264 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 95 
little longer and more pointed than lower lobe, the latter on adults 
sometimes a little rounded; pectoral fin reaching within 2 scale rows 
of pelvic bases and pelvic fins reaching within 2 or 3 scale rows of 
anus; greatest depth at origin of dorsal fin about 2.6 to 2.9 in the 
standard length and head 3.0 to 3.6; least depth of caudal peduncle’ 
about equal to length of anal base and a little shorter than postorbital 
length of head; pelvic insertion a little closer to midcaudal fin base 
than to tip of the snout; rear margin of eye at middle of head length; 
short predorsal plate bicuspid, with a black fleshy flap the size of 
a scale covering the points of this plate anteriorly; intestine much 
coiled; pyloric caeca very small and very numerous, probably a few 
hundred in number. 
OColor.—Darker above, paler below, the sides with about 16 vertical 
bars that are a little wider than the pale interspaces, width of bars 
about equal to diameter of pupil; these vertical blackish bars breaking 
up ventrally and anteriorly into a few roundish blotches, all bars 
distinct up to a length of 150 mm., becoming obsolete on the largest 
specimens; dorsal fin barred with the black spots at front of dorsal 
rays; other fins plain grayish in color; peritoneum blackish; the mar- 
gins of the scales blackish, on some this pigment being more intense 
dorsally and ventrally, giving the appearance of a wavy blackish line 
along each row of scales. When alive, the dorsal fin was pinkish and 
the sides of the body yellowish. 
The following differences between the various subspecies are 
worthy of emphasis: Prochilodus reticulatus reticulatus differs from 
P. r. magdalenae in having 42 or 43 scales from the upper end of the 
gill opening to midbase of caudal instead of 44 to 47, usually 45; the 
number of pectoral fin rays average fewer too, 1, 13 to i, 16, usually 
i,14 or 1,15, instead of 1,14 to 1,17, usually 1,15 or 1,16 in P. r. magdal- 
enae. The vertical color bars in P. r. reticulatus tend to break up 
into roundish blotches ventrally and anteriorly, while in P. r. mag- 
dalenae they are unbroken ventrally. Although little is known about 
Prochilodus reticulatus asper from Caracas, Venezuela, P. r. reticulatus 
and P. r. magdalenae differ from it in having 9 branched rays in the 
dorsal instead of 10 and in having 7 or 8 scales above the lateral line 
instead of 8 or 9. 
PROCHILODUS RETICULATUS ASPER Liitken 
Prochilodus asper LtiitKen, Vid. Medd. N aturh. Foren. Kjgbenhavn, 1874, pts. 
12-16, p. 226 (Caracas, Venezuela).—EiGENMANN and HIGENMANN, Proc. 
U.S. Nat. Mus., vol. 14, p. 48, 1891 (Caracas). 
PROCHILODUS LATICEPS Steindachner 
Prochilodus laticeps StEINDACHNER, Anz. Akad. Wiss. Wien, vol. 16, p. 150, 1879 
(no locality given); Denkschr. Akad. Wiss. Wien, vol. 41, p. 152, 1879 (Ciudad 
Bolivar, Venezuela).—E1GENMANN and Ezcmnmann, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 
vol. 14, p. 48, 1891 (Orinoco near Ciudad Bolivar). 
