adult (specimen 
200 millimeters long); mouth moderate, oblique; lower jaw projecting; maxillary 
partly exposed, reaching about to anterior margin of eye, 2.2 to 3.4 in head; pre- 
maxillary process extending to above posterior part of eye; lower lip with its lower 
margin free throughout; teeth in the jaws all pointed, the anterior pair in upper 
jaw enlarged, caninelike, the anterior pair in the lower jaw small, with several 
enlarged teeth on each side; gill rakers short, 7 to 9 more or less developed on the 
lower limb of the first arch; scales rather large, notably reduced on the chest, 
extending on base of vertical fins, 5 or 6 rows between origin of dorsal and lateral 
line, about 8 rows on cheeks; dorsal fin long, the spines graduated, the last one 
scarcely a third the length of head, the median soft rays produced, reaching opposite 
middle of caudal in large examples, shorter in young, origin of fin over opercular 
margin; caudal fin broadly rounded; anal spines strong, the last one a little longer 
than the last dorsal spine, the soft portion similar to that of the dorsal, origin of 
fin usually about an eye's diameter nearer base of pectorals than base of caudal; 
ventral fins inserted a little behind base of pectorals, the exterior ray produced in 
adult, usually extending to origin of anal; pectoral fins extending scarcely as far 
back as the ventrals, 1.5 to 1.7 in head. 
The color varies with age and also among individuals. A specimen, 260 milli- 
meters in length, when removed from the water, possessed the following coloration: 
Very dark green above; lower parts of sides lighter; underneath dusky with punc- 
tulations; snout brassy; sides with black blotches forming a more or less continu- 
ous lateral band; a large black blotch on upper part of opercle; a black caudal spot; 
sides of head with dark brassy spots ; dorsal and anal very dark green with dark 
spots; caudal somewhat lighter green with dark spots; ventrals dark; pectorals 
plain brassy. Color of a large specimen, 300 miUimeters long, immediately after 
being removed from the water, bluish silvery on back; lower part of sides pale 
silvery; belly dingy white; sides with dark blotches forming an interrupted lateral 
