XVIII.—Notes on the Development of Callichthys littoralis

Abstract

Dr G. S. Carter, on his expedition to the Gran Chaco of South America in the year 1926–27, collected a fairly complete series of the developmental and adult stages of Callichthys. Several species were represented among the adults obtained, but the developmental stages are almost entirely those of Callichthys (now called Hoplosternum) littoralis. Callichthys belongs to a small subfamily of freshwater fishes belonging to the group Siluridæ. The fish was first described under the name of Callichthys littoralis by Hancock (10). He gives a brief description of the external form and tells how the fish make a regular nest of leaves in which they lay the eggs, and which the male and female both guard most carefully.