Austrofundulus transilis

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• AUSTRO. TRANSILIS MYERS, by Randy Keller. eee ee te we OF CYNOLEBIAS NIGRIPINNIS, by Jim Milgram oe ee ee ee OD ANNOUNCEMENTS «© se ee te wt et te te ee te tt tw 8 OO LETTERS TO THE EDITOR « » « we ww ww ew ew we we we te te ew et
• Austro. transilis Myers Randy Keller 27

• This is the smallest known species of Cynolebias (about 1 inch) and it is unlikely that any smaller will be discovered. The striking red and green curved bars on the vertical fins of the male distinguish this fish from all the other species. It will be noted that, as in opalescens, the females tend to have higher fin-ray counts than the males. The females are practically indistinguishable from those of splendens and zingiberinus, but there is no doubt of the distinctness of the species. Cynolebias splendens, new species From the water holes or ponds along base of Serra do Petropolis, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. See under C. zingiberinus for descrip- tion of type locality. Description of male. Color in alcohol dull brownish, the body banded from head to caudal base with alternate light and dark vertical bands (13 or 14 dark bands), the dark ones broader and the light inter- spaces only half as wide or less. These dark bands run out on the dorsal and anal fins for a short distance and then fade out. One paratype shows the bands faintly on the caudal, but the bands on that fin are curved, the convex side away from the caudal base. A color sketch of a live male shows the dark bands intense Paris-green in color, the narrow interspaces brilliant light red. The head is largely red, with green spots. The red cross-stripes, but not the green bars, run out on the basal parts of the dorsal and anal fins and then disappear into the solid red color of the fins. The dorsal has a green edging, as has the upper border of the solid red caudal. Pectoral and pelvic pale yellow. Iris green. This tiny fish is nearly as small as minimus and Lt. Col. White considers it to be normally quite as small. It differs from all the other species in the red and green bars on the body, and those specimens in which the bars run out on the caudal have them curved in the op- posite way from those of minimus. This is the most gaudy of all of the Rio species. The difficulty in separating the females of this species from those of zingiberinus has been mentioned, and if minimus were found in the same locality, its females also would likely be indistinguishable. Lt. Col. White could not separate females of zingiberinus from those of splendens after prolonged study of living specimens in aquaria. Austrofundulus transilis Myers This cyprinodont was described from a single specimen in the U.S. National Museum, sent by the Rockefeller Foundation for identifica- tion as a mosquito-destroying species. The locality data was not very specific, but the fish was supposed to have been taken in the Orinoco drainage of Guarico, Venezuela. Dr. Bond has rediscovered this fish in some abundance in the Maracaibo basin. He obtained 27 small speci- mens in pools 20 km. south of Lagunillas, Venezuela, on the east side of Lake Maracaibo, and six adult and half-grown specimens in a reser- voir 15 km. west of San Felix, Venezuela (Estado Falcon, 50 km. north- east of Altagracia). The specimens figured are from the latter station, the male being 63 mm and the female 60 mm standard length (Editor's Note: i.e., not counting the tail). The largest male is even bigger,

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