PARTIAL SYNOPSIS,
OF THE
^^yifyniK ad
tj m 7.
Fre^h Water Fishes
NOpTH CAROLINA.
By E. D. COPE.
V A
SEGONTD ZEIDITIO 3ST.
vn-
March., 1877.
*
PARTIAL SYNOPSIS
OF THE
Fresh Water Fishes
OF
NORTH CAROLINA.
March,, 1877.
AUTHOR’S PREFACE.
The present paper was read before the American Philosophical Society,
June, 1870. Unfortunately, this Society publishes but a small edition of its
Proceedings, the serial in which this article appeared, and only a part of
this is sold. The number for the first half of 1870 is now on this account
out of print, excepting a few copies retained for exchange. The demand
for the present essay has been such as to induce me to reprint it with the
folio in which it originally appeared. I use the opportunity to add a few
notes at its close.
Philadelphia, March 15, 1877.
I
< ,'ope. |
448
[June 7,
A PARTIAL SYNOPSIS OF THE FISHES OF THE FRESH
WATERS OF NORTH CAROLINA.
By Edw. D. Cope, A.M.
Read before the Amer. Philosophical Society, June 7, 1870.
The material on which the present investigation is based was, for the
most part, procured by the writer during the autumn of 1869. A journey
from the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee to the ocean, offered
opportunity for making collections in the waters of five hydrographic
basins, viz. : those of the Cumberland, Tennessee, Catawba, Yadkin and
Neuse. The streams of the Tennessee examined were the Clinch and
French Broad ; the former in a tributary called Coal Creek, in Anderson
Co., Tenn. ; the latter at various points, both in the mountainous part of
its course, and in the elevated and flat valley of Henderson Co., where it
takes its rise. A small seine with fine meshes, kindly lent me by the ad¬
ministration of the Smithsonian Institution, was used in the smaller
streams ; and fishermen’s apparatuses, especially weir traps, furnished
most of the species inhabiting the river channels. Passing many of the
latter at the time of year when the migratory fishes were descending, the
writer was able to examine and procure them in great numbers. The
opportunity of seeing fishes in life, it is believed, is no small aid to their
proper specific determination.
AO ANT HO PTE R Y G4I.
PERCA, Linn.
1. Perca feavescens, Cuv.
Neuse River.
ROCCUS, Gill.
2. Roccus lineatus, Bloch.
Neuse River.
STIZOSTEDIUM, Raf.
3. Stizostedium ame rican um, C. V.
This is the lai’gest Percoid of the Western waters, occasionally attain¬
ing a Weight of 35 lbs. : no specimen of more than 10 lbs. came under my
observation. It loves the most boisterous and rapid streams, ascending
them to near their sources, having much the manners, and haunting the
same waters as the trout, but of much more voracious habits. Its swift¬
ness enables it to take the black perch (Micopterus fasciatus) with ease,
though that fish is, after it, much the most powerful swimmer of the
rivers it inhabits. I took two from the stomach of a Lucioperca of eight
pounds, one of which weighed 2£ lbs. Suckers are used as bait in taking
them by hook ; but the mode in which large specimens are most readily
taken is by shooting. When the Lucioperca has gorged himself, he seeks
some shallow bayou, and lies in a sluggish state, digesting his meal. Then
1870.]
449
[Cope.
the gun-flslierman, concealed in a tree close by, makes sure of him. It is
the most valued food-fish of the French Broad, the flesh being very tender
as well as rich.
Without the opercular armature of the Percae, its chief defence is in
its numerous and powerful canine teeth, with which it makes serious
wounds on the hands of the unwary fisherman. The common name on the
French Broad is “Jack.’’
4. Stizostedium salmoneum, Raf.
This fine species was described to me as an inhabitant of the French
Broad, though I did not see it. As elsewhere it is called Salmon. A
species of this genus occurs also in the Neuse.
ETHEOSTOMA, Raf.
5. Etheostoma nevjsense, Cope.
Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc, 1870, p. 2G1.
Turbulent waters of the Neuse River.
6. Etheostoma macuuatum, Girard.
Putnam Bull. Mus. Comp. Zook, Cambridge, No. 1. Cope. Proc. Am.
Phil. Soc., 1870, 262. Iladropterxis maculatus, Girard. Proc. A. N. S.,
Phil., 1859, 100.
Abundant in the rapid waters of Buck Creek, which empties into the Ca¬
tawba, in Marion Co., N. Ca.
HYPOHOMUS, Cope.
Cotto'jaster, Cope, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci., Pliila. 1869, 210, not of
Putnam.
The name Cottojaster, my friend Prof. Putnam informs me, was ap¬
plied to species of the type of Boleosoma. It is, therefore, inapplicable
to the G. aurantiacus, to which I apply the above generic name. The
characters of the genus have been pointed out as above cited. They are
those of Etheostoma, excepting the median ventral series of shields, which
are here wanting.
7. Hypohomus aurantiacus, Cope.
Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci., Pliila., 1868, 211.
One specimen from the French Broad River, in Madison Co., North
Carolina, measuring 4 inches 8 lines in length, more than twice the size
of the types, and larger than any species of the Etheostomine group, ex¬
cepting Percina caprodes. Color in life bright yellow, with a black lateral
band, and a few brown spots on each side of the dorsal fin.
POECILICTIFYS, Agass.
8. POECILICHTHYS YITREUS, Cope.
Proceed. Am. Phil. Soc., 1870, 253.
This species is quite translucent in life. The only specimen taken was
Cope.J
450
[June 7,
adult, and exhibited ovaries well filled with well developed ova. Seven
green dorsal spots, and eight or nine linear spots on the sides, of the same
color.
Walnut creek, a tributary of the Neuse River.
9. POECILICTIIYS FRARELLATLS, Raf.
Cope, Jour. A. N. Sci., Phil., 1868, 213. Catonotus, Agass., Putn.
Bull. M. C. Zool., 1.
Var. Cope, Proc. Am. Phil. Soc., 1870, 263.
From the Catawba River.
10. POECrLICTHYS VURNERATUS, Cope.
Proceed. Am. Phil. Soc., 1870, 266.
A beautiful species from the Warm Springs Creek, Madison Co., N. Ca.,
a tributary of the French Broad River.
11. POECIRICHTHYS RUFILINEATUS, Cope.
Loc. cit. , 267.
Abundant in the same localities as the last, and one of the most ornate
species of the genus.
12. POECILICHTHYS ZONARIS, Cope.
Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phil., 1838, 212, Tab. xxiv., f. 1.
French Broad River.
BOLEOSOMA, DeKay.
Cope, Proc. A. P. Soc., 1870, 268.
13. Boreosoha effurgens, Girard.
Cope. 1. c. Arlina effulgens, Girard. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phil.,
1859, 64.
Deep River, Guilford Co., North Carolina, from Samuel C. Collins.
14. Boreosoma maculaticefs, Cope.
Proc. A. P. Soc., 1870, 269.
Upper waters of the Catawba River.
HYOSTOMA, Agass.
Cope, Jour. A. N. Sci., Phil., 1868, 214.
15. Hyostoma cymatogrammtjm, Abbott.
French Broad River.
MICROPTERUS, Lac.
Grystes, Cuv. Val.
16. Micropterus fasciatxts, DeKay.
Apparently not found east of the great Water Shed : I only obtained
it in the state in the French Bloid. Also from the Clinch and the Cum¬
berland.
/
1870.]
451
[Cope.
17. Micropterus nigricans, Cuv.
The green bass is abundant in all the rivers of the State. I have it from
the Neuse, Yadkin, Catawba, upper and lower French Broad, and from
the Clinch in Tennessee. Specimens from the Neuse and from near Nor¬
folk, Virginia, six in number, differ from those of the other rivers, in
having a deeper body, and generally longer and more prominent man¬
dible. The depth enters the length 2.75 times ; in the more western forms
always 3.25 times ; in the former it is greater than the length of the head,
in the latter it is considerably less. Other differences are not discoverable
and I regard it as a marked variety only.
POMOXYS, Raf., Agass.
18. POMOXYS II EX ACANTHUS, C. V.
Neuse River.
Numerous specimens of this species and the Pomoxys storerius from
Leavenworth, on the Missouri River, from Sami. IT. Edge.
CENTRARCHUS, C. V.
19. Centrarchus irideus, Cuv., Val.
Vol. III., p. 89, Holbrook Ichth. S. Ca., 18, Tab. III., fig 1.
From the Neuse River. A specimen presenting an additional dorsal
and anal ray, as compared with the description of Cuvier and Valenci¬
ennes ; but Holbrook adds one to the anal spines, thus agreeing with
anal formula D. xii., 14, A. viii., 15. Of a brilliant pea green in life,
without ocellus on second dorsal, as described by the above authors. Soft
dorsal and anal, with narrow, blackish bars. Not probably specifically
distinct from specimens in Mus. A. N. Sci., from South Carolina.
AMBLOPLITES, Raf., Agass.
20. Ambloplites rupestris, Raf.
Centrarchus (eneus, Cuv. Val.
Abundant in the French Broad and head of Cumberland ; none found
east of the Alleghenies.
CH.ENOBRYTTUS, Gill.
This genus, for which I have reserved the above name, is equally allied
to Lepomis and Amblopli'es. It agrees with the first in its entire and
rather produced operculum, and three anal spines, but differs materially
in possessing the additional maxillary bone of the latter, Centrarchus , Po¬
rn xys, etc. Gill defined it in consequence of its palatine and lingual den¬
tition, characters which exhibit various grades of imperfection to cn ire
extinction in the typical Lepomes. Hence, in my view of fresh wa'er
fishes from the Allegheny region of southwest Virginia, I united Lepomis,
Bryttus, and Chsenobryttus. I now discover the importance of the
presence or absence of the additional maxillary bone, which, with the
Cope.]
452
[June 7,
emargination of the operculum previously pointed out, enables me to
define the genera more satisfactorily than my predecessors. Thus they
may be arranged in groups.
I. Operculum emarginate ; a supernumerary maxillary bone ; — Microp-
terus, Ambloplites, Pomoxys, Centrarclius, Acantliarchus, Enueacanthus
(?) Hemioplites.
II. Operculum emarginated ; no supernumerary maxillary : — Meso-
gonistius.
III. Operculum entire, produced ; an additional bone attached to the
maxillary : — Chaenobryttus.
IY. Operculum as last; no supernumerary maxillary Lepomis,
Pomotis.
21. Chaenobryttus giluii, Cope.
Lepomis (jillii, Cope. Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1868, 225.
This species is exceedingly common in all the streams of North Caro¬
lina east of the Allegheny Mountains. It does not occur in the French
Broad. All the specimens have clouded markings on the sides, which in
the young, are broad, distinct olive-brown cross-bands, which embrace
pale spots, giving a chain-like pattern. Fins blackish, cross-barred ; four
brown bands radiating backwards from orbit. Iris bright red. The spe¬
cies is rarely seen more than five inches long, and prefers rather still
waters. It bites the hook very readily, and is called the red -eyed bream
on the Catawba.
The C. mineopas, Cope, possesses the additional maxillary, and I have
no doubt the G. melnnops (Gill’s type), and the C. cliarybdis, Cope, though
I lifive not been able to verify it on the latter.
ENNEACANTIIUS, Gill.
Jour. A. N. Sci., Phil., 1868, 218.
22. Enneacanthus guttatus, Morris.
Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1858, p. 3.
Abundant in the Neuse River in still water, as in Virginia and Newr
Jersey.
LEPOMIS, Raf.
23. Lepomis rubricauda, Holbr.
This marked species, the southern representative of the L. appendix,
is very common in the hydrographic basins of the Catawba, Yadkin and
Neuse. In life the second dorsal and caudal fins are red, and there is a bay
spot at the base of each scale forming interrupted stripes. Flap of oper-
culuni black, the continuation of a dark shade from the preoperculum,
which is bordered above and below by a blue band ; two blue lines on
operculum below the latter.
24. Lepomis megai.otis, Raf.
L. incisor Cuv. Val.
From the upper waters of the French Broad.
1870. 1
453
[Cope.
There are several species allied to the present, which may be distin¬
guished, as follows :
Scales 4 — 35 — 11.
Dorsal spines short, longest equal muzzle and orbit to pupil ; mucous
cavities small ; eye four times in head with long flap, which is black,
red bordered below and behind ; anal spine reaching base last anal ray.
L. PELTASTES.
Scales 5-7—86-47—2-14.
Spines of dorsal shorter, equalling muzzle and half orbit; third spine
of anal not reaching base of last anal ray ; ear flap long, blue edged be¬
low ; pectoral scales large ; a spot on second dorsal. L. megalotis.
Spines etc., as above; pectoral scales small, no spot on second dorsal.
L. c. 41 — 4. L. nit i dus.
Spines longer than the above, dorsal equal muzzle and orbit .5 or head ;
anal reaching base last ray ; opercular flap very sin ill not lighter mar¬
gined ; spot on second dorsal.
L. c. 36—9. L. NOTATUS.
Spines longest, more than muzzle and orbit ; anal extending beyond
last anal ray ; ear flap very short, not light margined ; spot on second
dorsal. L. speciosus.*
Eye .33 of head ; scales 7—47 ; spines long, equal muzzle and orbit ;
anal ray extending beyond base last anal ; opercular flap very small ; spot
on second dorsal. L. purpuiiescens.
Lepomus nitidus, Kirtland.
L. megalotis, var. B. Cope, Journ. A. N. Sci.. Pliila., 1865, p. 220.
Common in Coal Creek a tributary of the Clinch River ; not seen in
North Carolina.
25. Lepomis notatus, Agass.
Amer. Journ. Sci. Arts, XVII, 302.
This species is allied to the L. ardesiacus. Cope (1. c., p. 222), but its
scales are larger, there being but 36 — 9 on the lateral line, and 13 below
it, while there are 45, with 17 below, in the latter. The eye is also larger,
entering the head only three times, while it is measured four times by the
same in an L. ardesiacus of the same size.
The general form is elongate oval, the front of dorsal region steep, the
muzzle conic and not obtuse. Eye large and round, its diameter measur¬
ing muzzle and half itself, and .2 more than interorbital width : II. D. X.
11, A. III. 10. Depth 2.33 times in length to end of lateral line. Four
rows scales on cheek; no palatine teeth. Scales above lateral line, five
large series and one small one. Length 3 . 5 inches. Color uniform green¬
ish brown, below yellowish ; no band. No red on the very small opercular
spot. Fins not cross barred.
Very abundant in the upper French Broad River, North Carolina, and
the tributaries of the Clinch, East Tennessee.
* Lepomis speciosus Girard .L. herns, Girard. L. lonyispini . Cope Journ. A. N. Sri. 18C8,
220 ; from Texas.
A. P. S. — VOL. XI. — 74e
Cope.]
454
[June 7,
This is probably Agassiz species as above, but the orange on the opercu¬
lar flap scarcely extends pos.erior to the black spot, and is easily lost
sight of in spirits.
26. Lepo.mis rcriiPUREscENS, Cope.
Species nov t.
This is an elevated compressed fish, with very small or rudimental
opecular flap, like the L. notatus, L. ardesiacus and L. nephelas. It is
similar to the first, and different from the L. ardesiacus in its large eye,
which enters the head scarcely three times, and the interorbital width .75
times, but agrees with the latter in its small numerous scales. Thus
there are six rows of equal scales above the lateral line, and one small one,
and 47 on the lateral line and 13 below it ; (in the L. ardesiacus there are
17 below it). Depth 2.25 to 2.33 in length (exclus. caudal fin1. The
spinous rays of this fish arc nearly as long as in the L. speciosus. The
caudal fin is longer than usual, equalling at least, the head. Length of
latter, three times in length of body + head. Six rows scales on the cheek.
Length three inches. Mucous cavities small.
Color in life a pale silvery lilac, darkest in four or five vertical shades
across the sides, which disappear in alcohol. Fins unicolor except dark
shades on middle of anal, and second dorsal and edge of caudal, with a
black spot at lower posterior portion of second dorsal.
Abundant in a tributary of the Yadkin River in Roane County, North
Carolina.
Lepomis peltastes, Cope.
A deep stout species of small size, distinguished for its large scales, short
spines and bright color ; mucous caverns small. Eye large, equal muzzle,
four times in length of head with long opercular flap, just equal interorbital
width. Head with flap 2.5 times in length ; depth 2.1 times in same. Cau¬
dal fin and peduncle considerably more than one-third the length. Longest
dorsal spine equal from end muzzle to middle of pupil ; longest anal
reaching base last anal ray.
Five rows scales on cheek, three large and two small rows above lateral
line ; those of middle of sides larger than those on lower part. The pro¬
file is regularly descending to end of muzzle ; front but little concave.
Radii D. X. 11. A. III. 10. Length three inches.
Color above golden brown, sides and belly golden, top of head blackish.
Large black opercular spot, red margined below and behind. I dorsal fin
blackish, II D. blackish at base orange above, anal similar, caudal blackish,
ventrals more or less black. The pectoral fins do not quite reach the
base of the anal fin.
This species is from the Huron River, Michigan, whence it was procured
through the kindness of my friend Prof. Alexander Winched, Ann Arbor,
Michigan. Its relationships are to the L. oculatus, Cope, but in that
species the eye is smaller, and the tail and peduncle are .33 of the length.
In L. anagallinm the mucous caverns are much larger.
1870.]
455
[Cope.
POMOTIS, Cuvier.
27. POMOTIS MACULATUS, Mltcllill .
Morone Mitchill, P. vulgaris, Holbr.
From all the rivers of North Carolina east of the Allegheny Range.
Identical with specimens from Pennsylvania and Michigan.
URANIDEA, Dekay.
28. Uranidea caroling, Gill.
Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. His., 1861, 41.
Abundant in the French Broad River in Madison County, North Caro¬
lina.
APHREDODIRUS, Lesueur.
29. Aphredodirus sayanus, Gilliam.
Journ. A. N. Sci., Pliila., IY, 81, pi. Ill ; Dekay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes
p. 85, pi. xxi., fig. 62.
Abundant in sluggish waters tributary to the Neuse River in Wake
County, North Carolina.
LABIDESTHES, Cope.
Fam. Atherinidce. Premaxillary bones prolonged anteriorly into a roof¬
shaped beak of elongate form, moderately projectile ; reaching posteriorly
to the line of the orbit : its teeth in several series. Mandible as long as
the muzzle. No palatine teeth.
This genus differs from Chirostoma (Atherinopsis, Blkr.) in the duck¬
like muzzle, which is almost exactly like that of the Belonesox beli-
zinus, though shorter. Like it, the premaxillaries are not coossified,
and are separated on the superior surface by a groove between the
median portions. The general characters remind one so of Belonesox,
as to s rengtlien the belief in the close relationship existing between Atheri
rkheand Cyprinodontidre, though the former is Acanthopterygian, and the
latter Malacopterygian.
Labidesthes sicculus, Cope.
Chirostoma sicoulum. Cope. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Pliila., 1865, p. 81.
Form slender, the depth contained in the length (without caudal fin)
seven times; the length of the
head 4.33 times in the same.
The eye is large and round,
contained 3. 6 times in the head,
1.5 times in the length of the
muzzle and once in the inter¬
orbital space. The top of the
head and muzzle are plane, the
latter convex transversely, and
not exceeded by the extremity
of the mandible. Front with
a median ridge. A distinct V mucous pore above each orbit. The teeth
Cope.]
456
[June 7,
are elongate, slender and simple. The piemaxillaries are a little projectile;
extremity of maxillary acuminate. The first dorsal commences at a point
mid-way between the basis of the tail and the anterior margin of the orbit,
or opposite the 3-4th anal radii. The second dorsal commences above a
point a little in front of the middle of the anal. Radii D. IV. 10 ; A. I.
22-3 ; V. I. 5 ; P. 12. The scales are small, in 14 longitudinal, and 75
transverse series.
In life this fish is translucent, with a silver band on each side, which
covers one scale and two halves, and is lead-edged above. The dorsal re¬
gion and top of head are dusted minutely with black. Operculum and
cheek silvery.
M.
Length . 0.074
Of head . 0.015
Of pectoral fin . 0.011
Base of anal . 0.018
Width head behind . 0.006
This little fish I took in great abundance in Coal Creek, a tributary of
the Clinch, in East Tennessee. It was very abundant, and easily caught
in rather sluggish wa'er. The stream named passing through a limestone
region, is liable to partial desiccation in the Autumn, and in several pools,
thus formed, I obtained this species.
In the original description I gave D. V., which should probably be as
here stated, D. IV.
MALACOPTERYGII.
FUNDULUS, Lac.
30. FuNDfjnus catenatus, Storer.
Cope, Journ. A. N. Sci., Phil., 1868, Tab. xxiv., fig. 2.
Clinch River, abundant. ,
IIAPLOCHILUS, McClelland.
I refer the following species to this genus, without going into its syn¬
onymy, following the arrangement given by Gunther in the Catalogue of
the British Museum. In consideration of the peculiar views of this au¬
thor respecting specific and generic characters, I consider this a tempo¬
rary arrangement, to be rectified by a more thorough analysis of the
subject at some future time.*
* Ftindulu * nisorias, Cope, Sp. nov-
Stout; heed four times in length to basis caudal; orbit four times in length of head, and twice
in inter-orbital width. Depth 3.75 times in length. Anal fin commencing about opposite the
middle of the dorsal. Cheek scaly, operculum smooth. Scales of body in. 36 transverse. and 12
longitudinal series. Radii D. 12 A. 10 or 11 extending more than half way from basis of first ray
to basis caudal. Length of female, four inches. Color uniform light brown, yellowish below.
Most of the specimens of this species (seven) are females, and in them the oviducts are pro¬
longed in a tube to near the extremity of the first ray of the anal fin. Several have many well
developed eggs in the former. Small, faintly cross-banded specimens, perhaps males, do not pre-
1870.]
457
[Cope.
31. IIaplochiltjs melanops, Cope.
Sp. nov.
First dorsal ray opposite middle of anal. Scales in. 31 transverse, and
9 longitudinal series. Radii D. 1.6, A. 1.8, Y. 6. Head 3.68 times in
length, exclusive of caudal fin ; eye 3 times in head, 1.6 times in inter
orbital width. Dorsal and anal fins each short, each measuring less than
half the distance from their first ray to to the basis of the caudal fin. Cau¬
dal narrowed, rounded.
Above, yellowish brown, scales darker edged, a few longitudinal lines
on some dorsals ; in some specimens, a median brown dorsal line. Dorsal
and caudal fins each with a row of black dots across the middle, and one
near the margin. Belly golden. Length 1.5 inches, the largest size. A
blue-black spot below the eye in most specimens.
Very abundant in still waters of the Neuse basin, Wake Co., N. Ca.
ESOX, Linn.
32. Esox affinis, Holbrook.
Ichtli. S. Carolina, 198, Pi. xxviii., fig. 1.
This species is near to but distinct from the E. rettculatus of the North.
In life it is of a bright light emerald green, with dark reticulations.
Common in the Neuse River.
33. Esox ravenelii, Holbrook.
Ichthyology South Carolina, p. 201, PI. xxvii., fig. 2.
Length from muzzle to pectoral equalling length from pectoral to ven¬
tral fin ; latter space embracing 37 transverse series of scales. From end
muzzle to orbit less than from orbit to opercular border. Br. XIII. D- II.
12. Brown above with brown cross-bars ; edge of dorsal and caudal
fins red.
This species is near E. americanus, but has a relatively longer head.
Size and color similar. From the Catawba River, N. Ca.
SEMOTILUS, Rafinesque.
Putnam, Cope.
34. Semotilus coupoualis, Mitchill.
From the French Broad, Catawba, Yadkin, Deep, and Neuse Rivers.
CERATICHTHYS, Baird.
Four species of this genus were observed, of which two are new to
Zoology. They both belong to
Sect. II., mouth more or less inferior, small ; teeth 4-4 or 4. 1. — 1. 4;
size small.
Depth less than length head ; last dorsal ray more than half first ; muz¬
zle narrow, beards long ; small ; C. labrosus.
sent this character. There are no pseudo-branchiae. From Gaboon. W. Africa. P. B.DuChaillu.
It may be stated in this connection that the genus called Lycocoprinushy Peters, for Haplo-
ch'loid fishes with pseudo-branchiae, was previously named Epiplatys by Gill . The type of the
latter. E. sexfasciacus (1882), from Gaboon, is different from the E. (L .) ftexfuscuitus (1864), the
type of Peters. The latter rnay. therefore, take the name of E. infra/'isciutus (1S65), which
Gujther gave the same species, subsequent to Peters.
Cope.
458
[June 7,
Depth equal length head ; last dorsal ray less than half first ; muzzle
broad, beards small. C. hypstnotus.
35. Ceiiatichthys labrosus, Cope.
Spec. nov.
This is a peculiar species of slender proportions. The top of the head
is gently decurved to a muzzle which scarcely overhangs the thick, pro¬
jectile upper maxillary arch. The mouth is entirely horizontal, and the ex¬
tremity of the maxillary bone attains the line of the orbit. The latter
enters the length of the head 3.75 times, and is just exceeded by the inter¬
orbital width. The head enters length to origin caudal from 4 to 4.5
times. Front arched in transverse section. Depth 5.5 times in length.
The dorsal line is nearly plane, and the elevation of the first dorsal rays
is contained twice in the length from its base to the anterior rim of the
pupil : it stands over origin of ventral. Scales large G — 34-5 — 4. Radii
D. 8 ; A. 8.
Lines.
Total length . 26.5
Of caudal fin . 5.t
Of head . 5.8
Teeth 4. 1 - 1. 4.
This fish is silvery from the middle of the sides downwaids. In some
specimens there are numerous blackish scales above the lateral line, which
are arranged so as to form indistinct cross-bars in life ; in other specimens
the color is quite transparent, indicating two varieties. The latter are
frequently a little more slender than the former.
The beards of this species are relatively longer than in any other spe¬
cies of the genus. The prominent lips remind one of Phenacobius. The
species is not uncommon on the bottom in clear and rapid creeks which
flow into the upper waters of the Catawba River, in Macdowell and Burke
Counties, N. Ca.
36. Ceratichthys hypsinotus, Cope.
Spec. nov.
This little species has a stout robust form. The head and muzzle are
broad and flat ; the muzzle is not prominent ; the mouth is inferior and
horizontal ; the maxillary just reaches the line of the orbit. The form is
characterized in the genus by the gradual elevation of the dorsal line to
the base of the first ray of the dorsal fin, and its rather abrupt descent
from that point. The base of this fin is thus oblique and the distal out¬
line is vertical ; the posterior ray being less than half as long as the ante¬
rior. This produces a characteristic appearance. The head is short,
and enters the length 3'75 times, equalling the depth. Body compressed.
Orbit 3.5 times in length head, and once in inter-orbital space. Lips, es¬
pecially inferior, thin ; beards small. Scales, 4-5 - 38-41 - 3. Teeth
4. 1 - 1. 4. Dorsal fin originating a little in advance of above ventrals ;
8. A. smaller than dorsal, 8.
Lin«s.
Length . 33.6
Caudal fin . 6.5
Depth . 7
Width head behind orbits . 3.5
1870.]
459
[Cope.
Co'or in life silvery, with a double series of black specks along the lat¬
eral line, and a lateral band of dusted blackish ; a dark line round
muzzle between orbits. Membrane of dorsal fin often shaded with
blackish.
• Common in creeks heading the Catawba R., in Macdowell Co., N. Ca.,
or tributary to the Yadkin River in Roane Co., in the same State.
37. Ceratichthys hyalinus, Cope.
Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phil., 1868, 226.
From the French Broad and Clinch Rivers in Nor Ji Carolina and Ten¬
nessee ; not fou.id east of the Alleghenies.
38. Ceratichthys biguttatus, Ivirtl.
Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1866, 366.
Found in the rivers of East Tennessee and North Carolina, from the
heads of the Cumberland, to, and including, the Neuse.
ARGYREUS, Heckel.
39. Argyreus lunatus, Cope.
Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1864, 278. Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1868, 228, Tab.
23, fig. 3.
Common in the tributaries of the French Broad and Holston Rivers, in
North Carolina and Tennessee. The absence of any species of this genus
in the rivers of North Carolina east of the Alleghenies is a peculiar feature.
They no doubt occur in the Roanoke, as I have taken A. atronasus from
that river in Virginia.
HYPSILEPIS, Baird.
40. IIypsilepis coccogenis, Cope.
Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1867, 160.
Common in the French Broad and Clinch Rivers. Not found in the
Beech Fork of the head of the Cumberland.
41. IIypsilepis cornutus, Mitch.
Var. frontalis, Agass., Cope, 1. c., 158.
Abundant in Coal Creek, a tributary of the Clinch River in Tennessee :
Var. cornutus, Cope, 1. c. From the Neuse River.
42. Hypsilepis analostanus, Girard.
Cope, 1. c., p. 161.
Found in abundance in the Catawba River, but nowhere in the tribu¬
taries of the Tennessee or Cumberland. Found in the Neuse River.
43. IIypsilepis galacturus, Cope.
Loc. cit., 160.
Most common in all the tributaries of the French Broad, Clinch and
Cumberland. It does not occur cast of the Alleghenies.
Cope.]
4G0
[June 7,
Ilypsilepis ardens, Cope.
Loe. cit., p. 163.
Abundant in the headwaters of the south fork of the Cumberland River
in Tennessee. In my examination of the Virginia streams, I did not find
it in any western water, but only in the Roanoke and James Rivers.
HYBOPSIS, Agass.
Cope. Transac. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1866, 379.
Group A .
44. Hybopsis amarus, Girard.
Proceed Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1856, 210. Hybopsis phaenna, Cope,
1. c., 1864, 279.
Specimens from the Catawba River all have a relatively longer head
than typical examples from the Potomac ; former 4 times in length to
basis caudal fin ; hitter 4.5 times. They have also teeth 4.1 — 1.4, in place
of 4.2 — 2.4 ; the three inferior of the outer row obtuse, without hook, the
superior one only with masticatory face. Both varieties may really be¬
long to the H. hudsonius, as indicated in Monograph Cyprinidte Penn¬
sylvania.
Group B .
Hybopsis longiceps, Cope.
Journal Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1868, 231.
Abundant in the headwaters of the Cumberland River, and Coal Creek,
a branch of the Clinch River, Tennessee. Originally found in the Roanoke
and James Rivers, Virginia.
45. Hybopsis spectruncueus, Cope.
Loc. Cit. 231.
Prom the tributaries of the French Broad in the high valley of Hend¬
erson County, North Carolina.
€
Group B B .
Teeth + 4. 4 + ; mouth horizontal, lower jaw received beneath upper.
46. Hybopsis niveus, Cope.
Spec. nov.
Char. Head 4.5 in length ; depth 5 times in the same ; eye 3. 3 in head,
_ 6 _
equal muzzle. Scales 33.40; anal I. 8. White, a black spot on dorsal fin
3
behind.
Description. This is a regularly fusiform fish, the dorsal region more
arched than the ventral. Head conic, muzzle obtuse, not projecting,
mouth nearly terminal ; preorbital large, longer than deep. Occipital
region arched, its breadth at superior extremity of operculum equal from
end muzzle to middle pupil. Muzzle about equal orbit, preorbital bone
elongate ; end of maxillary extending to opposite anterior rim of orbit.
1870.]
461
[Cope.
Mouth slightly oblique downward, mandible included ; isthmus medium.
Fins D. I. 8, A. I. 8 ; the osseous dorsal ray separated from the first
cartilaginous by a narrow membrane, and originating above the ventrals.
Posterior ray 8-5 length of the anterior.
Length 81.3 lines ; of caudal 5.8 lines ; to basis dorsal 12.9 lines. From
basis to apex pectorals 4.1 lines ; same to basis ventrals 13. 1.
Color in life very pale, sides and below silvery; a blackish spot at basis
caudal, and a large dark spot at upper posterior part of dorsal fin.
Common in the upper waters of the Catawba River, North Carolina.
Group D.
(5)-6
Teeth 4.1— 1.4; lateral line little decurved ; scales socmuzzle short ob-
3
tuse ; interorbital region wider ; depth 5 ; head 4 times in length. A. I. 8.
H. CHLOROCEPHALUS.
7
Teeth 4.2 — 2.4 ; lateral line much decurved ; scales 34-7; muzzle acumi-
2
nate; interorbital space narrower; depth 5.5, head 4 times in length.
A. I. 8. H. CHILITICUS.
47. IIybopsis ciilorocephalus, Cope.
Spec. nov.
This small species is rather stout and has a deep caudal peduncle. The
head is broad with large orbit, descending muzzle, and descending mouth,
orbit in head three times, diameter exceeding length of muzzle. End of
maxillary extending beyond line of orbit ; premaxillary margin barely
reaching plane of lower margin of pupil. Interorbital width much more
than length of muzzle. Lateral line moderately decurved. Dorsal fin
above ventrals, elevated : R. I. 8, A. I. 8.
Length (total; 27 lines ; to origin dorsal 11.9 lines ; to basis caudal 21.6
lines. Everywhere, except on belly and below orbits thickly dusted
with blackish, especially gathered into a lateral band which terminates in
a basal caudal spot. Fins unspotted, in life a metallic green line on the
vertebral line, and one from the upper angle of each operculum to caudal,
visible in several lights ; below the latter, dark crimson ; dorsal and
caudal fins, operculum and cheek with end of nose, all crimson. Part of
operculum, properculum, postfrontal region and top of head metallic
green.
This surpassingly beautiful fish is abundant in the clear waters wdiich
it inhabits, viz. : the tributaries of the Catawba River.
This species may be compared with H. rubricroceus and H. plum-
beolus as its nearest allies. The former has a relatively larger head, and
more slender caudal peduncle, A. I. 9. The latter is much shorter and
deeper fish ; its depth enters the length 4.G times ; the eyes the head only
2.75 times.
a. p. s. — VOL. xi. — 30e
Cope.]
4(52
I June 7,
43. IIybopsis chiltticus, Cope.
Spec. nov.
This species is an ally of the last ; it has a more clupeoid aspect, seen in
strongly decurved lateral line and more acuminate muzzle. Head broad
behind occiput, convex, interorbital width less than length of muzzle, orbit
3 times in head, exceeding length of muzzle ; maxillary extending beyond
its anterior rim. Teeth 4.2 — 2.4. Dorsal small, originating above vent-
rals, R. I. 8, A. I. 8. Line of premaxillary margin opposite middle of
pupil.
Length 24.4 lines ; to basis dorsal 12.41; to basis caudal 24.4 1. Length
pectoral from base 5 ; from same base to do. ventrals 5.7 lines.
In life pure silver while to the dorsal line ; the dorsal scales brown
edged ; a vermilion band through anal fin and one through dorsal ; the
lips vermilion all round the mouth.
This species is as beautiful as the H. cliloroceplialus ; if not as rich, its
tints are much more transparent. Common in the tributaries of the Yad¬
kin River, in Roane County, North Carolina.
HEMITREMIA, Cope.
Genus novum.
Char. Dentition 5 5, with marked masticatory surface. Alimentary
canal short, with the usual two flexures. The lateral line one-half want¬
ing, and generally imperfect. First (osseous) dorsal ray adherent. Pre¬
maxillary projectile.
This genus is Hybopsis with teeth 5 — 4, and undeveloped lateral line.
Perhaps it will be necessary in future to refer II. lieterodon and H.
bifrenatus to it.
Hemitremia vittata, Cope.
This is a slout species with very short head and obtuse muzzle. The
latter is rounded horizontally from the orbits. The mouth is short and
oblique ; the end of the maxillary does not reach the orbit. Diameter of
orbit equal muzzle, 3.5 in head ; 1.33 times in interorbital width. Length
head 4.2 times to base caudal ; depth 4.5 in same isthmus rather wider.
The first dorsal ray originates a little behind above the ventrals ; scales
6
3sT Radii D. I. 8 ; A. E. 7. Length to basis caudal 24.4 lines. Do. to
4
basis dorsal 13.2 lines ; length pectoral 4.2.
The specimen is alcoholic, and I do not know the colors in life. There
is a conspicuous dark shade along the median lateral line, and a pale band
above it ; above this the whole dorsal region is of a dark color.
This species is from the tributaries of the Holston River, near Knox¬
ville, Tennessee, and was procured by my friend, Prof. Harrison Allen,
who submitted the specimen to me for examination.
PHOTOGENIS, Cope.
Proceed. Acad. Nat, Sci., 1867, 163.
1870.]
403
[Cope.
49. Photogenis leucops, Cope.
Var. aaaa. Depth into length to basis caudal fin 6.5 to 7 times ; head
(5-7
in same 4.5 times ; scales38! abundant in the French Broad River.
2
Yar. aaaa'i. Depth into length 5 times; length head into same 4 times;
5-6
scales38; color silvery, a double row of black specks on lateral line. Very
abundant in the head waters of the Catawba River. This fish when taken
from the water, always sustains a rupture of some of (he branches of the
ophthalmic artery by which blood is suffused beneath the cornea. The
altered condition of pressure on transfer to a rare medium, is no doubt the
cause.
Also from the Neuse River, near Raleigh.
50. Photogenis telescopus, Cope.
Loc. Cit. 165.
Very abundant in the French Broad River ; a variety with large eye in
a tributary of the Clinch.
51. Photogenis leuciodus, Cope.
Loc. Cit. 165.
Abundant in the waters of the tributaries of the French Broad River.
52. Photogenis pyrkhomelas, Cope.
Spec. nova.
This species is in most characters related to the Hypsilepides, and it
combines remarkably the characters of the H. cornutus, H. analostanus,
and H. diplsemia. Thus it has the head of the first, the form, with
milky paired, and black spotted dorsal of the second, and the long anal of
the third. As the teeth are without masticatory surface, I refer it for
the present to this genus.
The extremity of the muzzle descends obliquely to the mouth, which is
itself oblique, the end of the maxillary descending to a line from the an¬
terior margin of the orbit. The mandibular and premaxillary margins
are in the same vertical line when the mouth is closed. The diameter of
the eye ball enters the length of the head 3.6 times, and 1.25 times in
interorbital width. Length of head four times in length, depth about the
same. The body is therefore rather deep and compressed. Teeth sharp,
hooked, 4.1 — 1.4. Radii D. I. 8, A. I. 10. V. 8. The extremities of the
pectorals barely reach the ventrals, and the ventrals attain the anal.
6_
Scales 34 6 ; most of them with narrow exposed surfaces, as in typical
3
Hypsilepis. Total length 40 1.; to orbit, 2.8 1.; to origin dorsal fin 16.5 1 ;
to origin caudal 32.7 1.
In coloration this is again one of the finest of our Cyprinidse. Specimens
taken in autumn were steel blue above, the scales darker edged ; the belly
silver. The muzzle and upper lip to the end of the maxillary, are vermil-
Cope.]
404
[June 7,
lion ; also, the iris above and below the orbit. The dorsal fin has a large
black spot on the posterior half ; the fin is anteriorly vermilion. The
tail has a rather broad black posterior margin, and a wide vermilion
crescent following it into the points of the fin : base of the fin pale. Anal
and ventral fins with milky pigment.
Small horny tubercles appear on the upper surface of the head in spring,
as in the species of Hypsilepis.
In this case I have assigned this species to its genus in accordance with
its technical characters, but it is probable that it will be necessary to
change the arrangement at some future time, — when the structure of these
fishes is better know.
The P. pyrrhomelas is the most abundant fish in the tributaries of the
upper Catawba River, North Carolina.
ALBURNELLUS, Girard.
Several species of this genus were obtained, and may be compared with
others already known, as follows :
I. Ventral fins extending beyond dorsal, reaching anal.
Scales 5 — 36 — 2 ; dorsal much elevated. A. 8. A. altipinnis.
II. Ventrals extending to opposite last dorsal ray ; not to anal.
a. Scales above lateral line 5 — 6.
/?. Scales large, lateral line 33.
Orbit large. A. megalops.
/?;?. Scales smaller, 1. 1. 38—40.
Scales f; head smaller, body stouter. A. 8, eye smaller. A. amabilis.
Scales |; head larger, body slender. A. 10, eye larger.
A. JACULUS.
Scales, etc., as last ; eye much larger. A. arge.
aa. Scales above 1. 1. 7.
7_
Scales 4tl slender. A. 11. A. matutinus.
3
aaa. Scales above 1. 1. 9,
Rather stout. A. umbratilis.
III. Ventrals only extending to line of middle of dorsal.
Head 4.5 in length ; scales 397 A. micropteryx.
3
53. Alburnellus altipinnis, Cope.
Spec. nov.
This species is much less elongate than such typical forms of the genus
as A. jaculus, etc. The head is short, but not wide. Orbit very large,
diameter exceeding muzzle, entering length of head 2.75 times, one-third
greater than the interorbital width. Head 4.33 times in length to basis of
caudal, depth five times in same. Anterior dorsal radii unusually pro¬
longed for the genus, equal just half distance from the base to end of muz¬
zle. D. I. 8. A. I. 9. The pectorals do not quite reach the base of the
1870.]
465
[Cope.
ventrals. Total length 26 lines ; to basis of dorsal 11 lines ; to basis
caudal 21 lines.
Color white, a broad lateral silver band punctulated with strong black
dots. A black band across operculum to orbit, and black spot on pre¬
orbital bone. Top of head to origin premaxillaries black shaded.
Two marked bony ridges connected with the system of mucous tubes,
diverge from the apices the premaxillary bones to the epiotic region
on each side enclosing an urceolate interspace.
From the Yadkin River, Roane County, North Carolina.
54. Albtjrnellus matutinus, Cope.
A compact slender species with small scales. Orbit large, contained 3.5
times in length of head, and scarcely larger than length of muzzle, equal
also interorbital width. Length of head contained 4.25 times in total less
caudal fin, depth six times in same. Length of first dorsal ray just .33
distance from its base to end of muzzle. Pectorals considerably short of
ventrals, ventrals short of anal. R. A. I. 11. Twenty-five rows of scales
across dorsal line in front of dorsal fin.
Length 32 lines ; to basis dorsal 14.4 lines ; to basis caudal 26 lines.
Above olivaceous, edges of scales brown shaded ; lateral band plumbeous ;
sides and below silvery, a dark spot at base of caudal fin. End of muzzle
and chin bright rufous.
From the Neuse River, in Wake County, North Carolina. The first
species of the genus found in Atlantic waters.
55. Alburnelltjs micropteryx, Cope.
Journal Ac. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1868, 233.
Several specimens of this species were taken in Coal Creek, a tributary
of the Clinch River, Tennessee, and preserve exactly the characters by
which this species was originally distinguished from A. jaculus m.
CLINOSTOMUS, Girard.
56. Clinostomus affinis, Girard.
Jour. A. Nat. Sci., Pliila., 1868, 228.
Very abundant in the waters of the Catawba and Yadkin.
STILBE, Dekay.
57. Stjlbe Americana, Linn.
Common in still and sluggish water of the Catawba, Yadkin and Neuse
Basins.
HYBOGNATHUS, Agass.
The species of this genus are few, and have a wide distribution. Those
known to the writer are distinguished as follows :
I. Suborbital bones broad, short ; speculum on postfrontal region large.
Scales | ; eye small, one-sixth of head, twice in muzzle ; A. 8.
H. placitus.
Cope.l
466
[June 7,
Scales 5-39 \, eye 4.25 to 4.5, less than length muzzle ; head wide, en¬
tering length 4.66 times ; A. 8. H. nuchalis.
II. Suborbital bones long, slender ; speculum on postfrontal region
little marked.
Scales 6 — 38 — 4; head 4.75 times in length, wide; eye large 3 times
in head, larger than length muzzle ; A. 7.
H. OSMERINUS.*
Scales 5-6 - 36 - 3-4 ; head narrow 4.25 times in length ; eye large,
diameter exceeding muzzle, 3.3 times in head ; A. 8.
H. ARGYRITIS.
58. Hybognathus argyritis, Girard.
Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Pliila., 1856, 182. U. S. Pac. R. R. Surv., vol.
X. Tab.
This species was described by Dr. Girard, from specimens obtained by
the U. S. Explorations for the Pacific Railroad route, from the Milk and
Arkansas Rivers. It appears to be very abundant in the Catawba River,
North Carolina. Specimens from it cannot be distinguished from those
from the Arkansas in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution.
CAMPOSTOMA, Agass.
59. Campostoma anomalum, Raf.
Rutilus Raf., Campostoma, Agass.
From the Cumberland, Clinch and French Broad Rivers, west of the
Alleghenies and the Catawba River east of them.
CATOSTOMIDiE.
Prof. Gill proposed to distinguish this group from the Cyprinida; as a
family (in Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1861, p. 8), basing the latter
on the peculiar characters of the pharyngeal bones and teeth. This
course has not been followed by subsequent writers, and the character
assigned does not appear to me to warrant the proposed separation. I find,
however, that while the premaxillary bone completes the superior arch of
the mouth in the Crypinidse, in the Calostomidse, those bones form but a
slight portion of the same, the maxillary bones entering into it extensively
on each side. This feature is evidently of importance sufficient to define
the family, and I therefore adopt it as left by Prof. Gill.
* Hybognathus osmerinus, Cope spec.nov.
The characters of this species are expressed in the above table . It is very near the H . argyritis
Gir. but has a materially shorter head and smaller anal fin. The head is relatively wider. The
preorbital bone is about as long as deep. The mandible very attenuate, and with a slight
symphyseal tubercle. End of maxillary not beyond line of posterior nares. Orbit large. D.I. 8. A.
1.7. (H. regius has II— 9 A., according to Girard. ) Total length 31.2. lines ; of head 5 1.; to basis
dorsal 12 .5 1 .; to basis caudal 12 .7 1 . Pectorals and ventrals very short ; first articulated dorsal ray
6 lines long. A broad silver lateral band ; bright olive above it, pale below it : no black spot on
basis caudal . Speculum on postfrontal region small and little visible.
This species is abundant in the Raritan River, New Jersey, in early spring ascending the river
with the smelt (Osmerus). Discovered by my friend. Dr. Chas. C. Abbot, of Trenton, who is
investigating the ichthyology of New Jersey.
1870.]
467
PLACOPHARYNX, Cope.
[Cope.
Genus novum.
Allied to Ptychostomus, Ag. The pharyngeal teeth much reduced in
number, only seven on the proximal half of the hone, cylindric in form,
with a broad truncate triturating surface. These play against a broad
crescentic chitin-like shield on the posterior roof of the pharyngeal cavity.
Three divisions of the vesica natatoria.
With a great superficial resemblance to Ptychostomus, the masticatory
apparatus is different from that of any Catostomoid form known to me, and
combines peculiarities observed in forms of true Cyprinidee. The chitin-
like shield is found in some of the latter ; it is represented in Catostomus,
Ptychostomus and Carpiodes, by a narrow and very thin pellicle of the
same material, frequently interrupted in the middle line.
I know as yet but one species of the genus.
Placopharynx carinatus, Cope.
Species nova.
The physiognomy and proportions of this sucker are those of the
Pt. erythrurus or the “red horse” of the Western Rivers.
The lips are large and plicate, the anterior pendent like that of the P.
collapsus, the posterior full like that of Pt.
cervinus. Muzzle vertically truncate. Length
of head in that of body four times ; depth of
body in same 3.66 times; scales 6 — 41 — 5. Radii
D. XIV, V. 9. A. 7. Free margin of dorsal
straight, not elevated anteriorly. Occipital
region more elevated medially than in Pt. ery¬
thrurus, superior ridges well marked, with a
special addition characteristic of this species,
and of none other with which I am acquainted.
This is a median longitudinal frontal ridge, ex¬
tending from the fontanelle to between the
nasal ridges. Only the posterior extremity of
this ridge appears in some Ptychostomi. Orbit
longitudinally oval, 4.5 times in length of head,
twice in interorbital width. Type, fourteen
inches in length.
Color in alcohol like that of other species, uniform straw or whitish
silvery.
The pharyngeal bones of this species are much stouter than those of
other species of its own and greater size, e. g., Pt. aureolus of eighteen
inches, where they are comparatively slight. The exteroposterior ala is
twice as wide as the body inside the teeth is deep, and but for its short
base and narrowed tip would do for that of a Semotilus. But while there
are seven broad teeth without heel or cusp on the basal half, there are at
least forty on the distal half, they b«coming more compressed and finally
like those of other allied genera. There are fourteen with truncate ex-
Cope.]
468
[June 7,
tremities. The pharyngeal plate has narrow horns directed upwards and
forwards, and is thickened medially. It is placed immediately in advance
of the opening of the oesophagus. I have hut one specimen of this curious
species, which I obtained at Lafayette, on the Wabash River, in Indiana.
CATOSTOMUS, Lesueur.
60. Catostomus teres, Mitcliill.
Cyprinus teres, Mitch. Catostomus teres, C. communis and C. bostoniensis,
Les.
Common in all the rivers of the State and on both sides of the Allegheny
water- shed.
61. Catostomus nigricans, Les.
C. planiceps, Cuv. Val.
Common in the Clinch, Cumberland and French Broad Rivers.
An especially western species, and abundant, where it occurs.
62. MOXOSTOMA, Rafinesque.
Moxostoma oblongum, Mitch.
Catostomus tuberculatus and vittatas, Lesueur. Labeo oblongus, Dekay.
In North Carolina, as in Pennsylvania, this species is confined to the
sea-board streams. I only found it in the Neuse.
PTYCIIOSTOMUS, Agass.
Amer. Journ. Sci., Arts XIX. 88. Teretulus, Raf. Cope emend. Journ.
Acad. Nat. Sci., Pliila., 1868, 235.
The species of this genus are found in the United States, South of New
York and East of the Rocky Mountains, including the waters of the great
lakes. They are especially numerous in the Rivers of North Carolina,
which flow into the Atlantic, and constitute one of the peculiarities of
that shed of the Allegheny range, as distinguished from the streams of the
western slope in Tennessee, where a smaller number of species is found.
Wherever Ptychostomi occur they are abundant in individuals.
The development of the lips furnishes important diagnostic indications
in this genus. In those most nearly allied to Moxostoma, the inferior lip
resembles that of that genus, in being narrower, and deeply incised
— emarginate posteriorly forming a figure Y with the apex forwards ; at
the same time the superior lip is very thin, and often narrow. Such
species are shorter, and tend to a large development of dorsal fin. Others
of this type are more elongate. The more typical forms have a large
inferior lip, which is generally produced posteriorly to a square trans¬
verse margin. Most of these are more elongate species than the last
group. Some species of both are distinguished by their very prominent
conic muzzle, and minute inferior mouth, reminding one of the Carpiodes.
In one species the surface of the lips is pappillose instead of plicate. In
some species the mouth is very projectile, in others scarcely so at all.
1870.]
469
fCope.
Rafinesque proposed a genus Teretulus on the characteristic peculiarity
of nine ventral radii, belonging to most of the species of this genus. He,
however, included species of two other genera. On this account Agassiz,
in rearranging the suckers, imposed on it the name standing at the head
of this article, regarding the plicate lips as a primary character. I think
Rafinesque’s name is to be rejected, owing to its ill application ; the more
as I find two species in which there are ten ventral radii. I adopt that of
Agassiz, though I showed, when describing the Pt. cervinus, that the
tricellular natatory bladder is a more distinctive feature. This becomes
the more obvious now that I have found a species where the lips are
tubercular instead of plicate.
The following scheme will render the identification of the species more
simple.
Lips pappillose, inferior, A shaped.
Head elongate, muzzle truncate. P. pappillosus.
AA. Lips plicate.
a. Inferior lips infolded, \ shaped.
/?. Oblong species ; head one-fourth the length.
Eye large ; D. XVI ; form compressed. P. yelatus.
Eye smaller ; D. XV ; compressed. P. collapsus.
Eye smaller ; D. XII ; subcylindric. P. fidiensis.
ft?. Fusiform species ; head one-fiftlx the length.
Muzzle conic ; mouth minute inferior. P. coregonus.
aa. Inferior lips narrow, crescentic.
Head one-fifth length, muzzle sub conic. P. albtjs.
Head long, truncate. £; fins white. P. thalassinus.
aaa. Inferior lips well developed, truncate posteriorly.
ft Compressed species.
y- Head 4, 4.5 in length.
<5. Dorsal radii XII.
Stout, elevated ; muzzle short, fins crimson. P. robtjstus.*
88. Dorsal radii XIII.
£• Ventral radii IX.
Head longer, occipital region flat, muzzle truncate, eye smaller 4.5 ;
scales 5—42—4 ; scales white. P. erythrurus.
Head shorter ; occipital region convex ; muzzle projecting, mouth in¬
ferior, eye larger 3.5 in head ; scales black at base.
P. MACROLEPIDOTTJS.
Head elongate, convex with ridges above occiput; eye 4.5 in head;
muzzle prominent, mouth inferior ; scales white. P. lachrymalis.
££• Ventral radii X.
Head 4 times ; muzzle conic. P. duquesnei.
888 ■ Dorsal radii (XVII) XVIII.
Eye small; depth 3.25, head 4.3 times in length.”
P. CARPIO.
a. p. s. — vol. xr. — 31e
Cope.J
470
[June 7,
yy. Head five times in length ; occipital region strongly convex.
Ventral radii IX.
D. XIII. muzzle little prominent, dorsal truncate.
P. AUREOLES.
D. XII. Muzzle projecting ; lips large. P. crassilabris.
8S. Ventral radii X.
D. XIII. Muzzle projecting, mouth inferior. D. free border deeply
incised. P. breviceps.
ddd- Ventral radii unknown.
D. XIV. Muzzle produced convex, mouth very small, hack elevated.
P. coxus.
/3/9- Cylindric species.
D.XI, XII. Head one -fifth length ; sides lined.
P. CERVINTJS.
63. Ptyciiostomus pappillosus, Cope.
Species nova.
Body deeper than thick, the dorsal outline not at all elevated. Head
elongate not more than one-fourth the length to base of caudal, the orbit
small and bordering the frontal plane. Preorbital region most elongate
in the genus ; muzzle truncate in profile ; the upper lip hanging free, the
lower deeply incised behind so as to be a shaped, and with the upper, finely
granular, not plicate. The muzzle very projectile, more so than in any
species of the genus. The top of the cranium is everywhere plane. Dorsal
fin truncate, with XII radii. Scales large, about as in P. collapses,
Cope, i. e. 6 — 42 — 5.
Color everywhere a silvery white, except some blackish shades at the
bases of the scales of the dorsal region. The fins, unlike those in most
other species, are pure white in life. They attain one foot in length, and
do not exceed one pound in weight.
This species is cpiite abundant in the Catawba and Yadkin Rivers, in
North Carolina, and is highly valued by the inhabitants as an article of
food. It is regarded as the best of the Catostomi for this purpose. It is
less frequently caught on a hook than some other species, but in the
autumn they come on the weirs in considerable numbers ; from these I
procured many specimens. The fishermen call it the “ Shiner.” Its char¬
acters are very constant, and not likely to be confounded with those of any
of the known Ptychostomi.
Ptychostomus velatus, Cope.
Species nova.
This is a stout species, with a short head, large eye, and more than
usually elongate dorsal fin. Scales 5-6 - 12 - 5 ; head scarcely 4 times
in length ; superior plane nearly flat ; orbit 3. 75 times in length of head ;
1.5 times in interorbital width. D. XVI. with straight superior margin ;
V. IX. Upper lip pendent. Dorsal outline arched to the first dorsal ray ;
greatest depth 3.2 lines in length (exclus. caudal). Total length 11
inches.
1870.]
471
[Cope.
The color of this species I cannot give, as I have not lately seen it in
life ; in spirits it is uniform silvery, the dorsal fin dusky.
I know this fish from two specimens which I caught in the Youghi-
ogheny River, in Western Pennsylvania.
64. Ptychostomus collapsus, Cope.
Species nova.
This very abundant fish is in the form of its lips similar to the last. It
is stout and short, the head not entering the length (exclus. caudal) quite
four times. The dorsal line is somewhat elevated to the first raj7 of the
dorsal fin, the depth entering the length 3.5 times. The eye is smaller
than in P. velatus, entering the length of the head 4.75 and 5 times,
and the interorbital width 1.75 times. Top of head plane ; muzzle
moderately prominent, intermediate between P. erythrurus and Pt. conus
in this respect, being more compressed than in the last. Mouth small,
little projectile, superior lip pendent. D 15, Y. 9. Thoracic region with
small scales.
The specimens of this species from most of the North Carolina Rivers
are rosy on the sides, the larger, light golden ; the inferior fins all orange.
The specimens from which the above description is taken are small, only
a foot long, but I have seen several 'specimens in the Catawba River, of
three and four pounds in weight.
It occurs in the Neuse, Yadkin and Catawba Rivers, in North Carolina,
the Clinch River in Tennessee, and I have a specimen from the Wabash
River, in Indiana, and three others without locality, but probably from
the Western States or Great Lakes. In the Yadkin and Catawba Rivers
it is immensely numerous, and is caught on weir traps in the spring and
autumn in quantities, and used as food by the inhabitants. It is not as
good a fish as the P. pappillosus and P. robustus, but it is not at all to be
rejected.
There seemed to be a larger number of smaller specimens in the Yadkin
than the Catawba Rivers at the time of my visit. The specimens from
the Neuse have the muzzle a little more prominent. Some specimens
from the Yadkin possess only XIII and XIY D. rays.
65. Ptychostomus pidiensis, Cope.
Species nova.
A smaller species than either of the preceding, of more cylindric and
less compressed form. The dorsal fin is shorter, containing only XII raj7s
Head elongate, about four and a half times in length exclusive of caudal
fin. Muzzle not conic, but truncate. Scales similar to those of the last spe¬
cies. Length about ten inches.
Color light brownish j7ellow, fins light red.
This fish resembles at first, the Pt. cervinus, both in color, form and
size. I obtained a few specimens from the traps in the Yadkin River, at
the plantation of John Kuntz, and did not see it in any7 other river.
I took a variety in a tributary stream, characterized by a longitudinal
black spot at the bass of each scale, giving a handsome longitudinal
Oope.]
472
[June 7,
striatlon. (A similar variety of Ilypsilepis analostanus (q.v.) was taken in
the same stream.) Scales G — 14 — 5. V. IX. A. VII. Head flat above ;
eye 4 times in head, 1.5 times in interorbital breadth. Dorsal and caudal
fins black edged.
6G. Ptychostomus cokegonus, Cope.
Species nova.
This fish is very easily distinguished by its very small head, with conic
muzzle, and elevated arched back, combined with a small size, and other
characters.
The head enters the length not less than five times, and is much arched
in transverse section posteriorly above. . The diameter of the eye is large,
entering the head between three and four times ; the muzzle is regularly
conic, and projects far beyond the mouth. The latter is remarkable for
its small size, and lack of projectility ; in ordinary individuals it would
about admit a pea. The upper lip is not pendent below the front of the
muzzle. The shape is broadly fusiform, the dorsal line rising to the fin.
It is, nevertheless, more compressed than the species already described. D.
XIY constantly.
The ground color is silvery, the scales shaded with leaden above, and
with black pigment at their bases, giving a dusky hue to the whole, as is
not seen in the species already described, except the P. pappillosus. Belly
and inferior fins pure white, lacking the red and orange of many others.
This fish never exceeds a foot in length, and is very abundant in the
Catawba and Yadkin Rivers. It is caught with the preceding two species
and is used for food, but is the least valued of all the species. It is called
at Morgantou, “blue mullet.”
67. Ptychostomus albus, Cope.
Sjpec. nov.
This large species has the small head of the last, without the small
mouth and many of its other peculiarities. The head enters the length not
less than five times ; muzzle is prominent, but the mouth is less inferior
than in Pt. coregonus. The eye, in a specimen sixteen inches long, is
relatively larger than in P. eollapsus, and about as in Pt. coregonus. The
muzzle is less prominent than in the last named fish, but more so than in
Pt. eollapsus. The mouth is of ordinary size, but the upper lip does not
form a free projecting rim as in the latter. The under lip is a narrow
crescent following the boundary of the mandible, not folding so as to meet
on the middle line as in the species already described.
Dorsal outline a little elevated, rays XIY.
Colors very light ; the inferior fins white. In size this species is one of the
largest, reaching four pounds and over. It is much valued by the people
living in the neighborhood of the Catawba River, North Carolina, as an
article of food. They call it the “White Mullet.” I have not seen it in
the Yadkin or any other river.
68. Ptychostomus thalassinus, Cope.
Species nova.
This fish approaches the Pt. eollapsus , Cope, in many respects. The head
1870.]
473
[Cope.
is elongate, about one-fourtli the length (exclusive of caudal fin), and is
plane above. The muzzle is not very prominent, nor the mouth smaller
than usual in the genus. The lower lip is quite different from that of
Pt. collapsus in its narrow crescentic form. The eye is similar in size to
that of that species. The dorsal line is elevated ; dorsal radii XIV — XV.
Color sea green above, white below ; fins white. Reaches four or five
pounds, and still greater weight.
It may be that this fish is a form of the P. collapsus, but the different
mouth and coloration seem to separate it. Its whole proportions differ
from those of P. albus. I have only observed it in the Yadkin River,
where it is abundant, and used for food.
69. Ptychostomus robustus, Cope.
Species nova.
With this species we commence the most numerously represented sec¬
tion of the genus, in which the inferior lip is large and full, entirely covering
the space between the rami of the mandible, and having a transverse or
convex posterior margin. In this it resembles the true Catostomi, and
diverges from the type of Carpiodes, etc.
In P. robustus, we have a species stout in all its proportions, and with
marked coloration ; with the gibbous or elevated dorsal outline of P.
coregonus, it combines the short body of the Pt. collapsus. The head is
short and deep, the muzzle not prominent, truncate in profile. Eye be¬
tween four or five times in length of head. Dorsal fin short with straight
superior margin, radii XII. Scales as in P. collapsus.
Color smoky or clouded above, mingled with golden reflections ; sides
similar, below yellowish. Dorsal, caudal and anal fins dark crimson. Size
large. I examined one of six pounds weight.
This species is distinguished by its form and color, from all the others
inhabiting the Yadkin. I did not see it in any other river area. It is
highly valued for the table by the people living near the river. With the
P. thalassinus and T. erythrurus var, it is taken in spring-nets. These
nets are attached by four corners and suspended to the extremity of a
lever whose fulcrum, as high as a man’s head, is on the river bank. Bait
is thrown on it, and when the fishes congregate, the land end of the lever
being suddenly depressed, the suckers do not escape. If fishing were con¬
fined to this mode, and the autumn weirs not made too tight, an abund¬
ant supply of food from the rivers might be promised the State of North
Carolina for future time. But unfortunately, too many of the people
with the improvidence characteristic of ignorance, erect traps, for the pur¬
pose of taking the fishes as they ascend the rivers in the spring to deposit
their spawn. Cart loads have thus often been caught at once, so that the
supply is at the present time reduced one half in many of the principal
rivers of the State. The repopulation of a river is a very different matter
from its preservation, and involves much time, attention and expense. It
would be far cheaper for the State of North Carolina to enact laws pre¬
servative of this important product of her waters, similar to those in force
Cope.]
474
[June 7,
in many of our older States. The execution of such laws is, however, the
important point, and the destruction by officers, of the spring traps and
weirs in the Neuse, Cape Fear, Yadkin and Catawba Rivers, every spring,
at the time of running of the fishes, would allow of the escape of immense
numbers of them, before the traps could be repaired.
70. Ptychostomus erythurus, Raf.
Ichtliyologia Oliiensis, p. 59. Ptychostomus duquesnei, Agass part. Am
Journ. Sci. Arts., XIX 90. Cope Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1868, 236.
This species is probably the most widely distributed as well as one of
the largest of the genus.
The form is somewhat compressed, but the dorsal line is not much
arched ; the head is of medium size, entering the length 4.5 to 4.66 times.
The end of the muzzle is nearly vertical in. profile. The lips are full, the
posterior truncate or openly emarginate posteriorly ; the plicate coarse.
Eye 4.5 times in length ; 1.66 lines in interorbital width. Depth of body
three and two-thirds times in length (exclus. caudal). Top of head nearly
plane. Scales 5 - 42 - 4. Radii D. XIII, Y. 9., dorsal with straight
superior outline. Color silvery, rosy and gray above ; dorsal caudal and
anal fins orange.
The above description is taken from one of several specimens from the
Youghiogheny River, in Western Pennsylvania. I have procured other
and similar individuals from the Holston and French Broad Rivers, in
Tennessee. It is, as Rafinesque observes, a most abundant sucker in all
the rivers tributary to the Mississippi from the East, and is that which is
known everywhere as “red horse.” It is the common fish-food of the
people, sharing the distinction with the “blue cat.” Icfithaelurus coeru-
lescens. It reaches as large a size as any species of the genus and I have
seen them of six and eight pounds. The largest I have heard of, was
caught in the French Broad, and weighed twelve.
With various authors, I have formerly regarded it as the Pt. duquesnei
of Leseuer, but I suspect it to be distinct, as already indicated by Rafines¬
que. The characters of the latter are pointed out below.
A species resembling the present, as well as the Pt. robustus, bears the
name of “red-liorse,” in the country of North Carolina, east of the
mountains, but whether the same or not, the present inaccessibility of
my specimens, prevents me from deciding. A specimen from the Catawba
of seven lb. weight had a relatively larger head, and was otherwise stouter
than the above described. D. 1.12 ; scales 6 — 43 — 5. The fish is common
in that river, and equally so in the Yadkin. Those from the latter have
D. XII ; muzzle not prominent ; head and body rather elongate ; shaded
with yellow, particularly on sides of head ; fins orange. It will be observed
that the eastern fish agree in having D. 12 soft rays.
71. Ptychostomus lachrymalis, Cope.
Spec. non.
This species is quite near the last, and may at some future day be shown
to be only a local variety of it, but in this case Pt. macrolepidotus must
1870.]
475
[Cope.
follow also. Its characters are very similar ; onr specimen differs in its
more numerous scale series, a point in which the Pt. erythrurus agrees
with all the other species with scarce an exception. I do not know of
any genus where the number of scales is so similar in all the species, as
in Ptyehostomus. Scales 7 — 46 — 5, in a larger specimen, in a smaller they
are 6 — 44 — 5. The cranium, however, presents us with the oblique super-
opercular region and elevated vertex with a ridge on each side, as in the
Pt. macrolepidotus. The premaxillary spines and nasal cartilage also pro¬
jects, leaving quite a depression across the muzzle in front of the nares,
a feature not seen in Pt. erythrurus, and less marked in Pt. macrolepidotus.
The mouth is quite inferior, but is large and the lips large and thick.
The inferior has a slightly concave posterior margin, and the median pos¬
terior fissure is stronger than the others. The orbit is smaller than in
Pt. macrolepidotus, and enters the interorbital space twice. Depth 3.75
times in length. The dorsal outline is gently arched, and reaches its high¬
est point a little in advance of the dorsal fin. The latter has the superior
outline but little concave, rays XII in the larger, XIII in the smaller ; V. 9.
The scales of this species are as in Pt. erythrurus, not black at base ; a
trace is seen in the smaller specimen. This mark is seen in Pt. macro¬
lepidotus and Pt. crassilabris, the latter also from the Neuse river. The
fins are white.
This species reaches a length of eighteen inches. One like it is sold in
the market of the city of Newbern, N. C., with a second species much
resembling the Pt. crassilabris, but whether identical or not, I cannot be
sure, as my specimens were lost.
Ptyehostomus macrolepidotus. Lesueur.
Agassiz in Sillim. Amer. Journ. Sci., Arts XIX. 89. Catostomus macro¬
lepidotus, Les. Journ. Acad. Natl. Sciences, I, 1817, 94 Tab.
Fusiform compressed, the depth entering the length 3§ times ; the head
short, contracted anteriorly, the occipital region elevated, very convex
transversely. Length of head 4.6 to 4.5 times in length ; orbit large,
diameter 4 to 4.3 times in length of head, and twice in interorbital width.
Scales 5 — 45 — 5, radii D. XIII ; V. 9. The lips are well developed, and
the posterior is transverse posteriorly.
The length of the specimen -described is about a foot. The color in
life including fins, is white, yellow shaded above.
Ten specimens have been compared, all from Pennsylvania and Dela¬
ware. Of five from the Conestoga Creek, a tributary of the Susquehanna,
two have the parietal, median frontal, and nasal bony ridges very promi¬
nent, while in two they are almost without trace. In the former the
dorsal radii are XIII, in the latter XII. I cannot discover the sexes of
these specimens as they have been eviscerated. In the other five there are
several with weak crests, but none with XII D. rays.
In a large specimen from the Wabash River, the only departure from
the typical form is the more emarginate inferior lip.
This species is especially abundant in the comparatively sluggish streams
Cope.]
476
[June 7,
of Maryland and Delaware, and is but little valued for market. It is no
doubt the species described first by Lesueur, as it is the only one of the
genus seen in the Philadelphia market. I did not meet with it in North
Carolina.
Ptycliostomus duquesnei, Lesueur.
A specimen of this fish from near Pittsburg, Lesueur’s original locality,
suggests the correctness of the opinion of Rafinesque, that his Ft. eryth-
rurus is a different species. The characters are seen in the 10 ventral
radii, and the considerably more prominent muzzle, with correspondingly
inferior mouth. The scales are also smaller 7 — 48 — 7 (to front of ven¬
tral). Dorsal fin little incised above, R. XIII. Length of head 4.6 in
that of head and body ; orbit four times in head 1.75 times in interorbital
space. Cranial crests moderate, the parietal region elevated as in Pt.
macrolepidotus, not so plane as in Pt. erythrurus. Depth 3§ in length.
Lips moderately developed. Dentition as in Pt. erythrurus. The coloration
in spirits is quite like that of other species, except that the dorsal region
is a dark steel bluish, which the other species do not exhibit. Scales
without black spot at base.
Length of a moderate specimen from the Youghioglieny River, Penn¬
sylvania, one foot.
Kirtland’s description in Proc. Boston Sci. Nat. Hist. Y. 268, leaves it
somewhat uncertain as to whether this species or the Pt. erythrurus was
before him ; his figures resemble the present fish. I should not be sur¬
prised to find that his female “ red-horse ” described as so different from
the male, was our Pt. collapsus.
Ptycliostomus carpio, C. V.
This species differs from its near allies in the more numerous dorsal radii,
etc. The form appears to be that of Pt. erythrurus. Its habitat is given
by the French authors, as Lake Superior, and Gunther adds St. Lawrence
River and Lake Erie. I have not seen it. The lip characters separate it
from Pt. velatus.
Ptycliostomus oneida, Dekay.
Geological survey New York, III, 189.
This species is also similar in general proportions to the Pt. erythrurus,
but has, according to Dekay, more numerous scales and a much smaller
eye. Dekay says : seventeen longitudinal rows of scales counted at dorsal
fin. Head and body 10 in.; tail 2.; head 2.5 (one-fourth); eye, .4 inch
(one-sixth head). Radii D. XIII ; Y. 9. He does not describe the lips.
Oneida Lake.
Ptycliostomus aureolus, Les.
Agass. 1. c. 89. Catostomus aureolus. Lesueur J. A. N. Sci. Phila. I,
95 Tab.
With this species we enter a series characterized by the relatively small
size the head bears to the body, and consequent apparent elevation of the
latter. The head enters the length exclusive of the caudal fin, five times.
1870.]
477
[Cope.
This species resembles the Pt. macrolepidotus Les., more than it does
the Pt. erythrurus, but the proportionate size of the head is less. In a
specimen 8 inches long, the scales are 6 — 49 — 4 ; radii D. XIII, Y. IX.
The supraoccipital region is much elevated and convex, the interorbital
region convex, but -without keel. The muzzle is prominent, and separated
on the upper surface by a deep transverse depression. The mouth is but
little overpassed by the muzzle, and is large. The lips are rather narrow.
Eyes five times in length, 2.5 times in interorbital breadth of head.
I do not recollect the colors of this sucker in life ; Lesueur states the
fish to be orange above, bases of scales darker ; inferior fins red.
A single specimen from Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron, has furnished me
with means of comparison. It agrees exactly with Lesueur’s account
of it. The basis of the scales of some dorsal series are blackish. The
species is supposed to be confined to the Great Lakes.
Ptychostomus sueurii. Rich.
Catostomus sueurii, Richardson Fr. Journ. 1828, 772. Fauna Boreali
Americana III, 118. . \
This species appears to me to be veiy near the last, and agrees with it
in proportions of head to body, of depth, fin radii, squamation, etc. lie
says, however, that the muzzle projects an inch beyond the mouth, in a
specimen nineteen inches long, which is certainly not the case in the
species last described. Hence I suspect it to be distinct, and that it will
be found to possess other characters when re-examined. Gunther, CCa-
tal. Brit. Mus.) refers it to the C. macrolepidotus , to which it is evi¬
dently nearly allied.
From the Fur countries, British North America.
72. Ptychostomus crassilabris, Cope.
Species nova.
This sucker is near the Pt. aureolus, but has a more contracted conic
muzzle, and smaller mouth ; it is also a flatter and more clupeiform fish.
Supra-occipital region elevated, convex ; orbit 4.2 in length of head, 2
times in interorbital width. Depth 3.75 times in length. Scales large,
5 — 44 — 5. D. XII ; Y. 9. Length of specimen described, one foot.
Color in life 'silver, above with a smoky shading, and the scales black at
the bases. Dorsal fin blackish, inferior fins white. Top of head blackish ;
a black band from occiput to pectoral fin.
The lips of this species are thick, the lower truncate, but the mouth is
very small. In these features it is between P. conus and P. aureolus.
The dorsal fin in the specimen described is elevated in front, the basis
being only .75 the first soft ray, in length. The margin is deeply con¬
cave. The fewer dorsal radii, as well as the less prominent muzzle, dis¬
tinguish it from Pt. conus.
From the Neuse River, near Raleigh, N. Ca.
a. p. s. — VOL. xi. — 32e
Cope,]
478
[June 7,
Ptychostomus breviceps, Cope.
Species nova.
An elongate species with small head, and very convex occipital region,
characterized hy the presence of X ventral radii.
Depth .25 the length; orbit 3.75 in head, 1.75 in interorbital width.
Cranial ridges not strong. Basis of dorsal five-sixths the anterior height,
radii XIII ; free margin deeply concave. Body compressed, dorsal line
very narrow. Scales 6 — 45 — 5. Muzzle short conic, projecting beyond
mouth. Latter small, lips short, the posterior well developed, not emar-
ginate.
Color white, yellowish below ; scales above with a little black at their
bases.
Length of specimen examined, ten inches.
This fish belongs to the basin of the Ohio. I have a specimen from the
Youghioglieny. The number of the ventral radii is very constant in this
genus, hut if the increased number should prove to he accidental, the gen¬
eral chaarcters of this fish would approximate it to Pt. aureolus.
A peculiarity of the type specimen consists in an additional ray in the
anal fin — eight instead of seven in the other species, and the alteration of
the third and fifth to perfectly simple, unbranched rays, scarcely attain¬
ing the edge of the fin. This may be abnormal.
73. Ptychostomus conus, Cope.
Species nova.
This fish represents the P. coregonus in the section of the genus with
fully developed lips.
Form flat, with elevated dorsal line, and small conic head. D. radii
always XIY. Eyes large, mouth exceedingly small, far overpassed by the
conic muzzle. The superior regions are smoky and the scales with black
bases ; below, with the inferior fins, white. Dorsal fin dusky.
The lips of this species are smaller than in Pt. crassilabris, though the
inferior is similarly truncate behind. The muzzle is much more conic and
produced than in that fish. The dorsal radii are more numerous.
Numerous specimens from the Yadkin River, North Carolina, where it
is taken in large numbers with Pt. collapsus, Pt. robustus, etc., but is of
less value than they.
f 74. Ptychostomus cervinus, Cope.
Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila. 1868, 235, Tab. iii, fig. 4.
This species constitutes a well marked section of [the genus, character¬
ized by a cylindric form, the transverse diameter of the body being equal
to the vertical. Before describing this species in detail, I may premise
that I have found no little difficulty in attempting to identify the Pt. rne-
lanops, Raf., of Dr. Kirtland’s fishes of the Ohio. The figure resembles
the Pt. crassilabris very closely, hut the description of “body full, cylin¬
dric,” will not allow of the identification. Should the fin formula of Pt.
breviceps be abnormal, the compressed body and lack of spots point to
specific diversity. I had thought the present species intended, hut the
1870.]
479
[Cope.
figure given by Kirtland precludes the idea, for the P. cervinus is in form
much like the Catostomus nigricans, and has a much less elevated dorsal
region than the Pt. melanops. It differs also in the form of the dorsal fin,
which in that species displays XI XII D. radii instead of XIII. For the
present, therefore, I introduce the Pt. melanops by name only.
Head of Pt. cervinus one-fifth the length, as broad as deep, plane above.
Muzzle truncate, low in profile, lips large, the superior pendant. The
inferior lip thick, more produced than in any other species, and with a
median longitudinal fissure, the plicte are more or less broken up. Body
sub-cylindric, scales large. Dorsal short, radii XII, margin straight.
Above yellowish brown, below yellow ; fins not red. The dark of the
upper surfaces often forms broad transverse shades. After death the
colors above become a dark emerald green. This fish never exeeeds a foot
in length, and rarely attains that size. It exists in great numbers in the
Catawba River, but I did not meet with it in the Yadkin or elsewhere.
It has a peculiar habit of leaping from the water, whence the fishermen
call it "jumping mullet.” It is but little valued as food, though many
specimens are caught on the weirs.
Also from the Roanoke Rive? in North Carolina and Virginia, and the
James in Virginia.
Gunther again confounds this species, so well known to the fishermen
of the Southern rivers, with the Pt. duquesnei.
CARPIODES, Rafinesque.
Agassiz, Am. J. Sci. Arts, XIV, 74, 1865.
The species of this genus are extensively distributed in the fresh waters
of North America, east of the Rocky Mountains. I am not acquainted
with any from the Atlantic streams to the eastward of the Delaware,
though they may exist, while they are found in the Great Lakes and the
tributaries of the St. Lawrence. Agassiz defined this genus as above,
and indicated four species, one described by Lesueur, one by Rafinesque,
and two by himself. I have not seen specimens from the Eastern waters
of North Carolina, though they no doubt exist, while they are also abun¬
dant in the French Broad and other tributaries of the Tennessee. My
specimens of those from the latter being lost, I give an account of other
species known to me. I add five to the four already known.
I. Anterior rays of the dorsal fin very much elevated and attenuated,
exceeding or equaling the length of its basis. *
a The muzzle very abruptly obtuse.
Anterior suborbital much deeper than long ; anterior margin upper lip
below orbit. c. difformis.
Anterior suborbital similar ; upper lip before nares ; eye 4.6 times in
head. c. cutisanserinus.
Anterior suborbital sub-triangular, longer than deep ; upper lips before
nares, eye 8.6 times in head. c. selene.
aa The muzzle conic, projecting.
Size medium, back elevated.
c. VELIFER.
Cope.]
480
[June 7,
II. Anterior rays shorter, measuring the anterior half or a little more
of the base of the dorsal ; (muzzle conic or projecting).
D. XXIY. A. VII. Depth 2£ in length; head 4.3 in same; back
much elevated, anterior dorsal rays measure to the 15th ray.
C. GRA.YI.
D. XXVIII, V. X. A. VII. Depth 2.5 in length ; head 4.25 in same ;
scales 8-5 ; short, stout ; long dorsal rays measure to 22 ray.
C. THOMPSONI.
D. XXVI-VII, V. X. Depth 3 times in length, head 3.5 times ; muz¬
zle elongate conic ; eye median, large ; anterior D. rays not thickened,
nearly as long as base of fin. c. bison.
D. XXVII to XXX ; A. VIII ; scales 6-5 ; oblong, long dorsals to 22 ray
in adults ; depth 2.7 in length, eye small anterior. c. CYrniNUS.
D. XXX A. VII ; anterior dorsal rays thickened, osseous, short, reach¬
ing 16th ray ; head small, .4.5 to 5 times in length ; eye small anterior ;
fusiform, depth 3 times in length. c. nummifer.
In the number of the radii of the ventral and anal fins, the species are
not always entirely constant ; thus in one C. bison there are VI, in
another VII anals. In C. cyprinus some have IX and others X ventrals.
In young examples of the species just named, the long anterior dorsal
rays are longer than in the adult, but not so much so as to be confounded
with the long rayed species of section one. The margins of the scales in
this genus and Bubaliclitliys are serrate, their structure thicker than in
the Ptychostomi.
Gill has adopted the genera of the Catostomi as left by Agassiz, while
Gunther rejects most of them. Moxostoma, Ptycliostomus and Catosto-
mus I regard as distinct genera of the typical form, to which I add Pla-
copliarynx. Of those wTitli finer and more numerous pharyngeal teeth,
Cycleptus is distinct in its completely ossified cranium, as I have pointed
out in an essay on the Cyprinidae of Pennsylvania. Bubaliclitliys is well
characterized by the form of its pharyngeal bones, as shown by Agassiz.
The remaining Rafinesquian genera Carpiodes and Ichtliiobus, are but
doubtfully distinct from one another. Carpiodes is the older name, with
which Sclerognathus, Cuv., Val., may be associated as a synonyme.
Carpiodes difformis, Cope.
Spec. nov.
This species has a remarkably obtuse muzzle, which with the large eye,
almost gives it the appearance presented by monstrous perch and carp
where the premaxillary bones are atrophied. Viewing the top of the
head from a position opposite a point mid-way between the dorsal fin and
end of the muzzle, the spine of the premaxillary bone is not visible. In
the C. selene these spines are very distinctly prominent, in the C. cutisan-
serinus slightly so.
The dorsal outline of this fish is arched, elevated to the anterior dorsal
radii, and then regularly descending. The long dorsal rays extended,
reach to beyond the origin of the caudal. Lateral line nearly straight,
1870.]
481
[Cope.
scales 6 - 35 - 4. The end of the pectoral is in line with the origin of
the first dorsal ray. Radii, D. XXIY, A. VIII, V. IX.
The head is very obtuse and has a very large eye, beyond whose ante¬
rior rim the extremity of the nasals project but a little way. The spines
of the premaxillaries project upwards and forwards, but not so far as the
line of the nasals, and fail by .25 inch of reaching the line of the inferior
rim of the orbits. The anterior edge of the mandible is in line with the
anterior rim of the orbit, and the end of the thin upper lip reaches the
line of the anterior rim of the pupil.
The diameter of the eye enters the length of the head 3.6 times, and
the length of the head the total (exclus. caudal) 4.22 times. Opercle
radiate-ridged. Supraoccipital region much elevated, with lateral ridges.
Anterior suborbital trapezoid, deeper than long. The size of this species
is medium ; average length, one foot. The color is uniform brownish
golden.
From the Wabash River in Indiana.
Oarpiodes cuiisanserinus, Cope.
Species nova.
This species is near the last, but present various distinctive features.
These may be summed up as follows :
The dorsal fin originates mid-way between end of muzzle and basis of
caudal fin— considerably nearer end of muzzle in C. dijformis. The eye
is smaller, 4.5 times in length of head. The spines of the premaxillaries
project considerably in advance of the line of the nasal bones, and reach
the line of the lower rim of the orbit. The upper lip is much in advance
of the orbit, and the end of the same barely reaches the line of the ante¬
rior rim of the latter. Scales 7 — 37 — 5. Anterior suborbital bone vertical
ovate.
The lips are minutely tuberculate. Operculum and suboperculum ru¬
gose, former radiate. Long rays of dorsal and anal extending a little be¬
yond the basis of the caudal fin. Head four times in length head and
body. Depth 2.6 in the same. Length, a foot ; color silvery. In a male
in spring, the muzzle and front are covered with closely set small papil¬
lose corneous excrescences. Radii D. XXVI, V. X, A. VIII.
From the Kiskiminitas River, Western Pennsylvania.
Oarpiodes selene, Cops.
Species nova.
Anterior dorsal outline steeply elevated, also the supraoccipital region :
vertex convex above middle of orbit, concave above anterior rim of same,
as in the two preceding species. The present fish is intermediate in many
ways between the two last, and adds characters of its own. Thus the
anterior suborbital bone is longer than in either, longer than high, and
narrowed posteriorly. The orbit is large as in C. difformis, entering the
length of the head 3.6 times, while the muzzle is more elongate than in
either. The head is narrowed vertically ; the spines of the premaxillaries
extend beyond the nasal crests, but do not quite reach the plane of the
Cope.]
482
[June 7,
lower limbs of tlie orbit. The premaxillary border is far in advance of the
orbit, and the extremity of the maxillary attains the anterior rim of the
orbit. Dorsal and caudal radii extended, reach the basis of the caudal ;
the origin of the first is equidistant between the latter point and the end
of the muzzle. Rays ; D. XXVI ; V. 10. A. VIII. Scales 7—87—5.
Color silvery white. Length, a foot. Three specimens of this were taken
in the Root River, Michigan, in all probability, though the label which
accompanied them has disappeared.
Carpiodes velifer, Rafinesque.
Catostomus, Sp.? Lesueur Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. I 110. C.
velifer Raf. Ichth. Oliiensis 56. Sclerognathus eyprinus “Val.” Kirtland
Fishes of the Ohio. Proc. Bost. N. Hist. Soc. V. 275 Tab. XXII fig. 2, not
of Valenciennes.
I have referred my specimens to this species chiefly on the strength of
the figure and description of Prof. Kirtland, and from the fact that Lesueur
regarded it as so near the G. eyprinus, which he would not have done with
the C. cutisanserinus of the Ohio before him. I had two specimens of
the present fish, one of them from the Wabash.
It has a shorter dorsal fin than the preceding, having but XXII rays,
of which the anterior two are exceedingly elongate. The prominence of
the muzzle is the most distinctive feature ; it is conic, the spines of the
premaxillaries projecting at an angle of 45° to beyond the nasal crests,
and the extremity not reaching the line of the lower rim of the orbit.
The extremity of the mandible extends to the nares. Eye 4.25 in length
of head. Head 8.75 in length ; depth 2.4 in the same. Scales as in the
last species. Second suborbital long as deep, trapezoidal. Origin of dor¬
sal .2 nearer end of muzzle than basis of caudal. Length of type speci¬
men ten inches.
Rafinesque says that this species is called skim-back and sailor, from
its elevated dorsal fin which appears above the surface of the water, and
that it often throws itself from the water. The name skip-jack is applied
to a clupeoid of the same streams, the Pomolobus ehrysoehloris. Prof.
Kirtland says the present species is not much valued as food.
Carpoides grayi, Cope.
Spec. nov.
In this species we have the form and proportions of the last group, with
shortened dorsal radii of the succeeding forms.
The origin of the first dorsal radii is nearer the end of the muzzle than
the origin of the caudal by one fourth of its basis. This embraces XXIV
radii. Anal radii just to base of caudal. Orbit .25 the length of the head ;
interorbital width 1 3-5 the former. Occipital region elevated ; muzzle
much prolonged conic, mouth posterior, as in C. velifer. In general this
species is quite near the latter ; the number of scales is the same, and the
proportions quite similar. The orbit is not so elevated, and the long dorsal
radii about half as long as those of that species. Length of type eight
1870.]
483
[Cope.
inches. Locality not well ascertained, hut as it accompanied species of
Bubalichthys, it is probably from one of the western States.
Dedicated to my friend, Dr. John Edw. Gray, for many years the ener¬
getic director of the zoological department of the British Museum.
Carpiodes thompsonii, Agass.
Amer. Journ. Sci. Arts, XIX 75. Catostomus cyprinus Thompson,
Nat. Hist. Vermont. Sclerognathus cyprinus pars Kirtland, Fishes of
Ohio, Proc. Bost. N. H. Soc. V. 275.
This is perhaps the handsomest species of the genus, and is distinguished
by its stout form, numerous narrowly exposed scales, and little elevated
dorsal fin. The eye is small, entering the length of the head 5.2 times,
and 2.2 times the interorbital width. The muzzle is more elongate, but
not so conic as in the two species last described, and projects far beyond
the nasal crests, having an obliquely truncate profile. Hence the end of
symphysis mandibulii is much in advance of the line of the nares, and the
rim of the upper lip just reaches the line of the orbit.
Dorsal line much arched, origin of the first dorsal radii midway between
end of muzzle and origin of tail. Scales 8 — 41 — 6. V. 10, A. VII. Oper¬
culum flat, slightly ridged. Length averaging a foot. Color silvery, with
a greenish golden band along the middle of each of the series of scales
near the dorsal region, producing longitudinal golden bands.
Specimens from Lake George and Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron.
Carpiodes bison, Agass.
Amer. Journ. Sci. Arts, XVII, 356.
The original description of this species is rather too brief to allow of a
perfectly satisfactory determination of my specimens. These are from the
Wabash, and Tennessee ; those described by Prof. Agassiz are from the
Osage, in Missouri.
This species has the general form of the buffalo fish, but has not so
elevated a dorsal outline. It is therefore, much less elevated than the
Carpiodes above described. It is especially characterized by the elongate
form of the muzzle, in which it exceeds any other species of the genus.
The profile descends obliquely posteriorly from the end of the muzzle to
the mouth, and the end of the mandible is hut little in advance of the
nares, while the canthus is in line with the anterior limb of the orbit.
The lips are well developed for the genus, and delicately longitudinally
plicate. The eye is large, the middle line of the cranium falling within its
posterior rim ; in other species it falls posterior to this point. Its diame
ter enters the length of the head 4.5 times, and the interorbital width,
twice. Scales 7 — 40 — 5. Pectoral fin barely reaching line of anterior
dorsal ray. Caudal furcate half its length.
In general proportions this fish is a good deal like the European carp.
The occipital region is elevated and narrowly convex. The long dorsal
ray is almost as well developed as in the species of group first, extending
Cope.]
4S4
[June 7,
nearly to the end of the fin in one specimen .75 the distance in another.
Color, brownish golden. Length, one foot.
75. Carpiodes cyprintjs, Lesueur.
Catostomus do., Lesueur, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phil. I, 91, Tab. Car¬
piodes, Agassiz, 1. c. Gunther, Cat. Brit. Mus. VII, 24. Carpiodes vacca,
Agass., 1. c.
This is another elongate species with shorter dorsal radii, and rather
large scales. In six small specimens there are 7 rows above the lateral
line, and in two young and one adult, six. Length of head 3| times in
length same and body ; eye small, .25 times in interorbital width, nearly
six times in head in adult of a foot in length, 4.5 times in young of five
inches. Muzzle quite prominent, but obtuse. Front scarcely concave
between orbits or in front of nasals (thus differing from most of the other
species). End of mandible extending beyond line of nares. Lips faintly
plicate. Supraoccipital region elevated, little ridged. Anterior dorsal
rays midway between origin of caudal and end of muzzle. Color silvery,
dorsal fin black, paired fins white-margined.
Common in the tributaries of the Chesapeake and Potomac, rare in
those of the Delaware in Pennsylvania.
C. damalis, Gird., from the Platte R., is very near this species.
Carpiodes nummifer, Cope.
Species nova.
The largest species of the genus, from the Wabash River, Indiana.
The detailed characters have been given in the synopsis of the species.
The form is characterized by elongation, and the small proportions of the
head. The body is compressed, and the dorsal line elevated to the first
dorsal ray, which is considerably nearer the end of the muzzle than the
origin of the caudal fin. Its rays are more numerous and the anterior
shorter than in any other species here enumerated. The bony and first
cartilaginous rays are stouter than in any other species, the latter presents
no segmentation on the surface for the basal half.
The orbits are more anterior than in other low-finned Carpiodes, the
middle line of the cranium falling .25 inch behind the orbit in a specimen
of 20 inches length. Diameter 4.6 in head, nearly twice in interorbital
width. ' Scales 7 — 36 — 5. Muzzle short, rather obtuse but projecting
much beyond mouth. Symphysis mandibuli extending to nares.
Color of scales an olive silver or nickel color, whence the name nummi¬
fer, money-bearer. Sides of head yellow. Length 18 and twenty-four
inches at least. Wabash River, Indiana ; three specimens.
NOTURUS, Rafinesque.
76. Noturus marginatus, Baird.
From the Catawba and Yadkin rivers.
1870.]
4S5
[Cope.
AMIURUS, Raf. Gill.
This genus is by far the most numerously represented by species
among the Siluroids of the United States. Twenty-five are known to the
writer, and several others have been described which are not satisfactorily
distinguished. Besides the United States, China is included in the range
of the genus. In North America they are a most noticeable feature of the
ichthyological fauna of the Eastern Coast Streams, abounding there in
individuals and species, far more than in the tributaries of the Mississippi,
where Ictalurus is the prevailing form. The tributaries of the Great
Lakes furnish another resort for them, and the rivers of Texas, according
to Girard, also abound in them. This distribution in relation to Ictalurus
is to be found in the fact tlitit they are lovers of mud and sluggish waters,
while the latter genus prefers running streams and rivers.
The species of Amiurus fall into four sections as follows :
I. Caudal fin rounded or truncate when spread open.
J The anal radii tew, 17-22.
• «Body slender, depth 1-8 length.
Anal radii 17 ; eye rather large. a. platycephalus.
aa Body stouter ; depth 1-5 or less length.
,3 Lower jaw longer than upper.
Anal radii 20, its basis 5.5-6. times in length ; head narrowed anteriorly,
body not shortened.
A.
DEKAYI.
A. 22, head broad, body short.
A.
A5LURUS.
/3,3 Upper jaw equal or exceeding lower.
* Anal radii 17.
A.
PULLUS.
** Anal radii 19-22.
f Ventral radii 8.
Head width 4.5 to 4.66 times in length ; diameter eye 4.5 times between
orbits ; depth 8.75 in length, beards rather short, humeral process smooth.
A. NEBULOSUS.
Width head four times in length, depth 3.66 times; eyes 4.5 between
orbits ; colors light ; beards as above. a. cat ulus.
Width head 4 times in length ; eye 4 ; other characters as above ; colors
dark. a. catulus, var.*
ft Ventral radii 7.
Eye larger, 3.75 times into interorbital width ; head narrowed^ width
4. 66 times in length ; black. A. mispilliensis.
A A The anal fin longer, the radii 24-8.
To this group belongs A. cupreus, Raf., A. cupreoides, Gird., A. atra-
rius, DeK., A. catus, Linn, A. nigricans, Les., A. ccenosus, Ricli’n, A.
felinus and A. antoniensis of Girard.
II. Caudal fin furcate or strongly emarginate.
A Anal fin with few radii, (19-22).
a Caudal fin merely emarginate.
* I refer a specimen which I took at Poughkeepsie on the Hudson River, to this species-
A. P. S. — VOL. XI. — 23e
Cope.]
486
[June 7,
Head less than one-fourth length. A. 20 ; eye 4.5 times between orbits ;
dorsal nearer adipose fin than muzzle. a. confinis.
Head as above ; orbit 4 times between orbits ; A. 23 ; dorsal nearer
muzzle than adipose fin. a. iioyi.
aa Caudal furcate.
Width of head from 4.6 times in length ; eye large, 3 to 5 times in inter-
orbital space ; barbels long ; caudal fin deeply forked.
A. LYNX.
Head very wide, width 3.6 times in length ; eye six times between
orbits, barbels very short, caudal not deeply furcate.
A. LOPHIUS.
A A Anal fin large ; radii 24-5.
Caudal emarginate ; pectoral spine not denticulate ; barbels reaching
gill opening ; head wide as long. a. borealis.
Caudal deeply furcate ; head narrow, pectoral spine dentate, barbels to
end of humeral process. a. niveiventris.
Of other species of the genus, I have omitted A. puma Gird. A. natalis
Les., and A. felis Agass, all belonging to section I, owing to the imper¬
fections in the descriptions. A. albidus Lesueur, is, I think, founded on
adults of A. nebulosus Les. A. obesus Gill of which I have examined
numerous specimens from Minnesota, two from the Miami, Ohio, and one
from the Kiskiminitas River, in West Pennsylvania, I cannot distinguish
from A. catulus Girard (U. S. Pac. R. R. Rept. X). Of species adopted,
A. catulus Girard, may be found eventually to be varieties of A. nebu¬
losus. The A. mispilliensis, A. lopliius and A. niveiventris, are now de¬
scribed for the first time.
77. Amiurus platycephalus, Girard.
Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1859, 160. •
This well marked species approaches nearer the genus Hopladelus than
any other Amiurus, in its elongate, flattened body and head, and in the
large number (11) of its brancliiostegal radii. It abounds in the Catawba
and Yadkin Rivers, where it is justly valued as an article of food.
Amiurus mispilliensis, Cope.
Spec, nov-
This species is related to the common A. nebulosus, but has a narrow
muzzle, larger eyes and a ventral ray less than any other species of the
section. Width of head 4.66 times in length ; eye 3.25 times between
orbits, maxillary beard extending beyond base of pectoral fins. Pectoral
spine dentate, dorsal spine smooth. DI. 6 ; V.1.6 ; A. 21. Above entirely
black ; below, white anterior to anal fin. The mental barbels blackish. The
maxillary barbels extend to beyond base of pectoral fin, and the mentals
to the branchiostegal margin. Entire length 8 in. ; depth 1 in. 8 lines.
I took this specimen in the Mispillion Creek, a sluggish stream in the
southern part of the State of Delaware. It doubtless occurs in similar
streams in “the Peninsula.”
1870.1
487
[Cope.
78. Amiurus lynx,* Girard.
This is a variable species in the size of the orbits and width of the head.
In the younger of six inches in length, the diameter of the former is con¬
tained in the interorbital space three times; in specimens of 9.5 inches
four times ; up to this size the width of the head enters the length with¬
out the caudal 4.5 times. Between this size and eleven inches the width
of the head varies from 4.5 to four times ; the orbit being one fifth the
frontal width in those of larger size. This is the greatest relative width
of head I have seen in this species. The upper jaw always projects below
the upper, the humeral process is always rugose and swollen proximally,
and the maxillary barbels pale edged below.
The younger forms described, are the Ictalurus kevinskii of Stauffer
(Mombert’s History of Lancaster County, Pa., 1869, 578). The following
description applies to such.
It has the narrow head, large eye and furcate tail of Ictalurus. The
dorsal spine is nearly smooth, other rays 6 ; A. 22 ; Y. 8 ; C. VI — 17 -VII.
The depth enters the length times. The largest specimen of this spe¬
cies I have seen does not exceed eight inches in length. The color above
is a lively brown, sometimes tinged with purple ; sides silvery, belly silver
white.
The larger form with relatively smaller eye is I. macaskeyi, Stauffer, of
the same work. The same form I took in the Mispillion Creek, Dela¬
ware. It differs from old examples of the A. lynx in its more slender form,
the width of the head entering the length 4.66 times between orbits ; bar¬
bels and color as in A. lynx. Specimens intermediate in character be¬
tween this and the wider-headed form served as Girard’s types. They
were from the Potomac. Two specimens in my possession from that river
have the with head 4.25 times in length, eye 4 — 4.5 times between orbits ;
long maxillary, short mental barbels ; dorsal nearly equidistant between
muzzle and adipose ; humeral process swollen, rugose.
One specimen from the Susquehanna exhibits the width of the head
one-fourth the length, as above mentioned. This renders the distinction
of Girard’s A. vulpeculus, questionable, since the only essential characters
he mentions are the following :
Head 4 times ; orbit j- ; caudal 6.5 times in length, dorsal nearer muzzle
than adipose fin.
I have seen many specimens of this cat-fish from the Conestoga Creek,
from the Susquehanna, and from the Delaware, in Pennsylvania.
Some specimens which I obtained at Newberne, on the Reuse River,
were lost, but I suspect them to have been this species. As it is common
in the James River, it probably occurs also in the Roanoke.
Amiurus lophius, Cope.
Species nova.
This, perhaps the largest species of the genus, is distinguished by the
* In Origin of Genera, 43, I state that the Gronias nigril (thrift Cope resembles the Amiurus
lynx most closely among the Amiuri. This is an error; the comparison should be made with
A . nebulo'-us, from which the form of the anal flu, short barbels, etc. distinguish it.
Cope.]
488
[ J une 7,
greater width of its head, and the gape of the mouth, together with the
decided but shallow furcation of the caudal fin. The barbels aie consider¬
ably shorter than in any other species of the fork-tailed section.
Head and dorsal region very flat, the width of the former contained 3.5
times in the length of the body and head, and the length of the same en¬
tering the same three times. The depth at the first dorsal ray, enters the
same 5.4 times. That ray is exactly intermediate between the end of the
muzzle and the posterior margin of the base of the adipose, having thus
a more posterior position than in A. lynx, where it measures the middle
of a line terminating at the anterior base of that fin. The free extremity
of the adipose is in line with the same of the anal. Radii D I. 6 ; A. II.
19 ; Y. 8. The eye is small, its long diameter entering the length of the
head, measured on the middle line above, seven times, and six times in
interorbital space. Pectoral spine weakly ; dorsal not, serrate. Humeral
process strongly rugose to near extremity.
Maxillary barbel reaching two-thirds to three-fourths the distance from
its base to the upper part of the branchial slit, the outer only half way to
the brancliiostegal margin, the inner three-fourths the length of the outer.
The extremity of the muzzle is regularly rounded, the upper jaw project¬
ing a little beyond the upper. Brancliiostegal rays nine. Total length
eighteen inches ; length dorsal spine 18 lin. ; do. pectoral spine 18 lin. ; do.
basis of anal 35 lin. ; width of head 53 1.
Color above brown ; lower surfaces, including lower lip, (yellow or)
white in alcohol ; mental beards white.
This species is nearest the A. lynx, Girard, which inhabits the same
rivers, but is readily distinguished as above pointed out, and in addition
by the shorter barbels and lower body. In the width of its gape it
exceeds any other North American cat-fish, and will allow of a remote
comparison with Lopliius in this respect.
I obtained three specimens in the Washington, D. C., market, which
came from the lower course of the Potomac river. It occurs in the other
tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay, and I think I have seen it in the market
of Baltimore. I have not yet observed it in Philadelphia. In the former
cities it is deservedly esteemed for the table, and is more valuable than
the A. lynx and A. nebulosus, on account of its superior size.
The last named fish is sold in Philadelphia and neighborhood. It often
attains a foot in length. I cannot distinguish the Pirn, albidus, Lesueur.
Pale and piebald varieties of the fish occui\
79. Amiurus niveiventris, Cope.
Spec. nov.
This fish presents a great contrast to the last, resembling in fact the
Ictaburus ccerulescens, Raf., in its slender proportions.
Width of head 4.75 times in length, exclusive of caudal fin. Orbit nearly
four times into interorbital width. Depth 5.22 in length as above. Dor¬
sal spine three inches from end muzzle, 3.5 inches from origin adipose fin ;
its posterior margin with a concealed serration. Pectoral spine strongly
1870.]
489
LCope.
serrate. Radii D I. 6 ; A. 24 ; V. 8. Maxillary barbel to near end of hu¬
meral process ; latter very rugose to near extremity. Outer mental barbel
to brancliiostegal margin. Br. rays ix.
Color above blackish, sides silvery leaden blue ; below, including margin
of upper lip and outer margin of maxillary barbels, pure white. Fins
edged with dusky. Length of specimens 8.5 inches.
From the Neuse River, N. Ca.
In this species, as in all the fork-tailed Amiuri here described, the lower
lobe of the caudal fin is wider than the superior. The young of these
species, at least in and A. lynx, are much more silvery than the adult, as
is the case with some of the Ictaluri.
In concluding my observations on this genus, I may add that I took A.
cupreus in the Clinch River, in Tennessee.
ICTALURUS, Raf.
Gill emend.
80. ICTALURUS CCERULESCENS, Raf.
This species abounds in the French Broad and other tributaries of the
Tennessee, as it does in those of the Ohio. It is everywhere much used
as food, though in my estimation inferior to the large Amiuri of the East,
for though the flesh is whiter, it is drier.
SALMO, Linn.
81. Salmo fontinalis, Mitch.
This species is found in the rapid streams in which the tributaries of
the Tennessee and Catawba Rivers head, in the highest tracts of the Alle¬
gheny Mountain Region. I only took them in one of the heads of the
French Broad, where the size was much inferior to that of trout from
similar localities in Pennsylvania. The experience of other fishermen in
this respect was similar to my own. According to Dr. Hardy, a natural¬
ist long resident in Asheville, well known to the old generation of stu¬
dents South and North, this fish occurs in the headwaters of the Chatta¬
hoochee, on the south slope of the Alleghenies, in Georgia. This is the
first authentic instance of its occurrence in any water flowing directly into
the Gulf of Mexico, with which I have met. From the habits of the spe¬
cies it is hardly to be looked for in any other of the Gulf streams eastward
of the Mississippi. According to Dr. Peck, of Mossy Creek, Tennessee,
it is not found in the Cumberland Mountains. I did not find it there in
the heads of the Cumberland or Clinch.
OSMERUS, Artedi.
Although I am not informed as to the occurrence of any species of this
genus on the coast or in the rivers of North Carolina, I introduce it here
for the purpose of illustrating some species which have been placed in my
hands by my friend, Dr. Chas. C. Abbott, of Trenton, N. J. These were
procured and forwarded to him at his request, by Chas. G. Atkins, the
efficient Commissioner of Fisheries of the State of Maine, whose authority
Cope.]
490
[June 7,
is here given for the notes on their habits and places of abode, appended.
Interest attaches to the fact that the greater part of the fishes are derived
from the fresh waters of that State, and that species of this genus, like
those of the other Salmonoid genera, Coregonus and Salmo, are proven to
have a lacustrine distribution in the northern part of the United States.
Land-locked Osmeri occur in the lakes of Norway. According to Pro¬
fessor Esmark of Christiana, they are found in Lake Mjosen, which is 500
feet above the sea, and discharges into it by a stream which has a very
high fall ; also in Nors Vandsjo, near the town of Moss, and in the Stink -
sild.
I find three species among our lake smelt, as follows :
Eye large, one-third length of head ; head short, 4.25 times in length ;
scales, 1. long. G6 ; 1. transv. 10. o. spectrum.
Eye smaller, 4.5 times in head ; head shorter, 4.75 in total ; scales
smaller, 1. long. 68 ; 1. transv. 16. o. abbottii.
Eye 4 — 4.25 ; head 4, longer ; scales, 1. long. 65-7 ; 1. transv. 13 (14).
O. VIRIDESCENS.
Osmenis spectrum, Cope.
Species nova ; smelt of Wilton.
Established on two specimens sent from the above locality in Franklin
Co., Maine. Form slender, the head short, with remarkably large eye,
and short mouth and maxillary bones. Mandible prominent when closed,
as in O. viridescens, the end of the maxillary bone not extending beyond
the line of the middle of the pupil. Both the length of the muzzle and
the interorbital width are considerably less than the diameter of the orbit.
The form of the body is more slender than in the 0. viridescens, the depth
entering the length without caudal fin, 8.33 times. Radii D. 10 A. 1.15.
V. 8. The pectorals extend f the distance to the base of the ventrals.
Length of a medium sized specimen, 3 in. 6 lin. Scales in about as many
transverse, but several fewer longitudinal series than in the other species.
Color*probably translucent in life, a silver band along the upper part of
the sides. Side of head and operculum silver. Top of head, middle dor¬
sal line and caudal fin so thickly punctate with black as to be colored.
Wilton Pond is near the head of the south-west branch of the Kennebec
River in S. W. Maine. The characteristics of this species, according to
Commissioner Atkins, are seen in specimens of larger size than those here
described, which were taken in breeding condition.
Osmerus abbottii, Cope.
Species nova.
This fish is in general characters more like the O. viridescens than the
last ; it is similar in the size of the orbit and posterior prolongation of the
maxillary bone, but the scales are more numerous and the head is shorter.
Like the last, it is considerably smaller than the common smelt.
The depth enters the length without caudal fin, seven times ; the head
the same, 4.75 times. The orbit is less than the length of the muzzle,
and scarcely equal to the interorbital width. The maxillary is delicately
1870.]
491
[Cope.
toothed, and reaches the line of the posterior margin of the pupil. The
pectoral measures half the distance to the base of the ventral. There
are five specimens of this fish, which measure about four inches in length,
and they are stated in the accompanying notes to be of medium size. The
colors, like those of 0. spectrum, are darker than those of 0. viridescens,
in spirits. The median line above is dusted with black, and the lateral
scales, in several specimens, bordered with the same. Fins blackish, es¬
pecially the base of the caudal. From Cobessicontic Lake, in Kennebec
Co., in Southwest Maine.
According to Commissioner Atkins, this species spawns immediately
after the ice disappears, and instead of running into swift brooks, like the
varieties of 0. viridescens, hereinafter described, lays its eggs on the bor¬
ders of meadows. The specimens described were taken in breeding con¬
dition a't the breeding season.
As I owe the opportunity of describing these interesting Osmeri to
my friend Dr. C. C. Abbott, I dedicate the present species to him.
Osmerus viridescens, Mitchill.
Osmerus sergeanti, Norris. Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1868, 93 ;
loc. cit., 1861, March.
Two localities furnish specimens of land locked smelt, which I can only
distinguish from those of salt water by color. The first from Lake Mes-
salonskee, Kennebec Co., have a yellowish color on the sides, and black
dorsal line, top of head, chin, and edges of lateral scales. The specimen is
14 inches long, said to be of medium size, therefore exceeding the average
of the O. viridescens seen in Philadelphia market, and considerably larger
than the 0. abbotti and 0. spectrum. They are called the Belgrade
smelt.
Commissioner Atkins states that between the 10th and 20th of April,
while the lakes are still covered with ice, this fish runs up into the brooks
and lays its eggs by night, the eggs adhering to grass and stones. The
spawning is complete always before the ice breaks up in the lakes. The
temperature of the brooks is from 32° to 40° Fahr.
The second locality is Coclinewagn Pond, Kennebec Co. Specimens of
“medium size” are smaller than the sea smelt from the mouth of the
Kennebec, and larger than those of 0. abbottii. They are generally simi¬
lar to the last variety. These the notes state, breed later by 25 days than
the last ; that is 12 or 15 days after the ice disappears, the temperature of
the water being 43° to 45°.
The breeding season of the O. abbottii intervenes between those of the
above varieties.
Commissioner Atkins says that the majority of the lakes of Maine con¬
tain smelt of some kind, and that he frequently finds smelt in the stomachs
of trout from these lakes.
ANGUILLA, L.
Species not identified, very abundant in all the Atlantic waters of North
Carolina (82).
Cope.J
492
[June 7,
GANOIDEA.
Lepidosteus osseus, L., occurs in the Yadkin and other eastern rivers of
the State, and probably L. huronensis in the French Broad, as I have
specimens of it from near Dandridge, E. Tennessee. Polyodon folium,
( Spatularia ) ascends the same river to near Asheville, N. Ca. Various
species of Accipenser abound in the Atlantic rivers, while descriptions of
a fish called “Black fish’’ or “Brindle fish,” found in the Neuse River,
induce me to believe that Amia occurs there (83-7).
ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.
The table appended, shows readily the characteristics of the faunae of
the four rivers of the State examined, though many species are no doubt
omitted from each, certainly nearly all the larger ones, which I had not
facilities for procuring.
The differences between the ichthyologies of the streams on opposite
sides of the Allegheny shed, are rather greater in this State than in Vir¬
ginia ; the mountains here constituting a much more important topo¬
graphical feature, both as to elevation and number of ranges.
The following points distinguish the two kinds of waters :
The western presents greater abundance of Percoids allied to Etheos-
toma, of Uranidea, and is the exclusive range of Ambloplites, Micropterus
fasciatits, and Polyodon.
On the East, the Catawba and Yadkin are peculiar in their poverty in
Etheostomine Perch, and the absence of the forms just named, while the
extraordinary development of Catostomkhe, and abundance of Amiurus,
Anguilla, and Esox, strike at once the naturalist who travels and collects
from one to the other. The Neuse adds to these peculiarities a greater
affinity to the more northern streams of Maryland and New Jersey, in the
occurrence of Enneacantlius, Aphredodirus, Moxostoma, and Hyhopsis
amarus. Its pike and Centrarchus are of the South Carolina type.
After a similar investigation of the rivers heading on opposite sides of
the Alleghenies of S. W. Virginia, I came to the following conclusions :
I. That after deducting species generally distributed, certain remain
which occur in streams separated by high ranges of mountains.
II. That the distribution of species is not regulated by community or
difference of outlet, rivers having diverse discharges having sometimes
more in common than those having the same destination.
As regards the first, the present investigations are confirmatory
While nearly all the Percidae, Cyprinidse, and Catostomidae, and all the
Siluridte of the French Broad River, differ from those of the East, we
have the following common to both sides of the range :
Pceciliclithys flabellatus.
Micropteru3 nigricans.
Photogenis leucops.
Compostoma anomalum ;
All species of pretty wide distribution. A peculiarity of distribution is
1870.]
493
[Cope.
the occurrence of the Photogenis leucops, confined in Pennsylvania to the
heads of the Ohio, and in Virginia to the Kanawha, not only in the Ca¬
tawba, but in the Neuse. In further illustration, I append a list of spe¬
cies from the South Fork of the Cumberland, in the Cumberland Moun¬
tain region, near Kentucky.
Micropterus fasciatus.
Ambloplites rupestris.
Lepomis nitidus.
Percina caprodes.
Etheostoma blennioides.
Pcecilichthys coeruleus.
“ camurus.
“ sanguifluus.
Hyostoma cymatogrammum.
“ simoterum.
Ptycliostomus erythrurus.
Catostomus nigricans.
Semotilus corporalis.
Ceratichtliys biguttatus.
Hypsilepis cocogenis.
“ galacturus.
“ ardens.
Alburnellus micropteryx.
Hybopsis longiceps.
Photogenis telescopus.
Campostoma anomalum.
Twenty-one species.
Although separated from the waters of the French Broad by the highest
ranges of the Cumberland Mountains, and flowing to the North, while
the former flow to the South, there is no important difference between
their fish inhabitants observable. The difference as compared with the
case of the Catawba River, has reference in part to the difference in ele¬
vation of the mountain ranges separating them. Those of North Carolina
rise to 6740 feet, while according to Prof. Safford, the highest point of the
Cumberland is only 3000 feet.
Two curious points in the above list may be observed, viz. : the occur¬
rence of Hypsilepis ardens, and Hybopsis longiceps ; species which I only
found in the James and Roanoke in Virginia, and not in the Western
waters, and which, while they occur in the Cumberland (the H. longiceps
in the Clinch also) I did not find in the State of North Carolina !
Mimetic Analogy. A curious case of this occurred to me in three
species of fishes which I took in a small tributary of the Yadkin River, in
Roane Co., N. Ca. Among several others there were varieties of the
widely distributed species, Chsenobryttus gillii, Hypsilepis analostanus,
and Ptycliostomus pidiensis, (each representing a different family) which
differ from the typical form of each in the same manner, viz. : in having
the back and upper part of the sides with longitudinal black lines, pro¬
duced by a line along the middle of each scale. This peculiarity I have
not observed in these species from any other locality. Until I had exam¬
ined them I thought them new species.
The only other species presenting such marking in the Yadkin River, is
the large perch, the Roccus lineatus. According to the theory of Natural
Selection, a resemblance to this well-armed species might be of advantage
to the much weaker species in question, yet the same species co-exist in
other rivers without presenting the same mimicry.
a. p. s. — vol. xr. — 34e.
Stizostedium americanum,
salmoneum.
Cope.]
494
[June 7,
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NOTES TO SECOND EDITION.
PozcilichtJiys vitreus, p. 449. This is probably a species of Pleurolepis, as
given by Prof. Jordan in bis catalogue of the Fresh Water Fishes of
North America. See Proceed. Buffalo Society Nat. Hist., 1877, p. — .
Geratichthys Tiyalinus Cope, p.459. This species is regarded by Prof. Jor¬
dan as the Butilus amblops of Rafinesque. I have another species taken
from the Ohio at Louisville, Kentucky, the original locality of Rafin¬
esque, which I have supposed to be the C. (R.) amblops, which is readily
distinguished from the C. hyalinus.
Placopliarynx carinatus Cope, p. 467. This species Prof. Jordan informs
me is not rare in the Wabash River, and he has also found it in the Scio¬
to River, Ohio.
Ptychostomus Agass., p. 468. The name Moxostoma Raf. must be em¬
ployed for this genus as has been shown by Prof. Jordan, and Teretulus
must be used for that called Moxostoma by Agassiz, and Erimyzon by
Jordan.
Garpiodes grayi Cope, p. 482. The habitat of this species was ascertained
by Dr. Yarrow, of the Wheeler Engineer Survey, to be the Rio Grande,
New Mexico.
Garpiodes carpio Raf. Garpiodes nummifer Cope, p. 484, is believed by
Prof. Jordan (Manual Vertebrata N. E. U. S.) to have been originally
described by Rafinesque under the above name.
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