OCR Text |
Show 1899.] FROM T H E G O L D COAST. 723 Anal fin reaching the caudal, if laid backward, with 13 rays, 8 of which are branched. Caudal fin deeply cleft, with the upper lobe at least as long as the head. Pectoral spine (broken) serrated along both edges. Upper parts greyish olive, sides and abdomen silvery. Seventeen inches long (433 millim.). Young (Pl. XLII., fig. A.)-The height of the body is contained 43 times in tbe total length (without caudal), the length of the head 3?f ; caudal peduncle three fifths as high as long. Head as high as broad, its greatest width being equal to the length of the head without snout. Granulations on the upper side of the head and form of the nuchal bones as in the adult. Snout of moderate extent, with the upper profile rather curved; its length is one third, or a little more than one third, of that of the head ; upper jaw more or less projecting beyond the lower ; mouth of moderate width, wider than the distance between the eyes. Nasal barbels thin, half as long as the eye ; maxillary and outer mandibular*/ barbels reaching to, or even beyond, the gill-opening, if laid backward ; inner mandibulary barbels distinctly anterior to the outer, and distant from each other about half a diameter of the eye. The teeth on the palate and intermaxillary are placed as in the adult. The width of the bony interorbital space is scarcely more than half that of the orbit, which is rather less than the length of the snout, and contained 3| times in that of the head. Dorsal tin rather high, reaching to, or nearly reaching to, the adipose, when laid backward ; the length of its base is one half, or a little more than one half, of its distance from the adipose, and exceeds the length of the base of the latter. Dorsal spine serrated along both its edges in its upper portion, and rather shorter than the head. Anal fin reaching or nearly reaching tbe caudal, if laid backward, with 14 rays, 8 of which are branched. Caudal fin very deeply cleft, both lobes longer than the head. Pectoral spine stronger, but rather shorter than that of the dorsal fin. Upper parts greyish olive ; sides and abdomeu silvery. Five and six inches long (130 and 155 millim.). CHRYSICHTHYS OGOWENSIS, sp. n. Chrysichthys buttikoferi, part., Giinth. Ann. & Mag. N. H . 1896, April, p. 276. The height of the body is contained 4^ times in the total length (without caudal), the length of the head 3± times ; caudal peduncle two thirds as high as lopo*. Head a little broader than high, its greatest depth being two "thirds of its length ; the greater portion of its upper surface is covered with thin soft, skin, but the granulated parts of the bones on the nape and crown of the head are exposed or covered with a thin film of skin ; occipital process longer than the basal bone of the dorsal spine, both meeting a little behmd the middle of the nape. Snout rather long, depressed, with the upper profile straight, obliquely descending ; its length is |