OCR Text |
Show 1906.] FRESH-WATER FISHES OF TRINIDAD. 387 spots; fins dusky, the dorsal with a light band along the basal part. " Found all over the island, fairly plentiful, sometimes exceeding a foot in length." Here described from two specimens of 180 and 200 m m . Known only from Trinidad. 14. PSEUDAUCHENIPTERUS GUPPYI, sp. n. (Plate XXIV.) " Yellow Catfish." Depth of body 41-4f in the length, length of head 4-4f. Snout not longer than eye, the diameter of which is 4-5 in the length of head and 2-3 in the interorbital width. Head nearly as broad as long; upper surface, excepting the snout, rugose, not covered by skin ; frontal bones not swollen ; profile rising evenly from snout to dorsal fin. Lower jaw scarcely shorter than upper ; maxillary barbel extending to anterior ^ or middle of pectoral. Dorsal I 6 ; spine serrated posteriorly, as long as head. Anal 21 ; anterior rays longest, in the male thickened and considerably produced. Pectoral spine with serrated inner edge, as long as the head. Ventrals 8-rayed, extending to the origin of anal. Caudal forked. Upper half of body blackish green, with several vertical series of small yellowish-white spots ; lower parts white, anteriorly with a dark longitudinal band ; fins yellow, the dorsal dark at the base, the caudal with a blackish margin. Caroni River. Two specimens, 145 and 185 m m . in total length. " Caught in numbers, especially where small streams empty themselves into the Caroni." 15. PARAUCHENIPTERUS PASE^E, sp. n. (Plate XXIII.) " Grouper Cat-fish." Depth of body 3^- in the length, length of head 4. Snout as long as eye, the diameter of which is 4| in the length of head and 3 in the interorbital width. Head as broad as long ; upper surface rugose, not covered by skin ; interfrontal fontanel oval, continued anteriorly as a narrow groove ; parieto-occipital a little longer than broad, a little longer than its distance from the base of the dorsal spine ; nuchal shield rounded posteriorly, its length equal to that of the basal shield of the dorsal spine (measured in the mid-dorsal line). Lower jaw somewhat projecting; maxillary barbel extending to anterior ^ of pectoral; mental barbel extending a little beyond the base of the post-mental, which reaches the base of the pectoral. Dorsal I 6 ; spine smooth except for a median anterior series of nodules, a little more than -J the length of head. Anal 23, rounded anteriorly and posteriorly, slightly emarginate medianly. Pectoral spine serrated on both edges, nearly as long as the head; humeral process extending beyond the middle of the pectoral spine. Ventrals 6-rayed. Caudal obliquely truncate. Yellowish, spotted and marbled with blackish; belly white, with small greyish spots. Caroni River. PROC. ZOOL. Soc-1906, VOL. I. Xo. XXVI. 26 |