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STATE LABORATORY OF NATURAL HISTORY
S. A. Forbes, Director
S"f 7 (7
THE FISHES OF ILLINOIS
STEPHEN ALFRED FORBES, Ph.D., LL.D.
AND
ROBERT EARL RICHARDSON. A.M.
PUBLISHED BY
AUTHORITY OF THE STATE LEGISLATURE
ILLINOIS PRINTING COMPANY
DANVILLE, ILLINOIS
/•2-fc aA^V, ***<> W.
Contents
PAGE
Introduction xi
The Topography and Hydrography of Illinois xv
The Northwestern Unglaciated Area xvi
The Areas of Iowan and Illinoisan Drift xvii
The Area of the Wisconsin Drift xix
The Unglaciated Southern Area xx
The River Systems xx
Rock River System xxi
Rock River xxi
Pecatonica River xxiv
Kishwaukee River xxv
Green River xxv
The Northwestern Area xxvi
Galena River xxvii
Apple River xxvii
Plum River xxvm
The Mississippi Bluff Drainage xxviii
Edwards River xxvm
Pope Creek xxix
Henderson River xxix
Bear Creek xxix
Big Creek xxix
Cahokia River xxx
Illinois River Svstem xxx
Des Plaines River xxxi
Kankakee River xxxin
Iroquois River xxxv
Illinois River xxxv
Fox River xliv
Vermilion River xlv
Mackinaw River xlvi
Spoon River xlvii
Sangamon River xlviii
Salt Creek xlix
Crooked Creek xlix
Apple Creek 1
Macoupin Creek li
Kaskaskia River System H
Kaskaskia River lii
Shoal Creek liii
Silver Creek liv
Big Muddy River System liv
IV FISHES OF ILLINOIS
PAGE
The Wabash System lvi
Wabash River lvii
Vermilion River lviii
Little Vermilion River lix
Embarras River lix
Little Wabash River lx
Saline River System lxii
Cache River lxiii
Big Bay Creek lxiv
The Lake Michigan Drainage lxv
On the General and Interior Distribution of Illinois Fishes lxvii
The General Distribution lxviii
The Interior Distribution lxxviii
The Illinois Basin and the other Districts compared lxxxvi
Relations of each District to all the others xciii
The Fishes of Northern, Central, and Southern Illinois xcv
Use of Localitv Maps xcviii
Peculiarities of Distribution in the Lower Illinoisan Glaciation xcix
Classification and Use of Ecological Data cii
Fishes of the Ohio and of the Mississippi Drainage ciii
Boundarv between Northern and Southern Species cv
General Features of Ecological Distribution cv
Ecological Table cix
General Summary cxiv
Maps I. -CIII., preceded by list.
The Fisheries of Illinois cxvii
Explanation of Terms used cxxii
Glossary of Technical Terms cxxv
Key to the Families of Illinois Fishes 1
Class Marsipobranchii 5
Order Hyperoartii 5
Family Petromyzonidae. Lampreys 5
Genus Ichthyomyzon Girard 9
I. concolor (Kirtland). Silvery Lamprey 9
Genus Lampetra Gray 11
L. wilderi Gage. Brook Lamprey 11
Class Pisces 13
( )rder Selachostomi IS
Family Polyodontidae. Paddle-fishes 15
Genus Polyodon Lacepede 16
P. spathula (Walbaum). Paddle-fish 16
Order Chondrostei 21
Family Acipenseridae. Sturgeons 21
I '.< mis Acipenser Linnaeus 24
A. rubicundus Le Sueur. Lake Sturgeon 24
Genus Scaphirhynchus Heckel 26
S. platorhynchus (Rafinesque). Shovel-nosed Sturgeon . 27
Genus Parascaphirhynchus F< irbes & Richardson 28
I', all. us Forbes & Richardson, White Sturgeon 28
( >nler Rhomboganoidea 30
Family Lepisi isteidae. Garpikes 30
CONTENTS V
PAGE
Genus Lepisosteus Laeepede 31
L. osseus (Linnaeus'). Long-nosed Gar 31
L. platostomus Rafinesque. Short-nosed Gar 34
L. tristcechus (Bloch & Schneider). Alligator-gar 35
Order Cycloganoidea 37
Family Amiidae. Bowfins ■ 3 7
Genus Amia Linnaeus 38
A. calva Linnaeus. Dogfish 38
Order Isospondyli 42
Family Hiodontidae. Mooneyes 42
Genus Hiodon Le Sueur 43
H. alosoides (Rafinesque). Northern Mooneye 43
H. tergisus Le Sueur. Toothed Herring 44
Family Dorosomidae. Gizzard-shad 45
Genus Dorosoma Rafinesque 45
D. cepedianum (Le Sueur). Gizzard-shad 45
Family Clupeidae. Herrings 47
Genus Pomolobus Rafinesque 48
P. chrysochloris Rafinesque. Golden Shad 48
Genus Alosa Cuvier 49
A. ohiensis Evermann. Ohio Shad 49
Family Salmonidae. The Salmon Family 50
Genus Coregonus (Artedi) Linnaeus 51
C. clupeiformis (Mitchill). Common Whitefish 51
Genus Argyrosomus Agassiz 53
A. artedi (Le Sueur). Lake Herring 54
Genus Cristivomer Gill & Jordan 55
C. namaycush (Walbaum). Great Lake Trout 56
Order Apodes 58
Family Anguillidae. Eels 58
Genus Anguilla Shaw 59
A. chrysypa Rafinesque. American Eel 59
Order Eventognathi 6 1
Family Catostomidae. Suckers 61
Genus Cycleptus Rafinesque 65
C. elongatus (Le Sueur). Missouri Sucker 65
Genus Ictiobus Rafinesque 66
I. cyprinella (Cuvier & Valenciennes). Red-mouth Buffalo 68
I. urus (Agassiz). Mongrel Buffalo 70
I. bubalus (Rafinesque). Small-mouth Buffalo 72
Genus Carpiodes Rafinesque 74
('. carpio (Rafinesque). Common River Carp 76
C. difformis Cope. Blunt-nosed River < 'arp 77
C. velifer (Rafinesque). Quillbat k 78
C. thompsoni Agassiz. Lake Carp 7')
Genus Erimyzon Jordan 80
E. sucetta oblongtis (Mitchill). Chub-sucker 81
Genus Minytrema Jordan 82
M. melanops (Rafinesque). Spotted Sucker 83
Genus Catostomus Le Sueur 83
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
PAGE
C. catostomus (Forster). Long-nosed Sucker 84
C. commersonii (Lacepede). Common Sucker 85
C. nigricans Le Sueur. Hogsucker 86
Genus Moxostoma Rafinesque 88
M. anisurum (Rafinesque.) White-nosed Sucker 89
M. aureolum (Le Sueur). Common Red-horse 90
M. breviceps (Cope). Short-headed Red-horse 91
Genus Placopharynx Cope 92
P. duquesnei (Le Sueur) 93
Genus Lagochila Jordan & Brayton 94
Family Cvprinidae. The Minnows and the Carp 94
Genus Cyprinus (Artedi) Linnaeus 104
C. carpio Linnaeus. European Carp 104
Genus Campostoma Agassiz 110
C. anomalum (Rafinesque). Stone-roller 110
Genus Chrosomus Rafinesque 112
C. ervthrogaster Rafinesque. Red-bellied Dace 112
Genus Hybognathus Agassiz 114
H. nuchalis Agassiz. Silvery Minnow 114
H. nubila (Forbes) 116
Genus Pimephales Rafinesque 117
P. promelas Rafinesque. Black-head Minnow 117
P. notatus (Rafinesque). Blunt-nosed Minnow 119
Genus Semotilus Rafinesque 121
S. atromaculatus (Mitehill). Homed Dace 121
Genus Opsopceodus Hay 124
O. emiliae Hay '. 124
Genus Abramis Cuvier • 12 5
A. crvsoleueas (Mitehill). Golden Shiner 126
I '.. mis Cliola Girard 128
C. vigilax (Baird & Girard). Bullhead Minnow 128
Genus Notropis Rafinesque 130
N. anogenus Forbes 132
N. cayuga Meek 133
N. cayuga atrocaudalis Evermann 134
\. heterodon (Cope) 134
N. blennius (Girard). Straw-colored Minnow 137
N. phenacobius Forbes 138
\. gilberti Jordan & Meek 139
X. illecebrosus (Girard) ■ 140
N. hudsonius (De Witt Clinton). Spot-tailed Minnow . Ill
X. lutrensis (Baird & Girard). Redfin 143
N. whipplii (Girard). Steel-colored Minnow 145
N. cornutus (.Mitehill). Common Shiner 147
X. pilsbryi Fowler 149
X. jejunus ( Forbes) ISO
X. atherinoides Rafinesque. Shiner 151
X. rubrifrons (Cope) Rosy-faced Minnow 153
X. umbral ilis atripes (Jordan). Black fin 154
Genus Ericymba Cope 156
CONTENTS Vll
PAGE
E. buccata Cope. Silver-mouthed Minnow 156
Genus Phenacobius Cope 158
P. mirabilis (Girard). Sucker-mouthed Minnow 158
Genus Rhinichthys Agassiz 160
R. cataractae (Cuvier & Valenciennes). Long-nosed Dace 160
R. atronasus (Mitchill). Black-nosed Dace 162
Genus Hybopsis Agassiz 163
H. hyostomus (Gilbert) 163
H. dissimilis (Kirtland). Spotted Shiner 164
H. amblops (Rafinesque). Big-eyed Chub 165
H. storerianus (Kirtland). Storer's Chub 166
H. kentuckiensis (Rafinesque). River Chub 167
Genus Platygobio Gill 170
P. gracilis (Richardson). Flat-headed Chub 170
Order Nematognathi 172
Family Siluridae. Catfishes 172
Genus Ictalurus Rafinesque 177
I. furcatus (Le Sueur). Blue Cat 178
I. anguilla Evermann & Kendall 179
I. punctatus (Rafinesque). Channel-cat 180
Genus Ameiurus Rafinesque 183
A. lacustris (Walbaum). Catfish of the Lakes 184
A. natalis (Le Sueur). Yellow Bidlhead 185
A. nebulosus (Le Sueur). Common Bullhead 187
A. melas (Rafinesque). Black Bullhead 190
Genus Leptops Rafinesque 193
L. olivaris (Rafinesque). Mud-cat 193
Genus Noturus (Rafinesque) 194
N. flavus Rafinesque. Stonecat 194
Genus Schilbeodes Bleeker 196
S. gyrinus (Mitchill). Tadpole Cat 197
S. nocturnus (Jordan & Gilbert). Freckled Stonecat. ... 198
S. exilis (Nelson). Slender Stonecat 199
S. miurus (Jordan). Brindled Stonecat 200
Order Haplomi 202
Family Umbridae. Mudfishes 202
Genus Umbra (Kramer) Muller 203
U. limi (Kirtland). Mud-minnow 203
Family Esocidae. Pikes 205
Genus Esox (Artedi) Linnaeus 205
E. vermiculatus Le Sueur. Little Pickerel 206
E. lucius Linnaeus. Common Pike 207
E. masquinongy Mitchill. Mitskallunge 209
Family Poeciliidae. Killifishes 210
Genus Fundulus Lacepede 211
F. diaphanus menona (Jordan & Copeland). Menona Top-
miunow 211
F. dispar (Agassiz) 212
F. notatus (Rafinesque). Top-minnow 213
Genus Gambusia Poey 215
Vlll FISHES OF ILLINOIS
PAGE
G. affinis (Baird & Girard). Viviparous Top-minnow . . 215
Family Amblyopsidae. Blindfishes 217
Genus Chologaster Agassiz 218
C. papilliferus Forbes. Spring Cave-fish 218
Order Acanthopteri 220
Family Gasterosteida?. Sticklebacks 221
Genus Eucalia Jordan 222
E. inconstans (Kirtland). Brook Stickleback 222
Genus Pygosteus Brevoort 224
P. pungitius (Linnaeus). A'ine-spined Stickleback 224
Family Percopsidas. Trout- perches 225
Genus Percopsis Agassiz 225
P. guttatus Agassiz. Trout-perch 225
Family Atherinidae. Silversides 226
Genus Labidesthes Cope 227
L. sicculus (Cope). Brook Silverside 227
Family Aphredoderidae. ['irate- perches 228
Genus Aphredoderus Le Sueur 229
A. sayanus (Gilliams). Pirate-perch 229
Family Elassomidae. Pigmy Sun fishes 231
Genus Elassoma Jordan 231
E. zonatum Jordan. Pigmy Sunfish 232
Family Centrarchidss. Sunfishes 232
Genus Pomoxis Rafinesque 237
P. annularis Rafinesque. White Crappie 238
P. sparoides (Lacepede). Black Crappie 240
Genus Centrarchus Cuvier & Valenciennes 241
C. macropterus (Lacepede). Round Sunfish 241
Genus Ambloplites Rafinesque 242
A. rupestris (Rafinesque). Rock Bass 243
Genus Chaenobryttus Gill 245
C. gulosus (Cuvier & Valenciennes). Warmouth Bass.. 245
Genus Lepomis Rafinesque 247
L. cyanellus Rafinesque. Blue-spotted Sunfish 248
L. ischyrus (Jordan & Nelson) 250
L. symmetricus Forbes 251
L. euryorus McKay 252
L. miniatus Jordan 253
L. megalotis (Rafinesque). Long-eared Sunfish 254
L. humilis (Girard). Orange-spotted Sunfish 255
L. pallidas (Mitchill). Bluegill 257
Genus Eupomotis Gill & Jordan 259
I-;, heros (Baird & Girard) 259
E. gibbosus (Linnaeus). Pumpkinseed 260
Genus Micropterus Lai epede 262
M- dolomieu Lacepede. Small-mouthed Black Bass 263
M. salmoides (Lacepede) Large-mouthed Black Bass. . . 267
Family Percidae. Pert lies 269
Genus Stizostedion Rafinesque 271
S. vitreum (Mifc hill). Wall eyed Pike 272
CONTENTS IX
PACK
S. canadense griseum (De Kay). Gray Pike 274
Genus Perca (Artedi) Linnaeus 275
P. flavescens (Mitchill). Yellow Penh 276
Subfamilv Etheostominae. Darters 278
Genus Percina Haldeman 281
P. caprodes (Rafinesque.) Log-perch 281
Genus Hadropterus Agassiz 283
H. evermanni Moenkhaus 284
H. phoxocephalus (Nelson) 285
H. aspro (Cope & Jordan). Black-sided Darter 286
H. ouachitas (Jordan & Gilbert) 288
H. evides (Jordan & Copeland) 288
H. seierus Swain 289
Genus Cottogaster Putnam 290
C. shumardi (Girard) 290
Genus Diplesion Rafinesque 291
D. blennioides (Rafinesque). Green-sided Darter 292
Genus Boleosoma De Kay 294
B. nigrum (Rafinesque). Johnny Darter 294
B. eamurum Forbes 298
Genus Crystallaria Jordan & Gilbert 300
C. asprella (Jordan) 300
Genus Ammocrypta Jordan 301
A. pellucida (Baird). Sand Darter 301
Genus Etheostoma Rafinesque 303
E. zonale (Cope). Banded Darter 304
E. eamurum (Cope). Blue-breasted Darter 306
E. iowas Jordan & Meek 306
E. jessiae (Jordan & Brayton) 307
E. eceruleum Storer. Rainbow Darter 309
E. obeyense Kirsch ill
E. squamiceps Jordan 312
E. flabellare Rafinesque. Fan-tailed Darter 313
Genus Boleichthys Girard 315
B. fusiformis (Girard) 315
Genus Microperca Putnam 317
M. punctulata Putnam. Least Darter 317
Family Serranida?. Sea Bass 318
Genus Roccus Mitchill 319
R. chrysops (Rafinesque). White Bass 319
Genus Morone Mitchill 320
M. interrupta Gill. Yellow Bass 321
Family Sciaenidae. Drums 322
Genus Aplodinotus Rafinesque 323
A. grunniens Rafinesque. Fresh water Drum 323
Family Cottidas. Sculpins 325
Genus Cottus (Artedi) Linnaeus 326
C. ictalops (Rafinesque). Common Sculpin 326
C. ricei Nelson 227
Genus Uranidea De Kay 328
X FISHES OF ILLINOIS
PAGE
U. kumlienii Hoy 328
Order Anacanthini 330
Family Gadidae. Codfishes • 330
Genus Lota (Cuvier) Oken 330
L. maculosa (Le Sueur). Burbot 331
Selected Bibliography 333
Index 343
Introduction
It is the purpose of the present volume to furnish to those inter-
ested in Illinois fishes a reliable guide to a knowledge of the species, a
careful account of their local and general distribution and of their re-
lations to their environment, a correct idea of the function and relative
importance of the different species in the general system of aquatic
life, and a fairly full summary of their habits and utilities so far as
these are now known. To this end the species have, with very few ex-
ceptions, been described anew from the specimens of our collection,
with due use, however, of descriptions already extant ; analytical keys
have been made, adapted, or selected, with special reference to the
Illinois species; and our data of geographical and local distribution
and of ecological situation and relationship have been analyzed, to a
considerable extent, by statistical methods.
The collections and field observations of Illinois fishesupon which
this report is based were begun by the senior author in 1876, and
were continued by him and by a considerable list of assistants, at
rather irregular intervals, to 1903. With the establishment of the
Illinois Biological Station on the Illinois River at Havana in 1894,
field work in ichthyology became more nearly continuous than had
previously been possible. An especially interesting study was made
at Havana during the winter and spring of 1898 and 1899 by Mr.
Wallace Craig, an assistant of the State Laboratory, to whom was
assigned the duty of making systematic collections at fixed points
by the uniform use of identical apparatus at each, determining,
counting, and recording all the species obtained in each situation.
It was the object of this investigation to apply, in the field of ichthy-
ology, the quantitative method which had been used with distin-
guished success in the study of the plankton of the Illinois River
and adjacent waters at the Havana Station. During the summer of
1899 field work was transferred to Meredosia with Mr. H. A. Surface
in charge, and later it was taken up by Mr. Thomas Large at Mere-
dosia and Ottawa, to which latter place the station equipment was
transferred in 1901. Extensive wagon-trips were made from time to
time through various parts of the state for a study of the fishes of the
smaller streams, the most important of them in 1899 by Mr. Large,
to whom we are indebted for the field determination of many of our
specimens and for numerous descriptive notes on the waters and
situations visited.
XII FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Valuable collections have sometimes been obtained, especially
from western Illinois, by arrangement with high-school teachers,
who have fished the streams of their neighborhoods in accordance
with our instructions, and in consideration of our return of a named
series of specimens to their schools.
Our field apparatus consisted mainly of seines of various size and
mesh, from the smallest and finest minnow seines to those long
enough and deep enough for use in our largest rivers. For collec-
tions from weedy ponds and from creeks, and especially from swift
waters or from streams where a shore landing was difficult, we have
i Ic] tended largely on the so-called "Baird seine," a close-meshed min-
now seine of medium length with a wide-mouthed, deep, conical bag
of netting in its center. Trammel-nets have been very serviceable
in waters through which a seine could not be drawn, especially in
those encumbered by brush or filled with water-plants. Set-nets or
pound-nets of various size and mesh, both with and without wings,
have brought us much material, especially of the larger and more
abundant species. For our knowledge of these, however, we have
depended largely upon an inspection of fish markets and an exam-
ination of the catches of commercial fishermen, with whom we have,
indeed, made frequent trips to their fishing grounds.
More than 200,000 specimens of our ISO species have been thus
collected and preserved, under aboLit 1,800 accessions numbers rep-
resenting differences of date, location, or situation, and from more
than 450 localities, fairly well distributed through ninety-three of
the one hundred and two counties of the state. These collections
bore, as a rule, permanent labels showing the date, place, and body
of water from which they came, and, in the majority of cases, some
pari iculars concerning the apparatus used and the more notable fea-
tures of the situation. This has made possible a statistical analysis of
Hi! data of relative abundance of the different species under varying
conditions, geographical, local, ami ecological, and also of the fre-
quencies of joint or associate occurrence of the various species, one
with another, in each class of situation or in each place. The results
of statistical comparisons of this kind have been used to some extent
in Ihis report, especially in the chapter on geographical and ecolog
ieal distribution, and in the detailed discussions of the leading fam-
ilies, genera, and species.
A knowledge of the food and feeding activities of fishes is funda-
mental to any tan- understanding of their place and function in the
■ral system of life, and especialb lo any just appnvial ion of their
importance to man. Unfortunately, our definite knowledge of this
INTRODUCTION Xlll
field is very limited, and for most of the statements made concerning
the food, feeding habits, and alimentary structures of fishes, we have
had to draw upon the papers of the senior author, published in vol-
umes I. and II. of the Bulletin of the Illinois State Laboratory of
Natural History, and based upon studies made between the years
1878 and 1888.
In the details of the classification we have followed, with little
variation, Jordan and Evermann's catalogue of "The Fishes of North
and Middle America," published as Bulletin 47 of the U. S. National
Museum, but our arrangement of orders and families is that proposed
by Boulenger, in Volume VII. of the Cambridge Natural History,
and followed in the main by Jordan in his "Guide to the Study of
Fishes."
It has not been our purpose to enter into the synonymy except so
far as was necessary to connect the specific names here used with
both the more general publications in this field and the more special
papers on the fishes of Illinois. We have in all cases referred to the
original description of the species, and have, with few exceptions,
made reference also, using the abbreviations indicated, to the follow-
ing books and articles:
Gunther: Catalogue of the Fishes in the British Museum. (Abbre-
viation, G.)
Jordan and Gilbert: Svnopsis of the Fishes of North America, (J.
& G.)
Jordan: Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States.
8th edition, 1888. (M. V.)
Jordan and Evermann. The Fishes of North and Middle America.
(J. & E.)
Boulenger: Catalogue of the Ferciform Fishes in the British Museum.
(B.)
Nelson : A Partial Catalogue of the Fishes of Illinois. Bull. 111. State
Lab. Xat. Hist., Vol. I., No. 1. (N.)
Jordan: A Catalogue of the Fishes of Illinois. Bull. 111. State Lab.
Nat. Hist., Vol. I., No. 2. (J.)
Forbes: A Catalogue of the Native Fishes of Illinois. Rep. 111. State
Fish Comm., 1884. (F.)
Forbes: Various papers on the food of fishes. Bull. 111. State Lab.
Nat. Hist., Vols. I. and II. (F. F.)
Large: A List of the Native Fishes of Illinois, with Kevs. Rep. 111.
State Fish Comm., 1900-02. (L.)
Richardson: A Review of the Sunfishes of the current Genera Apo-
motis, Lepomis, and Eupomotis, with particular Reference to the Species
found in Illinois. Bull. 111. State Lab. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII., Art. III. (R.)
Besides the assistants already mentioned, especial acknowlnlg-
ments are due to Mr. H. Garman, assistant in the State Laboratory
XIV FISHES OF ILLINOIS
and collector of much of our material during the early years of the
work ; to Mr. A. J. Woolman, who, in 1903, made and recorded meas-
urements of many specimens of the commoner species, and who, by
his studies of the osteology of the Catostomidce opened the way to
improved generic definitions of Ictiobus and Carpiodes; and to Mrs.
Lydia M. (Hart) Green and Miss Charlotte M. Pinkerton, who made,
under the supervision of the field ichthyologists, the colored draw-
ings by which this report is illustrated. Professor Frank Smith, Dr.
C. A. Kofoid, Mr. C. A. Hart, Mr. J. E. Hallinen, and Mr. E. B.
Forbes have, during their several periods of service on the State Lab-
oratory staff, added considerably to our knowledge of the fishes of
the state.
It is impracticable to give the names of all outside the staff of
the State Laboratory who have been, from time to time, of mate-
rial assistance in the long course of this work, but this list of ac-
knowledgments would be seriously deficient without particular men-
tion of Dr. S. E. Meek, of the Field Museum, and Dr. Barton W.
Evermann, of the U. S. Fish Commission, both of whom have been
especially obliging in passing judgment on sets of specimens of dif-
ficult determination, and in scrutinizing the tables of geographical
distribution printed in the introductory part of this report. It is
a pleasure to acknowledge also our indebtedness to a considerable
number of careful and observant fishermen who have told us much
of the habits and behavior of our best-known fishes. To Messrs.
John A. Shulte, of Havana, J. P. Baur, of the U. S. fisheries sta-
tion at Meredosia, David Yeck, of Meredosia, W. J. & H. L. Ash-
lock, of Alton, and Miles Newberry, of Havana, we owe many facts
concerning the life and economy of our fishes which we should not
otherwise have obtained.
More than to any other, the Director is indebted to Mr. R. E.
Richardson — his colleague during three years in the preparation of
this report — for indispensable service in the field, the laboratory,
and the library, and especially for the accumulation and organiza-
tion of material of all descriptions, for his critical study of the col-
lections, all of which were finally handled by him, and for the prep-
aration or revision of nearly all the technical descriptions printed in
this volume.
S. A. Forbes,
Director of Laboratory
Urbana, August 1, 1^08.
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS
The Topography and Hydrography of Illinois*
By Charles W. Rolfe, M. S.
The State of Illinois may be described as a great plain sloping
gently towards the south, the northernmost fifth of which is under-
laid by rocks of Silurian age, while the surface rocks of the remaining
four fifths are the limestones, sandstones, and shales of the sub-
carboniferous and coal measures.
The highest portion of this plain lies in the northern part of Jo
Daviess and Stephenson counties, where the general surface has an
elevation of something over 1 ,000 feet, and mounds rise more than
200 feet above this level. The highest point is Charles Mound, near
the Wisconsin line, which is 1,257 feet above the sea. From this
point the surface slopes rather rapidly to the east and south, declin-
ing to an average altitude of about 800 feet in Lake county and of
700 feet in Whiteside county. South of Whiteside county the
surface levels across the state from east to west are essentially the
same wherever the line is drawn, but southward the surface slopes
gradually until an average level of 400 feet is reached just north of
the Ozark ridge. This ridge is an eastern extension of the Ozark
Mountain range, whose highest peaks in Illinois are Williams Hill,
in Pope county, which reaches an elevation of 1,046 feet, and Bald
Knob, in Union county, 985 feet high. The average altitude of the
ridge is from 750 to 800 feet. South of it the surface slopes rapidly
to the low valley of the Cache River, the general altitude of which
does not exceed 325 to 350 feet. The lowest point in the state. is
at Cairo, where low water on the Ohio River is 268 . 58 feet above the
sea.
While the general surface of the state is unusually level, this does
not mean that it presents no marked variations. Few of the 102
counties in the state have a difference of less than 150 feet between
*The general system of the hydrography of the state is so largely a consequence
of its surface geology that it can be clearly understood only by way of its geological
antecedents and relations. For this reason Professor C. W. Rolfe. now and for
many years head of the Department of Geology in the University of Illinois, was
asked to prepare this chapter. With his discussion has been incorporated, with
his approval, some additional matter relating especially to the waters themselves,
compiled from field notes of the State Laboratory, and from more general sources. —
S. A. Forbes.
XVI FISHES OF ILLINOIS
their highest and lowest points, while variations of 300 to 400 feet
are often found. These differences, however, are not due to
variations in the general level, but to the presence of deep pre-
glacial valleys or of moraines, and often of both.
For the present discussion the surface of the state may be
divided as follows :
1. The northwestern unglaciated area.
2. The areas of the Iowan and the Illinoisan drift.
3. The area of the Wisconsin drift.
4. The unglaciated southern area.
THE NORTHWESTERN UNGLACIATED AREA
It is believed that at one time the entire northern fifth of the
state was covered by rocks of the Trenton, Cincinnati, and Niagara
formations, these following each other from below upward in the
order named, and each covering the entire area. This portion of the
state became dry land at the close of the Silurian and was not
again submerged ; consequently, during the millions of years which
elapsed between its emergence from the ocean and the advent of the
first ice-sheet it was subjected to large erosion in spite of its low
relief. At some time during this long period a low arch was raised
across its northwestern corner, and here erosion became much more
effective than on the less elevated parts.
The streams of that time cut for themselves canons 250 to 300
feet deep, extending entirely through the Niagara and Cincinnati,
but found their base level at or near the surface of the Trenton.
An extensive peneplain was formed at this level, covering most of
the area now included in the nine counties which lie farthest west.
At various points over this peneplain, mostly in its northern and
western parts, fragments of the denuded strata were left in the form
of mounds which now rise above the general surface. Later the base
Level was lowered and the rivers began again to deepen their chan-
nels, and they have continued this process until now they flow in
trenches cut in the rock often to a depth of 300 to 400 feet below the
general level. With the mounds rising above the general surface
and with the deep channels in which the rivers flow, the topography
of the country is extremely broken for that of the Mississippi
Valley. Much of the irregularity shown in Jo Daviess county,
however, was produced during and since the glacial period, for
the ice-shee1 which advanced on the state from the north was
divided in southern Wisconsin ami left this part of our state un-
i' iuched.
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS XV11
THE AREAS OF IOWAN AND ILLINOISAN DRIFT
Before describing these areas it is well to call attention to the fact
that the preglacial drainage of the entire state seems to have been
from northeast to southwest, and that while most of these early
stream beds were completely filled by the drift from the ice-sheets,
some of them were so large and deep that they were not entirely
filled throughout their length, and now control the general direction
of our larger streams. Probably, however, no one of them follows
a preglacial channel throughout its entire length, and nearly all of
the smaller streams flow in postglacial channels, the courses of
which have been largely determined by moraines.
Coming now to the areas mentioned in the last heading, it is
believed that all of that part of the state which lies north of the
Ozark ridge, with the exception of the extreme northwest corner,
was covered by one or more of the earlier ice-sheets, and that, when
these retreated, they left behind them a thick sheet of drift which
filled the smaller channels completely, and some portions of the
larger ones as well. Upon the general surface thus formed they
also laid down ridges of drift which extended across the country,
forming effective dams to the drainage. These dams, which are
called moraines, varied in height from a few feet to a hundred or
more, and from a few rods to one or several miles in width. They
were generally concentric, and so lay nearly parallel to each other.
AYhen they were far apart they inclosed large areas which had no
outlets, and, filled by rains, formed extensive lakes; but when
they were close together the intervening lakes were necessarily
smaller and more numerous. The water supply of the time greatly
exceeded evaporation, and so these basins were soon filled to the
brim and overflowed at the lowest points of the moraines which
surrounded them. These openings gradually deepened. Ulti-
mately, by the lowering of their outlets, and also by filling with
deposits, the lakes were converted into marshy plains or prairies.
During the time in which the lakes were in existence nothing
prevented the growth of vegetation on the confining moraines, and
so these areas gradually came to be covered with belts of timber,
between which were the lakes or marshes which afterward became
prairies.
As the lakes gradually became marshy, the water, flowing in >m
one to the other through the concentric moraines, sought the lowest
channels and formed continuous streams. Since certain of the pre-
glacial channels were not completely filled with drift throughout
<b)
XV111 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
their entire lengths they offered depressions here and there, and the
streams followed their course for considerable distances, so that in
the end the general direction of the stream was often largely con-
trolled by these valleys.
As time went on these main streams threw off branches behind
the moraines which in their turn divided and subdivided, each little
branch pushing its channels back towards the nearest slough. In
this way a complete drainage system was gradually established, but
the courses of the larger branches, and many of the smaller as well,
were largely controlled by the moraines behind which they were
developed. Gradually, and long before the drainage system was
complete, those branches which were pushing backward toward the
moraines united with the flood-water streams which flowed down
their sides and began to eat into the moraines themselves, thus
dividing them into series of isolated hills and short ridges which
we now find scattered all over this area. In some cases they
removed the moraines entirely. Only a few of these old morainic
systems have been studied and are shown on the accompanying
map (III.), but many others are known to exist.
The above is, in brief, the history of this area, and indicates in a
general way how its streams and surface features were formed.
As the drift was deposited on an irregular surface its depth varied
greatly, and in many places the streams have cut entirely through
it, alternately crossing the divides and channels of former streams,
and consequently flowing now on rock and now on mud beds.
With the establishment of a drainage system, erosion of the
prairies began, and every storm since that time has carried away
portions of the black prairie soil, until now, in many places, it has
nearly or entirely disappeared, leaving the gray to brown, more or
less acid, subsoil at the surface. In the lake beds, which were pro-
tected from erosion, the black soil has been retained and, in some
places, even thick beds of peat have been formed. Some lakes were
so situated that streams flowing into them brought quantities of
sediment. The coarser particles, or sands, were deposited as soon
as the velocity was checked, but the water in the lake was kept in
motion sufficiently rapid so that the finer sediment was not drop-
ped, but carried away. In this manner the beds of the lakes were
covered with thick layers of sand. When drainage was established,
this sand, then left dry, was heaped by the wind into dunes and
hills. Illustrations of this may be found in the Winnebago swamps,
the sandy area of Mason and Tazewell counties, and in many other
places.
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS XIX
After an interval covering thousands, perhaps tens of thousands,
of years following the retreat of the earlier ice-sheets, the north-
eastern portion of the state was again covered by ice. As this ice
melted, its outwash deposited here and there over the older drift a
layer of fine but well-assorted material called loess. After the ice
had disappeared and the climate had become less humid, this loess
was rearranged by the wind and quite probably received additions
of similar wind-borne material from the western plains. We speak
of it as having been derived from the Iowan and Wisconsin glaciers,
but it is quite certain that at least some of these deposits were
formed during the retreat of the Illinoisan ice, and rearranged and
redistributed by wind during the great drouth which covered part
of the interval between the earlier and later invasions. Most of the
loess in this state is formed in a broad belt following roughly the
course of the Mississippi and its larger tributaries.
All the elements whose origin is here indicated enter into the
surface of the area now under discussion at various points. The
exact location of many of them will be mentioned in connection with
the description of the various river systems.
THE AREA OF THE WISCONSIN DRIFT
As stated above, long after the retreat of the earlier glaciers the
northeastern corner of the state was invaded by a new ice-sheet
called the Wisconsin glacier. It covered this portion of the state
as far south as Paris and Shelby ville, leaving, when it retired, a
prominent moraine which runs through these places and then turns
northward, passing near Decatur, Clinton, Pekin, Princeton, Syca-
more, and Harvard, as shown on the accompanying map (III.).
This ridge is known as the Shelbyville or Mattoon moraine. In its
retreat this glacier left a series of concentric moraines with interven-
ing lake-beds, the larger of which are well shown on the map.
Another fact, also partially indicated on the map, is that the
drainage system in the part of the state north and east of the
Shelbyville moraine is not nearly so well developed as in the older
Illinoisan drift area, and consequently the streams do not have so
many branches. As the streams break through the Shelbyville
moraine, they often change the direction of their courses entirely,
thus forming curious curves. This is doubtless due to the fact that
as the Wisconsin drift sheet is superimposed on the Illinoisan drift,
the beds of the streams developed on the surface of the latter are
continued under the former, while the streams on the Wisconsin
XX FISHES OF ILLINOIS
have no relation to them. When the Wisconsin streams broke
through their confining moraines, they had to find their way to the
most accessible Illinoisan stream as best they could.
The present condition of the area of the Wisconsin drift with its
almost unbroken moraines, its black level prairies, peat bogs, lake
beds, shallow streams, and incomplete drainage is believed to
represent faithfully the condition of the Illinoisan area at an earlier
period in its history, and this correspondence enables us to interpret
many topographic relations in this area which would not otherwise
be apparent. For instance, the control which the moraines of the
Wisconsin area exercise on the direction of its streams, the position
and size of its lakes, and the location and form of the tracts of black
prairie soil are very evident, and it is believed like control would be
just as evident in the Illinoisan area if the fragments of its moraines
were carefully studied and mapped so that they could be restored
and their influence shown. All that has been said about the early
history of the Illinoisan area applies as well to the Wisconsin. The
only material differences between them are due to age and conse-
quent degree of development.
THE UNGLACIATED SOUTHERN AREA ■
A natural division of this area would be into mountain ridge and
coastal plain. Regarding the first, little need be mentioned beyond
the facts that it is a true mountain in structure, although its altitude
is low (about 400 feet, on an average, above the general level) ; that
it is composed almost entirely of limestones and sandstones of sub-
carboniferous age; and that it presents on its southern slope the
only approach to volcanic phenomena in the state. That portion
of the state south of the Ozarks forms part of the coastal plain
which borders the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It has all the peculiari-
ties of this plain, since it is level, sandy, and covered with residual
soils. It is almost entirely drained by the Cache and Big Bay
rivers, principally the former, whose current, owing to a reef across
the channel near Ullin, is very sluggish.
THE RIVER SYSTEMS
Wil h these gi nera] principles in mind we come to a more detailed
description of the drainage basins of the principal streams. Nearly
t In entire surface of the state is drained by two sets of streams, viz. :
the Rock, Illinois, Kaskaskia, and Big Muddy rivers, direct tributa-
ries of the Mississippi, whose general direction is southwest ; and the
Saline, Little Wabash, Embarras, and Vermilion, tributaries of the
THE TOPOGRAPHY AXD HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS XXI
Wabash and through it of the Ohio and Mississippi, whose general
direction is southeast. The drainage basins of these streams will
now be described in order.
Rock River System
The Rock River system drains a part of southern Wisconsin and
most of the northwestern corner of Illinois. Its basin covers an area
of almost 1 1,000 square miles — 5,566 in Wisconsin and 5,419 in Illi-
nois (Leverett). This drainage basin is 40 to 50 miles wide in Wis-
consin, but near the state-line it reaches a width of about 80 miles.
It narrows again in Illinois to 40 miles, and then to 25 miles. Its
length is about 175 miles. The outline thus formed is comparable to
that of a pear, the stem toward Rock Island. The country in this
area is an undulating semi-prairie region. Large expanses of un-
broken prairie, groves and some more extensive bodies of timber,
swamps, and lakes, are all to be found within its limits. Almost all
of the basin lying within Wisconsin is covered with drift from the
Wisconsin glacier, but near Janesville Rock River breaks through
the "Kettle Moraine" of the Green Bay lobe of this glacier. South
of this the basin lies in drift of Iowan and Illinoisan age. Although
the exact boundaries of these drift areas are not as yet definitely de-
termined, the western border of the Iowan drift probably extends but
a few miles west of Rock River at any point, and for a short distance
below Rockford it follows nearly the course of the river. The sec-
tion of the basin lying in the Wisconsin drift is characterized by
extensive swamps and numerous small lakes, the drainage being
almost entirely independent of preglacial lines and consequently
imperfectly developed. The overflow from the swamps is gathered
into little meandering streams which have cut only small channels
in the soil. The rest of the basin is older country — undulating, well-
drained, and forming excellent farm-land except along Green River,
where there are many swamps and sand-hills.
ROCK RIVER
Rock River is, of course, the principal river in the system. It
rises in Dodge county, Wisconsin, in what was formerly Lake Hori-
con, but now is drained and has become an extensive marsh. The
lake, which existed until 1868, although a body of water formed by
an artificial dam, yet occupied the site of an ancient lake caused 1 iy
the body of drift which formed a natural barrier to the ] lassage of
the water. Gradually this was eroded and the lake drained, prob-
XX11 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
ably through the same passage which now forms the channel of Rock
River past the village of Horicon. A dam 200 feet in length, erected
at this point, would raise the water 10 feet and restore the old lake
to a large extent (10th Census). Leaving Horicon, the river runs
through the eastern part of its basin until opposite Oconomowoc,
where it turns abruptly northwest to Watertown. Here it suddenly
bends again to the southwest, following this direction until it reaches
the Illinois state-line near the center of its basin. From here it winds
and curves toward the southwest, following at first the center of
the basin, but finally running decidedly nearer its western boundary
line. It empties its waters into the Mississippi near Rock Island.
Throughout its course Rock River is a bright, clear, swiftly flow-
ing stream, affording some of the most magnificent water-powers in
the country. Dams have been built at numerous places and are ex-
tensively used for milling and manufacturing purposes. Although
its tributaries, especially at times of freshets, pour their muddy, yel-
low streams into its clear waters, Rock River still retains its remark-
able clearness almost to its mouth. Here, however, the water is gen-
erally quite turbid in consequence of the sewage and other contam-
inations which are poured into it.
The river is nearly 300 miles long — almost one half tying in Wis-
consin. The altitude of its source is 875 feet, and of its mouth 536
feet, making a total descent of almost 340 feet. The average slope
is 1 . 2 feet per mile. Its most rapid section is in Wisconsin, from
the mouth of the Catfish to that of the Pecatonica, where for 30 miles
the average slope is 1 . 9 feet per mile ; and the next is from Oregon
to Sterling and Rock Falls, in which distance of 36 miles the average
slope is 1 . 3 1 feet per mile. Locally there are more sudden descents
than these — as at the Sterling rapids, where there is a fall of 15 feet.
The average low-water flow of Rock River is 3,900 cubic feet per sec-
ond, and the average yearly flow is 9,944 cubic feet. The average
yearly flow is 35 per cent, of the annual precipitation, and the ordi-
nary low-water flow is about .36 cubic feet per second per square
mile (10th Census).
There are 10 large lakes tributary to Rock River. These are all
in Wisconsin and have a total area of 80 square miles. Among them
are Lakes Koshkonong, Mendota, Monona, and Beaver Dam. Lake
Koshkonong, in southwestern Jefferson county, is an expansion of
Ruck River 2 miles wide and 10 miles long, with its foot 6 miles
above the mouth of the Catfish River. A large dam lias been erected
across its outlet and is controlled in the interests of the water power
below. To this and the dams of several other smaller tributary
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS XX111
lakes is very largely due the maintenance of a comparatively uni-
form flow in dry and severely cold seasons.
In Wisconsin the banks of Rock River are quite low and rolling,
but at Janesville the river enters a wide preglacial valley which it
follows to a point a little below Rockford, 111. The stream then
turns abruptly westward while the valley continues southward to-
ward the Illinois River, the valley of which it enters at Hennepin.
This changing of the river course is doubtless due to the Wisconsin
moraine which was left across its path when the glacier retreated.
The water then found an easier outlet through the preglacial chan-
nels of some of its former tributaries. The valley averages about 3
miles in width, although in places it reaches a width of 5 miles. Most
of the way the river follows the western edge of the valley, although
just above Rockford it crosses to the eastern side and then back
again. Thus, the eastern banks are usually low while those on the
\\< st are high and steep, in some places rising 75 feet above the water.
When the stream turns westward below Rockford, it runs for 50
miles through a narrow valley to a point a few miles below Dixon.
For a large part of this distance it flows through the preglacial chan-
nels spoken of above. Through this part of its course the stream
maintains a width of 500 feet , but its valley varies in width from 1 ,000
feet to fully 1 mile (Leverett). It forms long undulating curves, ex-
cept at Grand Detour, where it doubles upon itself in short, abrupt
bends. The face of the country along the river is rough, broken, and
timbered. The prairie extends to the water's edge in only a few
places. The bluffs approaching closely to the river are bold, rocky,
and precipitous, rising abruptly at times to a height of 125 feet.
The little streams on either side have cut deep ravines in the
banks, often exposing the several formations of the Lower Silurian.
The result is certainly very picturesque and somewhat awe-inspir-
ing. Below Dixon the bluffs gradually recede and grow lower until,
at Sterling, Rock River begins to flow through a sandy plain known
as the Green River basin, a plain which lies 25^0 feet above the
stream. Here the course of the river is entirely independent of pre-
glacial lines, and its current is broad and swift. The bluffs of the
.Mississippi strike Rock River at Milan and for several miles above
this point they rise on either side abruptly, in some places towering
1 50 feet above the water. They then 1 >reak away and the river fl< iws
in an alluvial plain of good farming land. This plain is about 5 miles
wide. Near the mouth of Rock River there are several small islands
which divert the river into three channels. Two of these branches
meet again near Milan, flowing into the Mississippi two and a half
XXIV FISHES OF ILLINOIS
miles distant, while the southern stream, known as Kickapoo slough,
pursues a winding course southward and westward, opening into the
Mississippi a few miles south of the mouth of Rock River.
The upper Rock River is a clear, quiet-flowing stream with sandy
bottom. Lower in its course the bed becomes more often rocky
and the current quickens. Naturally, the water, unless roiled by
freshets, keeps its bright, clear character until well down near the
mouth. Its tributaries, however, at times pour in a flood of stained
and muddy water, making the lower portion a turbid stream, while, of
late, sewage and other contamination have done much to impair the
original brilliancy of the water. Yet, as Illinois rivers go, it must
even now be considered a clear stream, while the bold bluffs and out-
cropping rocks along its banks make it one of the most picturesque
rivers in the state.
The principal branches of Rock River are Pecatonica, Kishwau-
kee, and Green rivers.
PECATONICA RIVER
Pecatonica River rises in Iowa county, Wisconsin, in the driftless
area, and flows south, entering Illinois in the northwest corner of
Stephenson county. It then flows in a course a little south of west
to Freeport, where it turns westward, entering Winnebago county
near the center of its western boundary. Another turn is then made,
to the north and east, the stream finally emptying into Rock River
at Rockton. The Pecatonica is about 150 miles long, over half of
this distance lying in Wisconsin. Its drainage basin covers 2,225
square miles. Its discharge in ordinary low water is about 940 cubic
feet per second, and the average flow for the year is estimated to be
over 2,300 cubic feet per second. Almost all of that portion of the
basin lying in Wisconsin is included in the driftless area, the river
entering the Illinoisan drift just above the Illinois state-line. It
flows through this drift until, at a point 10 miles above its mouth, it
inters the Iowan drift. For 10 or 15 miles above this point, how-
ever, it follows closely the northern boundary of this drift. The
country which the Petaconica drains is rolling, partly timber and
partly prairie.
The Indian name of the river (spelled Peeka-ton-oke on the old
maps) is said by some authors to mean "muddy," and by others to
mean "crooked." The river, especially in its lower portion, would
fit either or both. The fall of the river averages only about half a
foot per mile, and throughout its course it curves and winds about,
not abruptly but in long undulating turns, through its rich alluvial
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS XXV
bottoms, which in some places spread out to a width of 3 miles. Its
earthen banks are low and rounded, and covered with heavy tim-
ber.
KISHWAl'KEE RIVER
Kishwaukee River is formed by two branches which unite about
12 miles above its mouth. The northern branch rises in the Wis-
consin moraine in central McHenry county, and the southern in the
same moraine in southern DeKalb county. Each of these branches
is about SO miles long, the whole system draining about 1,266 square
miles. The lower part of the river lies in drift of the Iowan age, while
the upper parts are in that of the Wisconsin age. The northern
branch falls about 25 feet in the first 3 miles, and below this the
descent averages two and a half to three feet per mile. The south-
ern branch is a little swifter, with an average fall of about 4 feet per
mile. The waters of this river are very clear compared with those
of the Pecatonica. The banks of the river are not precipitous, al-
though rising 40 to 50 feet high at some points. The entire river
valley is low, undulating, semi-prairie country, more or less wooded.
GREEN RIVER
Green River and its basin are quite distinct in their character
from the other tributaries of Rock River and their basins. The
drainage basin of Green River covers about 1,131 square miles (10th
Census) , all of which lies on a lake-plain of sand and gravel outwash
from the Wisconsin glacier, the river following for most of its course
the northern boundary line of the Wisconsin terminal moraine. The
surface soil consists of peat, underlaid by sand and gravel. Through
this the streams have found difficulty in making their way, unable to
cut definite channels through it down to base level. The country
consequently remains very imperfectly drained, and the waters gath-
ering between the sand-hills have formed great peat marshes and
bogs. Much is being done in late years, however, toward reclaiming
these swamps by means of extensive tiling and ditching. The fol-
lowing description represents the condition of this region before this
work was so far advanced as it is at present.
Green River is about 100 miles long, extending from eastern Lee
county southwest across the corner of Bureau county and then west
through Henry county to its northwest corner, there emptying into
Rock River. Its headwaters are found in the elevated moraine
forming the border of the Wisconsin drift in southeastern Lee
county, and stand 950 to 1,000 feet above tide. The eastern stream
XXVI FISHES OF ILLINOIS
descends rapidly, 25 feet in a mile, to the sandy plain outside the
moraine. There it soon enters the Inlet swamps lying about 775
feet above tide. These swamps are 10 miles long and 2 to 5 miles
wide. Through them the stream has no definite channel but seems
to be entirely lost. They are mostly covered with a dense prairie
grass among whose roots a thin sheet of water is concealed in the
wet seasons of the year. Towards the center the water is deeper and
patches of cattails and rushes abound. From the western edge of
this area, two to three miles southeast of Lee Center, the surplus
waters of the swamps are gathered into a stream with a well-defined
channel. This leads westward for 15 miles to another wet area,
the Winnebago swamps, making a descent of about 3 feet per mile.
These swamps are very similar to the Inlet swamps but much larger.
Hills of sand rise in chains and clusters from the midst of them.
These hills were originally heaped up by the winds from the sands
of the old lake-bed. Some of them are 40-50 feet high and are
covered with a scattering and stunted growth of trees. The inter-
vening swamps are fringed with bands of thick-growing swamp
grass on a miry, mucky soil. Within these are inner fringes of
dense cane-like rushes and cattails growing so thick and tall that it
is almost impossible to penetrate them. Then come stretches of
clear water with hard sand bottoms. In the next 25 miles, to the
crossing of the Bureau-Henry county line, the stream has a poorly
defined channel, meandering about through a series of marshes
among sand-hills but making a descent of 60 feet. In the remaining
35 to 40 miles to its mouth, the stream falls about 40 feet and main-
tains a well-defined channel. In the lower 18 to 20 miles, below
Geneseo, it has excavated a valley fully 20 feet in average depth
and nearly half a mile in width. In this section of its course its
uplands are far less sandy.
Along the whole course of Green River, there are no bold bluffs
except at Lee Center, where some low outcrops of Galena limestone
are quarried.
The Northwestern Area
The waters of extreme northwestern Illinois differ sufficiently in
condition and surroundings from those of the smaller tributaries of
the Mississippi farther south to warrant their separate discussion in
this report. The .surface drained by them is the southernmost part
of a tract known to geologists as the Wisconsin driftless area, a
region not covered by ice during the glacial period, and conse-
quently wholly destitute of glacial drift. Because of its prolonged
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS XXV11
exposure to erosion its streams have reached the limit of their
development, and run usually through deep valleys with rather a
swift current, mostly unobstructed by rapids or falls. As a conse-
quence of this perfect drainage and rapid flow, the surface waters
quickly escape to the Mississippi ; but as the streams are fed to a
'considerable extent by springs flowing from the limestone rocks,
they rarely are completely dry. There are no lakes, swamps, or
other reservoirs for the sedimentation of the surface waters, and
the streams are consequently easily roiled by storms, in the intervals
of which, however, the water is comparatively clear.
This driftless area of northwestern Illinois contains about 1,030
square miles, and includes all of Jo Daviess county, two thirds of
Carroll county, and a part of Stephenson. The surface is rolling and
somewhat broken, with a general elevation varying between 700
and 1,000 feet, but rising in mounds and flat-topped hills to the
highest point in the state, an elevation known as Charles Mound,
in Jo Daviess county, 1,257 feet above the level of the sea. The
surface rock of this district is mainly Trenton limestone, with
Cincinnati shales and Niagara limestone capping the higher hills.
The principal streams of this region are Galena River to the
north and Apple and Plum rivers farther south. Many additional
smaller streams run down from the hills and bluffs to open directly
into the Mississippi.
GALENA RIVER
Galena River, called Fever River on many maps, rises chiefly in
La Fayette county, Wisconsin, which state contains also nearly
half the 390 square miles of its drainage basin. It runs with a
rather rapid course through the hilly country of western Jo Daviess
county, often over a rocky bed, becoming comparatively broad and
sluggish as it crosses the Mississippi bottoms west of the town of
Galena to empty into the Mississippi River.
APPLE RIVER
Apple River rises in Lafayette county, Wisconsin, and flows
southeast, then southwest and finally south, emptying into the
Mississippi in northern Carroll county, Illinois. It has a length of
about 45 miles and drains an area of possibly 250 square miles. It
crosses the statedine at an elevation of about 950 feet, while its
mouth has an altitude of only 588 feet. In Jo Daviess county, the
upper channel of the river is narrow and the banks are steep and
150 to 200 feet high. In the lower part, the valley becomes broader
XXV111 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
and the banks recede until, in Carroll county, the river enters the
broad bottom-lands of the Mississippi.
Except for the headwaters of the eastern branch, the entire
basin lies in the driftless area and therefore maintains its pre-
glacial course. It has, however, received a marked accession of
drainage because of the blocking of a preglacial tributary of the
Pecatonica. This diversion occurs just below Melville, and for
about 3 miles below this point the stream is in a gorge but little
wider than its bed. The small preglacial Apple River is then
entered. Outcrops of the Niagara formation occur frequently along
the bluffs.
PLUM RIVER
Plum River rises in the northeast corner of Carroll county, and,
following a westerly and southerly direction through many windings
and abrupt turns, finally empties into the Mississippi in the center
of the western boundary of Carroll county. It rises at an altitude
of 900 feet but descends to 800 feet in the first 3 miles, to 700 feet
in the next two and one half miles, and to 590 feet in the remaining
32 miles of its course. The banks are often ISO feet high, and in
some places are very abrupt, while at other points a narrow valley
of one eighth to one fourth of a mile intervenes.
The Mississippi Bluff Drainage
Under this head are included all of the small streams of western
Illinois directly tributary to the Mississippi below those of the north-
western area. Those here briefly described are Edwards River, Pope
creek, Henderson River, Bear creek, Big creek, and Cahokia River.
The character of a multitude of others may be sufficiently inferred
from those of this list. The area drained by these western streams
includes two strips of land bordering the Mississippi, one above and
the other two below the Illinois basin. It consists of the eastern Mis-
sissippi bottoms, varying in width from one to ten miles, and of high
bluffs rising from 1 50 to 250 feet above the river, usually of loess, but
occasionally with precipitous rock exposures. Many of the streams
rise beyond this range of bluffs on the western prairies.
EDWARDS RIVER
Edwards River rises in southeastern Henry county, in two
branches, and flows westward through this and .Mercer county. In
the western pari of the latter i1 turns southward for a shorl distance
before emptying into the Mississippi about one and one half miles
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS XXIX
below New Boston. Below the junction of its two headwater streams
the course of the river is remarkably straight and it has few tribu-
taries. This is due to the fact that its basin lies in a narrow and
shallow valley between two ridges having a general east-west direc-
tion, and so the river drains only this narrow strip. Pope creek,
which flows parallel with it on the south, lies in another such valley.
Edwards River rises at an altitude of 800 feet, falls SO feet in its first
one and one half miles, and another 50 feet in the next 18 miles.
The mouth is about 520 feet above sea-level. The stream has a
length of 60 miles.
POPE CREEK
Pope creek rises in northern Knox county and flows westward,
emptying into the Mississippi almost opposite the mouth of Iowa
River. It rises at an altitude of 750 feet, but its mouth lies at 520
feet. Its length is about 36 miles. The bluffs bordering the river
are abrupt and often reach a height of 75 to 125 feet.
HENDERSON RIVER
Henderson River rises in the northwest corner of Knox county
and flows westward and southward, emptying into the Mississippi
at the center of the western border of Henderson county. It drains
much of northern Henderson, northern Warren, and part of Knox
county, and, although having a length of scarcely 50 miles, it fur-
nishes drainage through its numerous branches for an area of fully
500 square miles. It rises at an elevation of 800 feet, and descends
100 feet in its first 10 miles, but below this the fall is gradual, the
altitude at its mouth being 520 feet.
BEAR CREEK
Bear creek drains the southwestern part of Hancock county and
the northern part of Adams — a possible area of 600 square miles.
The main branch rises in southern Hancock county and flows south
and west, emptying into the Mississippi opposite Canton, Mo. The
source of this stream is at an elevation of 670 feet, while the mouth
has an altitude of 460 feet.
BIG CREEK
Big creek drains a large part of Pike county and a little of north-
ern Calhoun. It rises in northern Pike county ami flows soul he:
ward toward the Illinois River, following a sag between two Illi-
noisan drift ridges, and nearly reaching the Illinois opposite the vil-
XXX FISHES OF ILLINOIS
lage of Bedford. It then curves to the southwest, passes through a
gap in the rocky ridge, which to the north and south constitutes the
divide between the Mississippi and the Illinois, and enters the Missis-
sippi opposite the town of Louisiana, Mo. The deflection to the west
is due to the ridge of Illinoisan drift which follows the east border of
the stream and prevents it from entering the Illinois valley. The
river has a length of about 50 miles, rising at an altitude of 850 feet,
but falling 100 feet in its first two miles, and below this averaging a
fall of nearly 7 feet to the mile until it enters the Mississippi flats.
The mouth is at an altitude of about 430 feet.
CAHOKIA RIVER
Cahokia River rises in southern Macoupin county and flows south
and west, emptying into the Mississippi near East St. Louis. It is
about 50 miles long, rising at an altitude of 640 feet, but falling 120
f< ( t in the first 6 miles. Below this it descends to 425 feet at Wanda,
the point at which it crosses the Mississippi bluffs and enters the bot-
tom-lands of that river. The mouth of the stream has an elevation
of about 400 feet. The banks above Wanda are steep and abrupt,
rising 100 feet or more on either side of the water.
Illinois River System
The Illinois and its branches drain an area of 29,013 square miles,
distributed among three states. Of this area, 24,726 square miles are
in Illinois, extending in a broad band, 250 miles long and averaging
100 miles in wi< 1th, i lirectly across the center of the state in anortheast-
southwest direction. From the upper extremity of this band are two
projections: one north into Wisconsin, covering 1,080 square miles in
that state; the other east into Indiana, covering 3,207 square miles
of its northern portion. This eastern projection forms the basin of
the Kankakee River, while the northern one includes the basins of
the Fox and Des Plaines rivers. It is the union of the drainage of
these two projections which may be considered as the origin of the
[llinois, this name being applied to the river from the point of junc-
tion of the Kankakee and the Des Plaines in eastern Grundy couni v,
Illinois. The Illinois flows westward for about 55 miles, turns
rather abruptly southwest a little north of Hennepin and follows
this direction until it empties into the Mississippi at the southern end
of Calhoun county. The river may readily be divided into two
parts: the upper Illinois, consisting of that portion of the river
above the turn at 1 [ennepin : and the lower Illinois, below this point.
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS XXXI
The lower part of the river occupies a preglacial valley, the south-
ward continuation of the preglacial valley occupied by Rock River
in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. The upper Illinois,
however, flows through an interglacial and postglacial valley, the
old "Chicago outlet." This outlet was the line of southwestward
discharge from the basin of Lake Michigan across the low divides
near Chicago and thence down the Des Plaines and Illinois to the
Mississippi. It has a depth ranging from 20 to 70 feet, the excava-
tion being almost entirely in beds of drift except for about 1 5 miles
between Lemont and Joliet and 40 miles between Morris and Peru,
where rock strata have been eroded. Throughout its entire length
the bluffs are steep like river banks, and the deposits made by side
streams on the edge of the valley are very meager — a feature which
indicates that the stream had great volume, probably filling the
channel from bluff to bluff, and a current sufficiently strong to carry
nearly all of the detritus brought into it by the side streams.
Since the Illinois is formed by the union of the Des Plaines and
the Kankakee, it may be best to describe those streams first.
DES PLAINES RIVER
The Des Plaines drains a narrow intermorainic strip extending
north and south a distance of 90 miles from Kenosha county, Wis-
consin, to the head of the Illinois in eastern Grundy county, Illinois.
The whole drainage basin covers an area of about 1,758 square miles,
its greatest width being scarcely 25 miles. This region all lies within
the Wisconsin drift, between two rather large moraines to the east
and west of it, and containing many smaller moraines which have
prevented the formation of good natural drainage-lines. The land
is, consequently, very imperfectly drained, and contains numerous
small lakes and marshes, although this condition has been much
changed by extensive systems of tiling. A series of measurements
by the U. S. Geological Survey gives for the average discharge 1,100
cubic feet per second. The water of the northern section is moder-
ately clear, but becomes more turbid and polluted lower down. The
bottom of the river and its tributaries is largely sand and gravel,
with rock in its portions of swiftest descent.
The Des Plaines has its source in an extended marshy valley in
Kenosha county, Wisconsin. This valley is so nearlv level thai at
times it is very difficult to tell which way the water flows. It stands
1 12 feet atiove Lake Michigan (Leverett) and drains northward into
Root River as well as southward into the Des Plaines. The Des
Plaines flows nearly parallel with the shore of Lake Michigan to a
XXX11 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
point about 10 miles southwest of Chicago. It then turns southwest
for 40 miles, to its junction with the Kankakee. The course of the
upper Des Plaines is governed by the moraines along the banks of
Lake Michigan, following these more or less in their curves. At
Summit it enters into the "Chicago outlet." At flood stages the
upper Des Plaines still discharges into Lake Michigan through a por-
tion of this old outlet which is known as "Mud Lake" and South
Chicago River. Probably the entire discharge, until recent years, has
been into the lake instead of down the "Chicago outlet," thus form-
ing a system entirely distinct from the lower Des Plaines. In the
upper portion of the river the fall averages only a little over 1 foot
per mile, and its branches are almost all short and small on account
of the moraines. The banks, especially on the west, are quite high,
in some places reaching a height of 50 feet, but they are not abrupt.
In the 40 miles from Summit to the mouth of the river, the valley
averages about 1 mile in width and consists of a rather shallow
trough cut out of limestone. This is covered with a thin bed of drift,
and the banks of the river are consequently low. Just below Sum-
mit there are 12 miles which are almost level, so that the land on each
side of the river is poorly drained and swampy. Below this the river
witl ens into Goose Lake, three and a half miles long and one third of
a mile wide, through which it makes a descent of about 10 feet. The
bed of the river narrows again, and just above Lockport it begins to
descend very rapidly, dropping about 70 feet in 8 miles. Below this
are two lakes, — one, known as Lake Joliet, 2£ miles below Joliet, and
the other, Lake Dupage, near the mouth of the Dupage River, the
two being three miles apart, and the river falling about 13 feet in
the interval (Leverett). In the half mile from Lake Dupage to the
junction of the Des Plaines with the Kankakee another descent of
two and a half feet is made. The only true flood-plain bottoms lie
within the seven miles between Lake Joliet and the head of the Illi-
nois. These are within the range of backwater from the Kanka-
kee, but are overflowed only in case of floods from that stream,
having been built up to about the average high-water level. A
canal. 100 miles long, called the Illinois and Michigan canal, starts
from Lake Michigan at Chicago, and, cutting through the low sum-
mit, inters the Des Plaines valley. It crosses the river at Joliet,
and then follows along the right bank of this river and of the Illinois
to Peru, where it enters the latter river.
The principal branch of the! )es Plaines is the Dupage River .which
rises in southern Lake count}-, and, flowing southward, empties into
the Des Plaines only I miles a In i\ e its junction with the Kankakee.
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS XXX111
It is about 50 miles in length, and drains about 366 square miles of
intermorainic country. It is a swiftly moving stream, the last 1 1
miles of its course having a fall of 80 feet. Its banks are generally
low and rolling.
KANKAKEE RIVER
Kankakee River rises in a large marsh about three miles south-
west of South Bend, St. Joseph county, Ind. It flows in a south-
westerly direction to the southern boundary line of La Porte county,
and then more westerly, crossing the Indiana-Illinois state-line in
southern Lake county, Indiana. It then flows a little south of west
to within a few miles of Kankakee, where it receives the Iroquois
from the south. Thence it proceeds almost due northwest to near
the northeast corner of Grundy county, where it unites with the Des
Plaines to form the Illinois.
The Kankakee is about 140 miles long; 85 miles lying in Indiana.
Its drainage basin covers about 5,300 square miles, of which 3,200
square miles are in Indiana. This basin has its northern limits in the
Valparaiso morainic system, and all of the important northern tribu-
taries find their sources in the same system. Its southern limits, in
the portion below the mouth of the Iroquois, are found in the Mar-
seilles moraine. The Iroquois rises in a somewhat distinct area,
draining basins south of the Iroquois and Marseilles moraines and
passing through a gap in the latter moraine to enter the Kankakee.
The eastern limits of the Kankakee basin are mainly in the Maxin-
kuckee moraine of the Saginaw lobe.
Probably the whole of the Kankakee basin was formerly an old
lake, called now by geologists Lake Kankakee, and, at the same
time that the old "Chicago outlet" was full, it may have been a line
of discharge for the St. Joseph River, now a tributary to Lake Michi-
gan, carrying also a large amount of glacial drainage from the Sagi-
naw and Lake Michigan lobes.
The basin of the Kankakee is generally level, but near the state-
line, at Momence, occurs the first limestone outcrop in the bed of the
river. This ledge or arch has so prevented the wearing down of
the bed that a very large part of the drainage area in Indiana is one
vast swamp. From its source to the statedine there is a direct dis-
tance of only 75 miles, but within this distance the stream makes
2,000 bends and flows a total length of 240 miles. The difference
in level between its source and the state-line is but 97 . 3 feet, shi >\v
ing a fall of but 1 .3 feet to the mile. (Indiana Geological Survey.)
The winding of the river reduces the fall to only 5 inches to the mile.
(c)
XXXIV FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Above its junction with the Yellow River the amount of water is
insufficient to form a well-defined channel. The water has an al-
most imperceptible flow, and in many places wild rice, rushes,
lily-pads, and aquatic grasses so choke the channel as to cause the
flooding of the marshes during summer freshets. Below this point,
however, there is quite a definite open channel, although the small
tributaries are usually lost in the marsh before reaching the main
stream. On the immediate border of the river there is a strip rang-
ing in width from one fourth to One and one half miles which is
heavily timbered. The only other timber is found on so-called
islands whose surfaces rise 10 to 20 feet above the general level of
the marsh. The open marsh is covered with a rank growth of wild
grasses, bullrushes, sedges, reeds, wild rice, and other semiaquatic
vegetation. Between the woodland bordering the river-bank and
the marsh, as well as around the margin of most of the islands,
there are dense thickets of elbow-brush, willows, etc. In 1882 there
were almost 500,000 acres of marsh land within the valley of the
Kankakee. It resembled an immense sponge, slowly absorbing the
water during the wet season and as slowly giving it forth during the
dry, so that the flow throughout the year was quite regular and uni-
form in amount. At present, on account of the drainage of a large
part of this marsh, the water flows off much sooner after it falls,
and consequently the river is higher during the autumn and spring
floods and lower at other seasons than formerly. In general the soil
of the marsh is a dark, sandy loam, very rich in organic matter.
It is very porous, but has the power to take up and retain large quan-
tities of water.
In the 14 miles below Momence, 111., to its junction with the Iro-
quois, there is a descent of 25 feet. In the 33.5 miles from the
mouth of the Iroquois to the head of the Illinois, the Kankakee falls
103 feet, or an average of 3 feet to the mile. There are rapids near
Altorf atnl at Wilmington, where sudden descents of 20 feet are
nude. In Indiana, as stated above, the bed of the river is com-
posed mainly of sand and fine gravel, but at Momence it begins to
(low over limestone, and from that point to its mouth it has a rock
1 >ni 1 1 iin, affording good foundations for dams for utilizing water-
power and f<T | turpi ises of navigation. The inner valley of the river is
but little wider than the stream, and outside this there is a broad
bottom averaging about 2 miles in width.
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY IN ILLINOIS XXXV
IROQUOIS RIVER
Iroquois River is the chief tributary of the Kankakee in this
state. It rises in Jasper county, Indiana, flows southwest until it
reaches the center of Iroquois county, Illinois, and then turns north,
emptying into the Kankakee at Waldron, Kankakee county. It is
about 100 miles long and has a watershed of 2,000 square miles,
much of which is imperfectly drained. Fully 800 square miles, or
nearly half the basin, lies in Indiana. This part is of the same type
as the Kankakee basin, marshy and sandy. Just before the river
reaches Watseka, Illinois, it crosses the Iroquois moraine, and then
traverses what was probably once a temporary lake-bed. Sand
banks, like those along the Kankakee, follow its valley.
It is a much slower stream than the Kankakee in Illinois, but for
the first 12 miles in this state it falls only about two and a half feet
per mile. Below Watseka it descends still more gradually, falling
onlv 10 feet in the first 20 miles and another 10 feet in the last 9
miles of its course. The Iroquois is about half the size of the Kan-
kakee above its junction. Although it rises in the swamp region,
it drains a much greater proportion of dry prairie land than the Kan-
kakee, and therefore is, comparatively, a "flashy" stream. Its fresh-
ets rise sooner, and they pass off before those of the main river. In
the region around Oilman, in the western part of the basin, are
many artesian wells which add materially to the flow of the river in
ordinary low water. •
ILLINOIS RIVER
Measured by its relation to their industrial and civic interests,
the Illinois is by far the most important river to the citizens of this
state. Larger streams flow along our boundaries, but none affects
so closely the welfare of so many of our people. Indeed, from its
peculiar position and its relation to other waters, it has always been
an especially important stream. To the early explorers, traders,
and missionaries, as well as to the aborigines before them, it fur-
nished, together with the Des Plaines and the Chicago portage, one
of the 'most frequently traveled waterways through the interior of
tli'' country, and the settlements along its banks were among the
earliest in the state. At a later period it became a useful commer
cial highway, a function which it now seems certain to resume, at
no distant day, on a scale of national importance. Its yield of
fishery products is greater than that of all the other waters of the
state combined,* and it serves an indispensable purpose to the City
*In 1899 the total value of the product o) the fisheries of Illinois was $616,432,
and that of the fisheries of the Illinois River was $382,372.
XXXVI FISHES OF ILLINOIS
of Chicago and to the principal towns upon its banks in conveying
away their liquid wastes, which it renders harmless by decompo-
sition and useful by converting them more or less directly into a
food supply for fishes.
The Illinois may be regarded as in many respects a typical stream
of the central prairies of the Mississippi Valley, peculiar now, how-
ever, in the enormous amount of sewage which it carries — mainly
received from Chicago by way of the drainage canal — together with
the large amount of refuse from distilleries and cattle-yards along its
course. It flows, in most of its length, down the bed of an ancient
outlet of Lake Michigan, by which the waters of that lake were con-
veyed to the Mississippi River. Within this bed it has excavated
its own present channel, with its present bottom-lands or "first
bottoms," subject to overflow at high water. Its second bottoms,
above the reach of high water, are the flood-plain of the former out-
let of the lake. This ancient channel varies in width from 1^ to 6
miles, or, if the flood-plain of the older river be also included, to a
maximum width of 20 miles, the bluffs on either side ranging in
altitude from 450 to 800 feet. The highest points of these bluffs are
near Peoria, and near the mouth of the river in Calhoun county.
The watersheds bounding the river basin range in height from 700
to 1,000 feet above the sea, the average elevation being 600 or 700
feet.
The length of the Illinois from its origin in the junction of the
Kankakee and the Des Plaines is approximately 270 miles; or, if its
longest tributary, the Kankakee, be added, the total is 505 miles.
The length of the stream itself is 28 per cent, greater than that of a
straight line from its origin to its mouth — an unusually small per-
centage for the tributaries of the Mississippi. It takes, in other
words, an uncommonly direct course. The area of its basin is
approximately 29,000 square miles, nearly 25,000 of which lie with-
in Illinois, approximately 1,000 square miles in Wisconsin, and
3,200 in Indiana. Its basin thus comprises about three sevenths of
the area of the state. It extends diagonally across the center of
Illinois from the northeast to the southwest as a broad belt about a
hundred miles in width, the upper end of which expands in a Y-
shaped area to embrace the southwest part of Lake Michigan. The
northern arm of the " Y" is formed by the basin of the Des Plaines,
and the eastern arm by the more extensive basin of the Kankakee.
From its origin, fitly miles southwest of Chicago, it runs almost due
west some sixty miles to a point not far above Hennepin, where it
turns abruptly towards the left, flowing southwest by south a hun-
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS XXXV11
dred and sixty-five miles (two hundred and five by river) to its
union with the Mississippi, twenty-five miles above St. Louis. Its
bottom-lands have an average width of 3 . 1 miles, from Utica to the
mouth of the river. The immediate banks of the stream are usu-
ally higher than the adjacent surfaces, and the same may be said
of its tributary streams where they flow through the bottoms of the
Illinois. Bayous, lagoons, marshes, and temporary ponds occur
along the course of the river, especially in its central portion from
Hennepin to Meredosia, all subject to invasion or obliteration by
the river in times of flood, but filled, at low water, either from
springs or from the general drainage of their basins. Spring-fed
lakes are rather common along the eastern side of the river, from
Pekin to its mouth, deriving their waters from the rainfall col-
lected by the second bottoms, at whose margin they usually lie.
This large area of marshes, lagoons, and lakes affects the life of
the river in many important ways. The flood-plain serves as a
storage area for the waters of overflow, greatly delaying the run-
off at times of flood. This delay is still further prolonged, in many
years, by high water in the Mississippi, which often extends far up
the Illinois — in a few instances as much as a hundred miles. As
a result of these conditions the average volume of water in the
stream throughout the year is greatly increased, and a wider range
and breeding ground and a greater food supply are afforded to the
fishes of the stream.
The fall in the Illinois River is but slight — an average of .267 of
a foot per mile of its total length. Fifty and seven tenths feet of
this fall occur in the first forty-two miles of its course, and from
Utica to the mouth of the river the total fall is but 31 feet, or an
average of . 137 of a foot to the mile. The effect of this slight fall is
seen in the sluggish current of the Illinois, which ranges from .4 of a
mile per hour at the lowest water to 1.737 miles when at twelve
feet above low-water mark. The usual rate of flow for ordinary
stages varies, however, from \] to 2h miles per hour. The differ-
ence between low-water and high-water conditions is immense in
many ways, especially because of the great expansion of water sur-
face resulting from slight changes in level. The annual range in river
levels, as recorded at Copperas Creek dam, in the twenty-one years
from 1879 to 1899 inclusive, varied from 8.9 feet in 1894 to 17.7 feel
n 1882. It is estimated that the area and volume of the river are
not far from a hundred times as great at the highest water as at the
lowest, and the conditions of aquatic life are thus enormously
affected. The contrasts presented by the Illinois River at high
XXXV111 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
water and at low water respectively are graphically set forth by
Kofoid in his report on the plankton work of the Natural History
Survey, published in Volume VI. of the State Laboratory Bulletin.
"A trip by boat," he says, "across the submerged bottom-lands
from the Quiver shore [on the east bank, 2\ miles above Havana]
to the western bluff in the latter part of May would be far more
enlightening than any description that might be given. As we
leave the sandy shore of Quiver we traverse the clear, cold, and
spring-fed water along the eastern bank with its rapidly growing car-
pet of Ceratophyllum [hornwort], and in a few rods note the increas-
ing turbidity, rising temperature, and richer plankton of the water
which has moved down from the more or less open and slightly sub-
merged bottom to the north. As we cross the muddy bank of
Quiver ridge and enter the main channel of the river we find rougher
water, caused by the wind which usually sweeps up or down the
stream with considerable force between the bordering forests. The
water also appears much more turbid by reason of silt and plankton,
and no trace of vegetation is to be seen save occasional masses of
floating Ceratophyllum or isolated plants of Lemna,Wolffia, or Spiro-
dcla [duckweeds]. Huge masses of cattle-yard refuse, veritable float-
ing gardens, may also at times be seen moving down the channel or
stranded in some eddy along shore. As we plunge into the willow
thicket on the western shore we have to pick our way through the
accumulated drift lodged in the shoals or caught by the trunks of the
trees or the submerged underbrush. The surface of the water is
one mat of logs, brush, sticks, bark, and fragments of floating vege-
tation, with its interstices filled with Lemnacece [duckweed] dotted
with the black statoblasts of Plnmatdla. From this dark laby-
rinth we emerge to the muddy but quiet waters of Seeb's Lake with
its treacherous bottom of soft black ooze. We next enter a wider
stretch of more open territory with scattered willows and maples and
a rank growth of semiaquatic vegetation, principally Polygonums
[heart-weed] The water is clearer and of a brownish tinge (from
the diatoms), while mats of algae adhere to the leaves and stems of
the emerging plants. A flock of startled water-fowl leave their
feeding grounds as we pass into the wide expanse of Flag Lake.
We push our way through patches of lily-pads and beds of lotus,
past the submerged domes of muskrat houses built of last year's
rushes, and thread our way, through devious channels, among the
fresh green flags and rushes just emerging from the water. Open
patches of water here and there mark the areas occupied by the
"moss" or Ceratophyllum, as yet at some depth below the surface.
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS XXXIX
The LemnacecB are everywhere lodged in mats and windrows, and,
amidst their green, one occasionally catches sight of a bright cluster
of Azolla. The water is clear and brownish save where our move-
ments stir the treacherous and mobile bottom. We now enter a
second time the partially wooded country, and cross the submerged
ridge to the sandy eastern shore of Thompson's Lake. This ridge
is covered by submerged vegetation which has as yet attained but
little growth. The "breaks" of the startled fish show that we have
invaded favorite feeding grounds. The waters are evidently mov-
ing towards the river, and they bear the rich plankton of Thomp-
son's Lake, while their turbidity is doubtless increased by the
movements of the fish. Schools of young fry can be seen feeding
upon the plankton in the warm and quiet waters. Thompson's
Lake, the largest expanse of water in the neighborhood, is wont to be
rough in windy weather, but if the day be still we can see the rich
aquatic vegetation which fringes its margin and lies in scattered
masses toward its southern end. Its waters seem somewhat turbid,
but more from plankton than from silt, though the deep soft mud
which forms much of its bottom is easily stirred. The slender
transparent limnetic young of the gizzard-shad may be seen swim-
ming near the surface. There is a perceptible drift to the south in
the open lake, though this current is deflected by the elevated banks
of Spoon River towards the Illinois River, crossing the lower bottom-
lands above this region. If we push on through the fringing willows
at the south we find a series of open places locally known as "ponds."
The warm still waters are turbid in places from the movements of
fish, and at times we see the compact schools of young dogfish
(Amia calva) and, if we are late enough in the season, the myriads
of young black, tadpole-like catfish (Ameiurus), likewise in schools,
while young carp (Cyprinus carpio) are everywhere. The new
vegetation is already springing from the decaying and matted stems
of the preceding summer. Turning back towards the river we pass
through the heavy timber where the still brown water, cool and
clear, overlies the decaying leaves and vegetation of last season's
growth, now coated with the flood deposits of the winter. Emerg-
ing again upon the river channel, we may find a turbid yellow flood
pouring out from Spoon River, bringing down its load of drift and
earth, and marking its course down the stream as far as the eye can
see. |
«j» ^fi ^f. Jj. -7. ■%. -r* J
"Contrast with the extent and variety of conditions at flood the
limitations placed upon the stream at low water. Instead of an
Xl FISHES OF ILLINOIS
unbroken expanse of four or more miles we find now a stream only
500 feet in width, while the adjacent territory is dry land save where
the sloughs, marshes, and lakes remain as reservoirs. Quiver Lake
is now much reduced in width, and it may be choked with vegeta-
tion except in a narrow channel where the clear water shows little or
no current. A half mile below we find the river water rushing in a
narrow "cut-off" across the ridge of black alluvium into the lower
end of the lake. The wooded banks which separate the river from
Quiver and Seeb's lakes are now crowded with a rank growth of
weeds and vines. The latter "lake" is reduced to a shallow stag-
nant arm of the river, whose warm turbid waters are foul with dead
mollusks, and whose reeking mud-flats beneath the August sun
shine green and red with a scum of Euglena. As we pick our wax-
through the tangle of rank vegetation we come upon Flag Lake, now
a sea of rushes. The discharge from this marsh to the river ceased
in the early summer, and its margins are even now dry, with gap-
ing cracks. Beyond the marsh we pass to the shore of Thompson's
Lake to find its southern end choked with vegetation, though the
greater part to the north is open water. The woodland and open
ground to the south are now pastures and fields of waving corn.
The only outlet to this large body of water, now somewhat reduced
in area but warm, turbid, and rich in plankton, is a tortuous slough
six miles to the north. The discharge, however, is in any case but
slight, the lake being, indeed, not infrequently the recipient of river
water. Spoon River still pours a sluggish but constant stream into
the river, but save for a waterbloom of livid green (Euglena) its
waters yield but little plankton. Thus, of all the wide area contrib-
uting to the plankton of the channel at high water there now remain
only Thompson's and Quiver lakes and Spoon River, each much
diminished in volume, but all diversified in character.
" Returning now to the river itself we find a gently sloping bank
of black mud, baked and cracked by the sun's heat, extending
towards the softer deposit at the water's margin. A low growth of
grasses, sedges, and weeds springs up as the water recedes. The
river margin does not often have much aquatic vegetation. In
low-water years, such as 1894 and 1895, a considerable fringe is
formed along the shore, but this is quickly cleaned out on the sein-
ing grounds, which occupv a large part of the shore, as soon as the
fishing season opens in July. In years of normal high-water the
vegetation rarely gets much of a foothold along the shores, even at
low-water stages. Save for the lew sandy banks where springs
abound, such as those below Havana along the eastern bluff, there
THE TOPOGRAPHY AXD HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS \li
is little, at least in the La Grange pool, to vary this monotony
of mud banks and fringing willows. The backwaters have been
reduced to the lakes, sloughs, bayous, and marshes which abound
everywhere in the bottom-lands. Many of these, as, for example,
Phelps and Flag lakes, have ceased in their reduced condition to
contribute to the river. Others, like Thompson's Lake, maintain
a connection with the river by means of a long and tortuous bayou
or slough through which the current flows in or out as the rela-
tive levels of the two fluctuate. This lake receives but little water
from a few springs and creeks along the bluffs, and like many others
in the bottomdands serves only as a reservoir from which the water
is slowly drawn off as the river falls, but when once the lower stages
are reached its contributions cease. Still others, like Quiver and
Matanzas, maintain direct and open connection with the river,
and since they receive tributary streams they continue to feed the
river, but in reduced volume. Though the number of tributary
areas is thus much reduced at low-water stages, the individual
peculiarities of the tributary waters in the bottom-lands become
more pronounced. As each one loses its connection with the
general flood it becomes a separate unit of environment, with its
local differences in those factors which determine the character of
the plankton developing in its waters. The resulting contributions
may thus differ greatly in amount and component organisms, and
accordingly tend to diversify the river plankton of low water to a
degree even more marked than that of high water.
" With the confinement of the river waters to the channel goes a
marked condensation of the sewage, which, under conditions of
uninterrupted low water, leads at times to an excessive development
of the plankton, or, if the river is closed by ice, to stagnation con-
ditions. But few years, however, offer such opportunities; for, as
a rule, in most low-water periods sudden and heavy rains are wont
to occur, wrhich flush the stream, wash away the sewage and plank-
ton-laden waters, and store anew the reservoir lakes without caus-
ing any considerable overflow7. After each catastrophe of this sort
the decline of the flood affords a new and favorable opportunity for
the development of the plankton."*
The effects of change of temperature, of differences of turbidity,
of chemical conditions of the waters of the stream, and the like, arc
discussed at length in Dr. Kofoid's report. t
*Bull. 111. State Lab. Nat. Hist., Vol. VI., Art. II, pp. Hi 156.
tLoc tit . pp. 168-252.
Xlll FISHES OF ILLINOIS
As a framework to this sketch of the Illinois River and the
waters of the Illinois basin generally, an outline of its geological
surroundings is essential. From its source to Peoria the river flows
through a district covered by the Wisconsin drift. From Peoria
to southern Pike county the outlines of its western border are cov-
ered by the Illinois drift capped by loess. From thence southward
they are nearly free from glacial drift, but are heavily coated with
loess, while those on the east have a moderate covering of Illinois
drift capped by loess. Within the Wisconsin drift the marshes,
bogs, and lakes are of small extent, but the drainage lines are, on the
whole, rather imperfectly developed.
The portion of the basin lying in the Illinoisan is much better
drained. There are almost no marshes or swamps in it, except
those in the bottoms of the river itself, but there are numerous
shallow valleys which are poorly drained.
The Illinois, as stated before, follows the old " Chicago outlet"
as far as its curve near Hennepin. In the 41 miles from the junction
of the Des Plaines and the Kankakee down to Utica, where appar-
ently • a small preglacial tributary of the Illinois is entered, the
course of the present Illinois is independent of preglacial drainage
lines. Almost midway of its westward course it crosses the Mar-
seilles moraine. This, no doubt, for a considerable period held a
lake in the basin at the head of the river, the Morris basin, but was
eventually cut down to the bed of this basin. From the Mar-
seilles moraine, westward, the channel found no prominent drift
barriers to remove, but has been compelled to cut down 50 to 75
feel into the rock in opening an outlet from the Morris basin into
the valley of the lower Illinois (Leverett).
The part of the "Chicago outlet" lying within the Morris basin
has an average width of 4 to 5 miles. A low bluff, formed on the
northern border of the basin, has a height of 15 to 20 feet, but
on the southern border there is no bluff, that side being heavily
ci iated with deposits of sand. Below Morris the width of the outlet
i i rages only about one and a half miles. The excavation is largely
in soft St. Peter sandstone, there being nearly continuous rock bluffs
to a height of 60 to 75 feet above the level of the bed of the outlet.
In some places, as at Starved Rock, the bluffs reach a. height of
126 hit. Buffalo Rock stands out in the valley, a big rocky island.
In the 41 miles to the foot of the rapids near Utica the si ream
falls 47 feet, or slightly more than 1 foot to the mile (Leverett).
This fall is far from regular, there being a scries of rock rapids
separated by pools.
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS xliii
In the Morris basin the shale bottom has been eroded in places
by the current and the hollows have been filled with sand, but from
the Morris basin to the bend of the river the rock floor is swept
clean.
The old preglacial valley through which the lower Illinois flows,
and where rock bed lies many feet below the bottom of the present
river, seems to have been so imperfectly filled by glacial deposits
that throughout nearly its entire length the stream is re-established
in its old course. The valley ranges in width from two and a half to
fully fifteen miles. Its greatest width is reached just above the
mouth of the Sangamon. The valley is also very broad at the bend
of the Illinois. The narrowest portions are a short section near
Peoria, where it passes through the Shelby ville moraine, and a sec-
tion embracing the lower 60 miles, where it traverses the subcar-
boniferous and the Silurian limestones.
The Illinois River bottom-lands are covered with patches of tim-
ber, sand banks, mud-flats, and meadows. A good deal of this area
is too low and marshy for cultivation, full of swamps, bogs, bayous,
and lagoons, many of the latter being parts of old channels of the
stream which have been cut off and filled up at both ends as a conse-
quence of local changes in the course of the stream ; but where the
elevation is sufficient the soil is a rich sandy loam. An example of
this is found in the "Crow Meadows" in Marshall county. This tract
of land is a broad table-land or second bottom extending from the
north line of the county down to Sparland, widening near Henry to
eight or nine miles between the river and the low bluff-line on the
west. It is beyond the reach of inundations, and is of unsurpassed
fertility, although it contains much sand. The bluffs rise on each
side of the bottom-lands very abruptly in most places, and to a
height reaching at times 125 to 150 feet, cut into sharp ridges by the
valleys of the small streams that drain the adjacent regions. They
are all thickly timbered.
The current. of the Illinois from La Salle to its mouth is not suffi-
cient to carry off the material brought in from the upper portion of
the stream, and therefore it is in the process of silting up. During
the interglacial period when the land-slope was much less, this part
of the river became so filled that now the rock bottom lies about 100
feet below the present bed of the river.
The principal tributaries of the Illinois an- the fox, Vermilion,
Mackinaw, Sangamon, and Spoon rivers, ami Macoupin, Crooked,
and Apple creeks.
xliv FISHES OF ILLINOIS
FOX RIVER
Fox River rises in Waukesha county, Wisconsin, a little north-
west of Milwaukee. It flows south and southwest, emptying into
the Illinois River at Ottawa, 111. Its drainage basin is about 130
miles in length and averages 20 miles in width, covering an area of
about 2,697 square miles, of which 1,080 lie in Wisconsin. The
length of the river is about ISO miles.
The low-water discharge is estimated to be 526 cubic feet per sec-
ond, or 0. 195 cubic feet per second per square mile. It is claimed
that the stream has fallen off one-half in its low-water volume since
the clearing and cultivating of the land and the draining of the
swamps.
The drainage basin of the Fox lies entirely within the limits of
the Wisconsin glaciation, and is an undulating prairie land with
more or less woodland and some swamps. In this region the mo-
rainic ridges lie very close together and are often interlaced, thus
making cups or kettles within which lakes were formed. Some of
these lakes have been drained so thoroughly that they have become
small prairies, while in other places they have been unable to cut
down their outlets sufficiently. We have, consequently, a series
ranging from quiet land-locked ponds with gravel bottoms to
marshes differing but little from the ordinary wet prairie or slough,
peat bogs, and the dry prairie land. The bed of the swamps is gen-
erally more or less peaty, varying in composition from ordinary
black swamp muck to true peat. A few of the lakes are from four
to seven miles in length and a mile or more in breadth, while the
others usually cover only one or two square miles, or even less.
These numerous lakelets, ponds, marshes, and bogs furnish, in their
aggregate, a considerable storage for flood waters, and the volume of
the stream is consequently comparatively uniform and its changes
of level are relatively slow. The water of the upper reaches of the
ri ver are usually clear except in times of flood , but the lower part of
the stream is often very impure. Though much of the river bed
In low Elgin is in rock, the tributaries often bring large amounts of
sediment, and various manufactories along the river discharge' a
large amount of refuse into the stream, and it has, of late years, be-
come so foul that nearly all fish except carp and other filth-enduring
species have been drowned out.
For a distance of nearly 75 miles from its source Fox River drains
only a narrow strip among the morainie ridges of the composite 1 nit ,
its course being determined by a moraine lying on either side. In
this portion of its course its fall amounts to only a few inches to the
THE TOPOGRAPHY AXD HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS xlv
mile, and its bed expands at frequent intervals into lakes and marshes
between which are short stretches having narrow and well-defined
channels. The river, here, has no valley, but the stream averages
150 to 200 feet in width, flowing between gravel and clay 1 anks. In
some places it runs close to the bluff, while in others a low flood-plain
intervenes. Its tributaries in this section are very small, all occupy-
ing deep parallel valleys running in an east and west direction and
only turning southward when they reach the lowlands bordering the
river. All of the lakes lie along the line of these intermorainic valleys.
Among those tributary to Fox River are Lake Geneva, Muskego,
and Pewaukee. Fox Lake is simply a widening of the river-bed.
From the vicinity of Elgin to Yorkville the bed of the river is
alternately rock and mud. This is due to the fact that the present
course of the river lies almost at right angles to a series of preglacial
valleys which were cut by streams then emptying into Lake Michi-
gan. The present river consequently cuts alternately through the
divides and valleys of these old rivers. Probably much of the under-
ground drainage now follows these old channels to the lake.
In its passage through Kane and Kendall counties, the fall of the
river is about 3 feet per mile, but in La Salle county it increases to
about 5 feet per mile, making a descent of nearly 125 feet in the
lower 25 miles of its course. Near Elgin it begins a rapid descent to
the low plain that lies on the outer border of the Marseilles moraine
and follows this to its mouth. The stream here, for a few miles, has
cut to a depth of nearly 100 feet, but in its passage through the plain
its bed is sunk to a depth of only 40 to 50 feet except for a few miles
near its mouth, where it cuts 125 feet to enter the Illinois. Its chan-
nel, even in the lower 75 miles, has a breadth of only about one eighth
of a mile.
VERMILION RIVER
Vermilion River of the Illinois (not of the Wabash), about 90
miles in length, drains an area covering about 1,413 square miles.
This is a plain of till about 20 miles wide, which lies immediately
south and west of the Marseilles moraine in Ford. Livingston, and La
Salle counties. The river rises by several 1 (ranches in the Blooming-
ton morainic system in southeastern Livingston and Ford counties,
the main stream following the western or outer border of the inner
range of the system from its source to its mouth, and thus flowing in a
northwestward direction and emptying into the Illinois near La Salle.
The plain descends with the river, so thai for 50 miles scarcely any
valley is formed though there is a descent of nearly 100 feet. In the
last 40 miles, from Pontiac to the banks of the Illinois, it has scarcely
xlvi FISHES OF ILLINOIS
20 feet of slope, and was apparently occupied by a shallow lake until
a st ream had been given time to open a channel from the Illinois back
several miles into the plain. There are sandy deposits along the
southern border of the plain which tend to confirm this view. In
the lower 25 miles the stream corrades rapidly, making a descent of
about 150 feet and cutting its valley mainly in rock. The channel
is very narrow, steep, and rocky, especially near the mouth of the
river, where the walls rise abruptly 150 feet from the water's edge.
A few miles from the mouth, at a bend in the river, a deep canon
extends off to the east through Deer Park Glen. It is about one
fourth of a mile long, with perpendicular walls, and is in the form
of an elongated S. It terminates abruptly in a cirque, open at
the top and about 150 feet in diameter at the bottom, with a fine
spring of soft water bubbling up at its base. In the wet season
there is a waterfall of 25 feet which enters it through a narrow
chasm at the head. The walls of the cirque are about 175 feet high.
The stream is not of much value as a water-power on account of
the unsteadiness of its flow. It has no marshy gathering ground,
and the formations in its basin are mainly compact till which yields
but little water in seasons of drought.
MACKINAW RIVER
Mackinaw River rises in eastern McLean county. It flows west-
ward through the northern part of this county and across the south-
ern end of Woodford, then turning southwest into Tazewell county.
From the center of this county it bends again to the west, following
this direction for about 15 miles,when it turns north and east, empty-
ing into the Illinois a little below Pekin. It is about 120 miles long,
and drains an area of about 1,200 square miles (Leverett).
The upper part of the river lies inside the main ridges of the
Bloomington morainic system, and drains a plain which lies 300 to
350 feel above the Illinois. This section of the Mackinaw is about
40 miles in length, most of its course being along the southern border
of the basin. In the first mile it descends 40 feet, but below this its
fall averages about 3 feet to the mile.
In its middle course the stream crosses the Bloomington and
Shelbyville morainic systems and the narrow plain separating them.
The width of the valley increases from about one fourth of a mile in
the inner part of the Bloomington belt to about one half of a mile at
the outer pari .ami to nearly a mile in its passage across the Shelbyville
moraine. Its fall is still rapid, about. 3 feet per mile. There are lew
tributaries, only a small area being drained.
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS xlvn
In its lower course the Mackinaw River winds about in a shallow
channel, across the Illinois valley for a distance of nearly 20 miles,
making a descent of 75 feet.
This stream is one of the most variable in the state in the quan-
tity of water it carries, since it is subject to great floods in wet sea-
sons and becomes nearly dry in seasons of drought. This variable-
ness is due to several causes. The principal ones are its rapid fall,
its compact drift-beds, and the absence of headwater marshes.
SPOON RIVER
Spoon River rises in southern Bureau county. It flows south-
west for almost 100 miles, nearly paralleling the Illinois River. It
then turns abruptly southeastward and in 25 miles joins the Illinois
opposite Havana, about 40 miles below the mouth of the Mackinaw.
It drains about 1,905 square miles. All of this area except a little
in the headwater portion, lies outside the limits of the Wisconsin
drift, occupying a region covered by the Illinoisan drift upon which
there is a capping of loess. The headwaters lie on the western slope
of the Bloomington and Shelbyville morainic systems. The course
of the main stream, and also of several of its tributaries, appears to
have been determined largely by preglacial drainage lines, but they
are not entirely coincident with these lines.
Its valley is cut mainly in drift, but exposes rock at many points
along the base of the bluffs. The valley is very narrow except for a
few miles before it reaches the Illinois River bluffs, where it widens
out to 2 to 3 miles. In the first mile of its course it makes a descent
of 70 feet. The fall gradually decreases until, in the last 80 miles, it
descends only 2 or 3 feet per mile.
The river receives several tributaries from both the east and the
west, each of which has a length of 15 to 20 miles or more. These
tributaries are widely branching, and the entire watershed displays
a perfection of drainage such as does not occur within the limits of
the Wisconsin drift. Originally the entire basin was about half
timber and half prairie. The prairies are all small, covering only
a few square miles each, and separated by the strips of timber which
line the many streams.
Spoon River is subject to great variations in its water stages on
account of its rapid run-off, due to the rapid descent of the river bed
and the generally well-drained surface of the basin. In seasons of
drought, springs along the valley afford a considerable supply of
water, but the low-water discharge is less than 200 cubic feel per
second fLeverett). The current of the Spoon River is so much
Xlviii FISHES OF ILLINOIS
stronger than that of the Illinois at the point where it empties into
it, that a delta has been formed at its mouth.
SANGAMON RIVER
The Sangamon River has the largest watershed of any of the
tributaries of the Illinois. Its drainage basin, covering an area of
5,670 square miles (Leverett), includes extensive plains which are
now inadequately drained, but which may by extensive tiling be
drained into the river.
The Sangamon rises in eastern McLean county, flowing south-
east for about 10 miles into Champaign county, and thence south and
west until, in Sangamon county, it takes a northwestward course.
In northern Menard county it unites with Salt creek and, flowing
westward, soon empties into the Illinois. The length of the river is
about 180 miles. Its source is in the Bloomington morainic system
at an altitude of about 850 feet. The mouth has an altitude of 429
feet, making a total descent of about 420 feet. In the first 10 miles
it makes a descent of 120 feet, thus leaving about 300 feet of fall for
the remaining 170 miles of its course. The fall is far from regular,
there being sections, often several miles in length, in which it is
slight, between which are sections with more rapid fall.
The river flows for its first 90 miles within the limits of the Wis-
consin drift, but leaves this a few miles west of Decatur. In these
90 miles it receives no tributaries of importance, its immediate
watershed being only 15 to 20 miles wide.
That part of the river valley lying outside of the Wisconsin
drift, although generally shallow, is much wider than the portion
within the limits of that drift sheet, and bears evidence of having
been opened prior to the Wisconsin stage of glaciation. The river
and its branches are bordered throughout most of their length by
strips of timber about half a mile wide on either side.
The river is subject to great variation in volume, there being in
the annual flood-stages a rise sufficient to overflow banks 8 to 12
feet in height. At such times, being a swift stream, it probably
discharges not less than 15,000 cubic feet per second, and in ex-
treme floods the discharge probably exceeds 20,000 cubic feet per
second. Formerly the flow of the river was more or less regular.
This was due lo the fact thai the portion of the basin lying within
the Shelbyville moraine was filled with swamps which absorbed
the water as it fell and then gave it forth very gradually. Now,
however, a very complete system of tile drainage carries off this
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS XllX
water very quickly, and so leaves the river subject to low stages for
a large part of the year.
The principal branch of the Sangamon is Salt creek.
SALT CREEK
Salt creek is formed by the union of North and South Salt
creeks. North Salt creek has its source between two large ridges of
the Bloomington morainic system in southeastern McLean count}''
near the source of the Sangamon. It passes southward through the
outer ridge and across the undulating plain south of it, to its junction
with the south fork. South Salt creek heads on the outer border
of the Bloomington moraine, and flows southwestward across a
gently undulating plain to a point 5 miles east of Clinton, where the
two streams unite to form Salt creek. Above their junction each
stream has a length of 25 to 30 miles. The south branch in its first
2 miles has a fall of 50 feet, and below this a fall averaging 10 feet to
every three or four miles. The north branch falls 80 feet in its first
4 miles, with a fall below this averaging 10 feet to every two miles.
From their junction the united streams pass westward through the
Shelbyville moraine, entering the outer border plain at Kenney,
eight miles southwest of Clinton. The general course of the creek
continues westward to its junction with the Sangamon 50 miles
below.
It receives Lake Fork creek from the south about 5 miles above
Lincoln, Kickapoo creek from the north about 4 miles below Lin-
coln, and Sugar creek, also from the north, about 12 miles farther
down.
The valley of Salt creek is much broader below the mouth of
Lake Fork than above and it seems probable that a larger stream
occupied Lake Fork valley prior to the Wisconsin invasion than
that which occupied Salt creek valley. The latter appears to be
almost wholly a post-Wisconsin stream as far down as its junction
witli Lake Fork.
Below the junction the stream averages a fall of 10 feet to every
three or four miles, but in the lower two miles the bed has a fall of
20 feet. The bed and banks of Salt creek, like those of the Sanga-
mon, are without rock.
CROOKED CREEK
Crooked creek is the last western tributary of the Illinois. It
rises in Hancock county and flows in an irregular course, southeast,
into the Illinois River at a point 14 miles below the mouth of the
(d)
1 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Sangamon. The stream is about 60 miles long ami drains an area
of 1,400 square miles (Leverett). Its watershed lies immediately
southwest of that of Spoon River. It extends on the northwest
nearly to the bluffs of the Mississippi, there being one tributary in
northern Hancock county, from which the Mississippi bluff is dis-
tant less than five miles. No important tributaries enter from the
west, but several creeks lead into it from the east which have lengths
of 15 to 20 miles or more. These eastern tributaries present a re-
markable parallelism, and take a nearly uniform direction about
S. 65° W. One of them, known as East Crooked creek, occupies a
valley which continues beyond this watershed in a direct course
to the Mississippi and is thought to have been formed by a sub-
glacial stream. Shallow channels may also have been opened by
the same agency along the other eastern tributaries and have
occasioned their remarkably direct and parallel courses (Leverett).
The whole of the drainage basin lies in the Illinoisan drift and is
very similar in character to the basin of the Spoon River. For a few
miles near its mouth the course of Crooked creek has been deter-
mined by a preglacial drainage line, but elsewhere the drainage ap-
pears to be nearly independent of preglacial lines. A portion of the
divide between the Spoon River watershed and the Crooked creek
watershed follows a low till ridge.
In the first 14 miles of its course Crooked creek falls 100 feet, but
the fall gradually decreases until in the last 20 miles it is only 10 feet.
The bluffs of the river, especially in the lower part, are high and
abrupt, rising to a height of 100 feet from the water's edge for a
large part of the distance. In only a few places are bottomdands
found. They are short and never more than one half of a mile in
width. Limestone outcrops are found all along the banks of the
river.
APPLE CREEK
Apple creek has a drainage area of about 500 square miles, which
includes southeastern Morgan county, northern Greene county, and
northwestern Macoupin county. It rises in Morgan county and
flows southwestward to its mouth. Its basin has a length of about
40 miles, and the greatest width is about 15 miles. The river is
about 45 miles long.
Tin' entire basin lies within the Illinoisan drift. The lower course
of the river seems to be along the line of a preglacial valley, but
the headwater portion and also a majority of the tributaries show
little dependence upon preglacial lines. The drift is comparatively
thin over much of the basin, and the streams have cut down into
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS li
the underlying rocks at many points. The country near the river
is hilly and much broken, the valleys of the streams having been
excavated to a depth of 100 to 200 feet below the general level of the
uplands.
Throughout its course Apple creek is a swiftly flowing stream.
In the first 11 miles of its course it drops 100 feet. For the rest of
the distance the fall averages about 5 feet to the mile.
MACOUPIN CREEK
Macoupin creek rises in northern Montgomery county and flows
southwest into the Illinois. It drains an area of nearly 1,000 square
miles (Leverett), consisting of the greater portion of Macoupin
county and parts of Montgomery, Greene, and Jersey counties. Its
watershed is broad in the middle and tapers toward either end, giv-
ing it a broadly ovate outline. The whole of the 1 >asin lies within the
Illinoisan drift area. With the exception of the headwater portion,
above Carlinville, the main stream apparently has its course deter-
mined by a preglacial line, there being a broad depression, deeply
filled with drift, through which the creek takes its course. The trib-
utary streams appear to be largely independent of preglacial lines.
The basin is composed of gently rolling or nearly level prairies,
which occupy the highlands between the streams and cover fully
one third of the area, and by heavy belts of timber which skirt the
streams. The soil is of a black, peaty character on the level prairies,
becomes chocolate-brown on the more rolling surfaces, and degen-
erates into a light ash-gray near the streams.
The creek is about 80 miles long. Its fall is varied, some parts, as
the lower 1 7 miles, having a fall of only one and one half feet to the
mile, and other parts much more, as the four and one half miles just
above this, the fall in this distance being 30 feet. Above this point the
average fall is about 2 feet to the mile. The banks are high, in some
places rising to 100 feet. In a few places the banks recede from the
water's edge, leaving bottom-lands one half to one and one half miles
in width.
Kaskaskia River System
The Kaskaskia River system drains a large part of southern Illi-
nois, its drainage basin covering an area of 5,786 square miles. It is
about 180 miles long, the narrow upper end reaching within 40 miles
of the state of Indiana. The upper third of the basin lies in Wiscon-
sin drift, and the other two thirds in the Illinoisan. The basin is
composed of level or undulating country having black soil in the
northern part and chocolate to light gray soil in the southern, under-
Hi FISHES OF ILLINOIS
laid by vellow to white clay. Heavy timber lands skirt the rivers,
between which lie the prairies. In the southern parts great drift
mounds, usually topped with timber, rise often from the midst of the
prairies.
KASKASKIA RIVER
Kaskaskia River rises in Champaign county in the Champaign
morainic system and flows southwest, emptying into the Mississippi
in Randolph county, near Chester, at an altitude of 342 feet. Its
descent is generally gradual, the most rapid section of its course
being its passage through Moultrie county, where it makes a de-
scent of 55 feet in about 18 miles, or 3 feet to the mile. In the head-
water portion there is a fall of only 1 10 feet in the first 50 miles. In
places there are pools several miles in length, the most conspicuous
of these being in St. Clair county, where in a distance of 20 miles the
fall is scarcely 10 feet.
The upper 80 miles lies in the Wisconsin drift, the stream emerg-
ing from the Shelbyville moraine near Shelbyville. In its headwater
portion the channel of the stream is narrow and shallow to the inner
border of the Shelbyville moraine. The banks are muddy as far as
Sullivan, but sandy below this. The drainage of this section of the
basin was originally very imperfect, and its undeveloped streams
were often little more than series of swales and sloughs. Ditches
and tile drains have greatly changed these conditions, however, and
the run-off is now fairly prompt and complete. In crossing the
moraine the Kaskaskia valley has an average depth of nearly 75
feet, and four miles northeast of Shelbyville the bluffs attain a height
of 130 feet, although the channel is so narrow that it is not much
more than a trench. The valley continues narrow for a few miles
after entering the Illinoisan drift, but widens below the mouth of
Robinson creek. This stream seems to follow the lower course of a
drainage line (probably interglacial ), whose former headwater por-
tion has heen concealed by the Shelbyville drift sheet. Its valley
has a breadth of nearly half a mile, and the Kaskaskia retains this
breadth below the mouth of the creek, increasing to three fourths of
a mile in southern Shelby county. These bottoms are generally
14 to 16 feet above the ordinary stage of water, with sometimes a
second bottom a few feet higher. During the wet seasons the river
often covers the first bottom to a depth of several feet. The hills on
each side of the river arc from 60 to 70 feet in height. On entering
I tyette county, the river opens into a broad preglacial valley whose
course farther north is buried under drift. The valley has a width
of about 3 miles near Vandalia, but reaches a greater width farther
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS Jill
south. It is so masked by drift that it presents the appearance of a
broad shallow basin rather than a river valley. It continues nearly
to the mouth of the river, where the width contracts abruptly to
about a mile upon entering the subcarboniferous limestone which
there borders the Mississippi Valley. The bottom-lands are subject
to annual overflow, and are still covered with a heavy growth of
timber.
The stream is subject to great variations in volume as the com-
pact clay subsoil promotes a rapid run-off and furnishes but little
water in seasons of drought ; consequently, in summer and fall, the
river dwindles to a very small size. At times it may be crossed dry-
shod at Vandalia, where it is 60 to 70 feet wide. A rise of 20 feet in
its lower course is not rare in flood time, and its flood -plain has been
built nearly to that height above the stream-bed.
The two principal tributaries of the Kaskaskia are from the west
— Shoal creek and Silver creek.
SHOAL CREEK
Shoal creek drains an area of about 1,000 square miles, or one
sixth of the entire basin of the Kaskaskia River (Leverett). This
area includes most of Montgomery and Bond counties and western
Clinton county. Shoal creek is made up of three branches known
as West, Middle, and East Shoal creeks. West and Middle creeks
unite to form the West fork, by the union of which with East creek,
twenty miles below, the main stream is formed. From the rise of
its branches to its mouth in the Kaskaskia this stream has a total
length of 65 or 70 miles. The watershed has a distinct southward
slope, the altitude at the headwaters being 700 to 750 feet, and at
the mouth only 400 feet.
The three branches have each formed a channel 50 to 75 feet or
more in depth and nearly one fourth of a mile in average width in
their passage through southern Montgomery county, and a similar
depth is maintained as far down as the junction of the East and West
forks near Greenville. Below this point the valley is more shallow,
and the stream soon enters the Kaskaskia basin, where its bed is
but little lower than the basin plain.
East Shoal creek is bordered closely on the east throughout its
entire length by a series of drift knolls and ridges (broken Illinoisan
moraines). Shoal creek passes through a break in this system of
ridges just below the junction of the East and West forks, beyond
which its course is largely independent of drift ridges. Middle
Shoal creek winds about among prominent drift knolls near Hills-
liv FISHES OF ILLINOIS
boro, and West Shoal creek is deflected eastward by a ridge of drift
at its junction with Middle Shoal creek. The courses of these
streams seem to be mainly independent of preglacial lines but largely
determined by Illinoisan moraines. East Shoal creek touches the
line of a deep preglacial valley near Greenville, but above that point
it has opened a new course, in places trenching into the rock. Even
the lower course seems to be largely independent of any preglacial
line of drainage.
SILVER CREEK
Silver creek rises in the southeastern corner of Macoupin county,
flowing almost due south through eastern Madison and St. Clair
counties and emptying into the Kaskaskia opposite New Athens.
It has a length of about 60 miles, draining an area of 500 square
miles. The basin averages only about 10 miles in width.
At its source the river has an altitude of about 650 feet. In its
first 4 miles it falls 50 feet and in the next 16 miles a descent of 100
feet is made. In the lower part the fall is much less, being only 70
feet in the remaining 43 miles.
In its southern half the watershed is diversified by drift ridges
and knolls which rise in some cases to a height of 75 feet or more
above the border districts. These for a few miles in southeastern
Madison county constitute the east border of the watershed, but
just south of the line of Madison and St. Clair counties the stream
passes through the main belt of the ridges, and it has but few prom-
inent ridges and knolls on its east below that point. At its mouth
the stream has an elevation of only 370 feet, and the surrounding
country, aside from the knolls, stands scarcely 400 feet above tide.
Silver creek seems to be largely dependent in the direction of its
course on glacial influences. It cuts into the rock at numerous
points along its course, and its immediate bluffs stand at the general
level of the bordering uplands.
•
Big Muddy River System
Big Muddy River system drains an area of 2,3 74 square miles
lying in an elliptical shape, with a major axis about 70 miles long
running almost north and south, and a minor axis about 50 miles
long. This drainage basin includes the greater part of Williamson,
Franklin, Jefferson, Perry, and Jackson counties, the southeastern
portion of Washington county, and the southern part of Marion
county, which form the extreme southwestern part of the district
covered by the Illinoisan drift sheet, lying in the low section just
north of the Ozark ridge. The lower 20 miles of the river flows
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS lv
through the Mississippi bottoms. With the exception of the ridge
on the southern border, which stands 600 to 800 feet above tide, the
basin has few points rising above 550 feet, the average level being
400 to 500 feet. The immediate borders of the main valley fall
below 400 feet and the mouth of the stream at low water in the
Mississippi is but 320 feet. The country is made up of gray prairies
intersected by rivers whose bottom-lands are below the general
level. These rivers are skirted by timber belts, so that a large por-
tion of the basin is wooded. The bottom-lands also were formerly
timbered, but parts have been cleared and put under cultivation.
Over the greater portion of the area the drift is very thin, and rock
divides separating the preglacial drainage areas are plainly discern-
ible. The basin of the Big Muddy has been subject to long erosion,
and consequently the soils are largely made of clays containing little
humus and giving acid reactions.
Big Muddy River has the characteristics of an old stream, in a land
long exposed to erosion. It has cut its bed down to drainage level,
and it runs its crooked course over a broad flood-plain. It rises in
northern Jefferson county, and flows south and then west and south,
emptying into the Mississippi about 5 miles below Grand Tower,
Jackson county. It is about 127 miles long. Beaucoup creek en-
ters from the north 25 to 30 miles from the mouth, and Little Muddy
River enters from the same side about 10 miles farther up. These
two streams together, drain about the same area as the main stream
above the junction, and Beaucoup creek drains about one half more
area than the Little Muddy. An eastern tributary, Crab Orchard
creek, drains about 250 square miles of the district bordering the
Ozark ridge.
The river is very sluggish, and its volume is extremely variable.
In the first eleven miles it makes a descent of about 100 feet, but
below this the fall is not more than a foot to the mile. In times of
spring flood its broad stream is overloaded with silt and its bottom
a creeping mass, shifting its contour with every change in rate of
flow ; and during the summer drouths it shrinks to little more than a
chain of nearly stagnant pools.
Throughout the greater portion of its course Big Muddy River
occupies a preglacial line of drainage and meanders about in broad
bottoms which have been filled with drift and alluvium to an ele-
vation of from 500 to 600 feet or more above the rock bottom.
Just below Murphysboro the valley becomes constricted to a
width of about a mile in its passage through the elevated ridge
which there borders the Mississippi. In its course through the
lvi FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Mississippi bottoms its eastern shore hugs the bluff, which rises 200
to 300 feet above the river. On its west are the low, flat flood-
plains of the Mississippi. Above Murphysboro the banks are
neither abrupt nor high, and they and the bed of the stream are
chiefly clay.
At Murphysboro, about 6 miles below the junction of Beaucoup
creek, where the stream is about 160 feet wide, the water has some-
times risen 30 feet, flooding the surrounding flats. Backwater from
the Mississippi is felt at that point. The river is very properly
named, as it carries great quantities of alluvium which the current is
constantly shifting from one place to another.
The Wabash System
The Wabash basin, which covers the greater part of Indiana, in-
cludes also about 8,600 square miles of eastern Illinois, drained by
the Big Vermilion, the Embarras, and the Little Wabash rivers, and
by several smaller streams in the southeastern part of the state.
The greater part of its surface lies at an elevation varying between
300 and 700 feet, with the highlands around its headwaters and the
region of the Shelby ville moraine rising approximately 100 feet
higher. This moraine marks the southern limit of the Wisconsin
glaciation, beyond which lies the lower Illinoisan. It divides the
Wabash valley in Illinois into two distinctly different regions, the
northern of which has the characteristics of a comparatively recent
glaciation, and the southern those of a glaciated area long exposed
to erosion. In the northern part the streams are few, and their
branches are few and comparatively short. The uplands were poorly
drained originally, and contained many marshes, sometimes very
large, and many shallow lakes. The soil here is deep, black, rich in
organic matter, slightly alkaline in reaction, porous, and rather
coarsely granulated. In the southern section the soil has been
washed and eroded for thousands of years, leaving it as an extremely
fine-grained, slightly acid residue, from which most of the organic
matter has disappeared. The streams of this long-exposed south-
ern area have developed themselves freely in comparatively deep
channels, through which their currents have a sluggish flow, and
have lengthened their branches back to the uplands, which are
thus effectually drained by natural processes. The large streams,
especially in their lower courses, have formed extensive bottom-
lands liable to overflow, and, owing to the thorough natural drainage
of the country, the waters recede to a very low level during times of
droughl
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS Ivil
Hydrographic conditions in the Wisconsin glaciation have been
greatly changed within comparatively recent years by large drainage
operations, carried on at public expense under the operation of state
law. Swamps, marshes, and lakes have virtually disappeared, and
their places have been taken by rich and highly cultivated farms.
Much less change has been made in the lower Wabash valley as a
consequence of human occupancy, but the original rather genera]
covering of both lowland and upland forest has been mainly re-
moved, with the effect to expose the surface to more rapid erosion
than heretofore, and to increase the extremes of flood and low water.
WABASH RIVER
Wabash River was given, by the earliest explorers, the name
of Ouabouskigou, said to mean "white water" in one of the Indian
tongues, and it bears this Indian name on the maps of both Joliet
and Marquette. This was later contracted by the French to Oua-
bache, the spelling of which has since been simply anglicized. The
earlier explorers regarded the lower Ohio and the Wabash as form-
ing one stream, to which they gave the latter name, while the upper
Ohio bore either its present name or that of "la Belle Riviere."
The Wabash forms, for 198 miles, the boundary between Indiana
and Illinois, lying in this part of its course in a preglacial valley, the
former bed of a very much larger stream. This valley, five or six
miles across in its upper part, is filled with drift which buries the old
stream bed to a depth of 60 or 70 feet, and is bounded by bluffs
rising from 100 to 200 feet above the river. The Illinois section of
the Wabash has a comparatively sluggish current, its fall being less
than eight inches to the mile.
Two, and in some places three, different levels are distinguish-
able in the Wabash valley to-day. The bottom-lands of the river
subject to overflow at ordinary high water are from twelve to fifteen
feet above the stream, and at about the same height above these arc
the second bottoms, covered with water only by exceptional floods;
and in some places a terrace level may be traced half-way up the
bordering bluff. The river flows for the most part along the western
side of its valley, occasionally, indeed, quite close to the bluffs,
leaving the bottoms largely on the Indiana side of the stream. The
bed of the river is often rocky and the current locally swift, and
rapids greatly interfered in early days with tin- use of the stream for
transportation purposes. The waters of the Wabash are, like those
of the Illinois and the Kaskaskia, commonly brown and opaque with
lviii FISHES OF ILLINOIS
suspended silt, never clearing even at the lowest stages; and the
same is true of most of its tributary streams, especially those of the
lower Illinoisan glaciation.
VERMILION RIVER
Vermilion River drains an area of about 1,500 square miles in
Ford, Champaign, and Vermilion counties in Illinois, and a small
section of Fountain and Warren counties in Indiana. It rises only
a few miles from the source of a river of the same name which flows
northwest into the Illinois, to distinguish it from which it is often
called the Wabash-Vermilion or the Big Vermilion. Its course is
generally south and east, and it empties into the Wabash 10 miles
beyond the Indiana line. It has a length of about 81 miles, and a
fall of 320 feet. Its source is in the midst of the Bloomington
morainic system at an elevation of 800 feet. It flows thence south-
ward between two ridges, known as the Roberts and Melvin ridges,
and passes through the latter ridge, falling 70 feet in this distance of
17 -h miles. At this point it receives a tributary of about the same
length from the west, which is known as the West branch of the
Middle Fork. This branch also rises at an elevation of 800 feet and
drains a sag or narrow plain between the Melvin ridge and the outer
moraine of the Bloomington system. From this union the stream
takes a southeastward course across the northeast corner of Cham-
paign county and into Vermilion county as far as Potomac, where it
turns abruptly southward and passes through the outer ridge of the
Bloomington moraine. A few miles farther south it receives its
larger western tributary, the Salt Fork, and the united stream then
flows east for about 6 miles to Danville, takes again a southeast
course, and follows this direction to its mouth.
Salt Fork rises in western Champaign county at an altitude of
740 feet and flows south and then east for a distance of 50 miles.
It drains a plain in eastern Champaign and western Vermilion
counties, lying between the Bloomington and Champaign morainic
systems.
North Fork rises in northern Vermilion county at an elevation
of 720 feet and flows southward for a distance of 37 miles, emptying
into the Vermilion at Danville. It drains only a small area among
the ridges of the Bloomington system.
The entire drainage system of the Vermilion is independent of
preglacial lines, the drift over this region being so deep as to cover
completely the old rock divides. The river and its branches have
narrow valleys, and in the1 upper courses the hanks are only from 10
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS lix
t < ) 5 0 feet high, and generally bordered by scattered patches of timber.
In the lower parts the streams are skirted with strips of woodland
from one to four miles in width, and the banks are steep and high.
Bed-rock is not exposed in the upper portions, but at and below
Danville the river has cut into the rock of the coal-measures to a
considerable depth.
Generally speaking, the headwaters of all these streams were
originally prairie swales, lying in shallow valleys or in broad de-
pressions of an otherwise plain surface. Here they were often
choked with weeds in summer, and were very muddy in times of
flood, but in their lower courses they often cut deeply into the drift,
or even into the underlying rock, forming deep and narrow valleys,
sometimes with decidedly gorge-like effect. In comparison with
most Illinois streams, however, the waters of the Big Vermilion are
in general fairly clear, and the bottoms relatively clean, forming a
transition from the typical prairie streams to those characteristic
of the adjacent Alleghany plateau.
LITTLE VERMILION RIVER
The Little Vermilion River rises in the southeastern corner of
Champaign county and flows southeast, east, northeast, and south-
west, a distance of about 60 miles, emptying into the Wabash River
in Vermilion county, Indiana. Of this length 45 miles lie in Illi-
nois. It drains a narrow strip covered by the Champaign till-sheet
lying between two moraines, the northern of which completely
separates the drainage basin of the Little Vermilion from that of the
Vermilion proper. The river rises at an altitude of 710 feet, and
falls 30 feet in its first 4 miles. In the next 9 miles a descent of only
10 feet is made, below which a fall of SO feet occurs in 4 miles. The
descent then becomes more gradual and the stream crosses the state-
line at an elevation of about 500 feet. In its upper part it is little
more than a prairie drain, but it becomes of more importance farther
down, where the banks are 75 to 100 feet high and lined with strips
of timber 1 to 3 miles in width.
EMBARRAS RIVER
Embarras River drains an area of about 2,000 square miles in
eastern Illinois. Its source is in the Champaign morainic system,
immediately south of the city of Champaign. For about 20 miles it
flows between the outer and the main ridges of the Champaign sys-
tem, then cuts through the outer ridge in northern Douglas county.
Thence it bears southeast, for about 10 miles, to a small till ridge
lx FISHES OF ILLINOIS
correlated with the Cerro Gordo moraine, crossing this in south-
eastern Douglas county. Its course is then slightly west of south
for 25 miles, at which point it leaves the Shelby ville or earliest Wis-
consin sheet of drift, continuing southward 25 to 30 miles farther,
to the neighborhood of Newton, where it changes to the southeast-
ward and maintains this course to its mouth, a distance of 50 miles.
The river rises at an altitude of 750 feet, while its mouth lies only
395 feet above tide, making a total descent of 355 feet, or an average
descent of two and a third feet to the mile. In the last 53 miles,
however, the fall is scarcely more than a foot to the mile.
The upper part of the river, lying within the Wisconsin drift,
drains only a narrow strip and has but few tributaries. This section
of its basin is mostly prairie with woodlands skirting the larger
streams, and the soil is a deep, black, and very fertile loam.
Upon emerging from the Wisconsin drift, the river enters at once
a much broader valley which appears to have been excavated prior
to the Wisconsin stage of glaciation, for the valley gravels connected
with the Shelby ville moraine head down the river bottom in a way to
indicate the existence of this valley at the time of their deposition.
The valley increases in width from one mile in Cumberland county
to 2 miles in Jasper county, and 3 to 5 miles in Crawford and Law-
rence counties. Below Newton its course is determined largely by a
preglacial line of drainage, which possibly extends up the valley as
far as the vicinity of Greenup, 18 miles above Newton. In this sec-
tion of the basin strips of timber-land border the streams, and the
bottoms are somewhat swampy and subject to overflow, but are gen-
erally sufficiently dry to admit of some cultivation when cleared. In
Lawrence county, between the Embarras and the Wabash rivers,
there is an extensive marsh, known as Purgatory swamp, about 10
miles long and from 2 to 4 miles in width. The banks of the river
arc 50 feel high in Cumberland and Jasper counties, but much lower
near its mouth, although the uplands lie 50 to 100 feet above the
watercourses.
The interesl ing contrast between the upper and the lower courses
of this stream, in respect to the number of its tributaries, the extent
of its flood-plain, and the development of its drainage system gener-
ally, is clearly traceable to differences in age between the two glacial
anas through which it flows.
] l i l I.K WABASH RIVER
Little Wabash River drains about 3,000 square miles in south-
east crn Illinois. It lies in an oval basin, much broader in the middle
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS lxi
than in its lower and upper parts. It extends, on the west, to the
watershed of the Kaskaskia and on the east to the Embarras and
Bonpas watersheds. The entire basin lies in the Illinoisan drift, and
is made up of rolling prairies lying between the broad belts of wood-
land which skirt the streams. The difference in level between the
creek bottoms and the adjacent highlands does not usually exceed
50 to 75 or 100 feet.
The river rises in southwestern Coles county, and flows south
through Shelby and Effingham counties. In northern Clay county
it turns southeast for about 50 miles, and then flows alternately
southwest and southeast until it empties into the Wabash at the
boundary line between Gallatin and White counties, eight miles, in a
direct line, from the junction of the Wabash with the Ohio River.
The length of the river is about 180 miles. Its source is in the Shel-
byville moraine at an elevation of 740 feet, but it descends within 4
miles to 700 feet, to 650 feet in the next 2h miles, and to 600 feet 1 2
miles below. Another descent of 100 feet is made in the following
31 miles, while at a point 42 miles below this the 400 feet contour-
line is crossed. The mouth of the stream, 104 miles distant, lies 323
feet above tide. Thus the total descent of the river is 317 feet, giv-
ing an average fall of about 1 . 7 feet per mile.
In the first 40 to 50 miles the main stream is largely independent
of preglacial lines, and there is consequently little valley. The re-
mainder of its course, however, is determined by a broad preglacial
valley except for a short distance below Carmi, where it cuts across
a projecting spur of hills leading in from the west. This valley, like
others in this region, has been filled in its lower course with drift and
alluvium to a level perhaps 100 feet above the rock bottom (Lev-
eretf). It is from an eighth to a fourth of a mile wide in Effingham
county, but below, reaches a width of one to three miles. At times
the river is bordered locally by precipitous bluffs 40 to 50 or even 100
feet in height, while at other points there is a gradually sloping sur-
face from the bottoms up to the level of the adjacent prairie. The
river-bottoms are a rich, sandy loam, hut are valued little for agri-
culture on account of the overflow to which they are subject during
the annual spring freshets. They arc, however, valued for the heavy
timber which covers them.
The most important tributary of the Little Wabash is Skillet
Fork which enters from the west near Carmi. The length of this
stream is about 65 miles, not including the windings of its course,
and it lias a watershed of nearly 1,000 square miles. It rises in
northeast Marion countv and flows south and then southeast. Its
lxii FISHES OF ILLINOIS
source is at an elevation of 600 feet, but it has a fall of 100 feet in its
first 6 miles and makes another descent of 50 feet in the next 12
miles. During the rest of its course it falls but 100 feet. In the
upper, swifter section the precipitous bluffs rise to a height of 60 to
75 feet, and there is little valley; but in the lower part the stream
occupies a preglacial valley similar to that occupied by the Little
Wabash.
Saline River System
The Saline River system drains into the Ohio that portion of
southeastern Illinois which lies immediately north of the Ozark
ridge. Its basin covers an area of about 2,000 square miles, lying
entirely within the limits of the Illinoisan drift. Part of the land is
quite broken by hills and ledges which range in elevation from 10 to
80 feet above the high-water mark of the streams. A large part of
the country, however, is level, and much of the land may be termed
"wet," with here and there a not inconsiderable swamp or pond occu-
pying, probably, old waterways. The basin is crossed by "Gold
Hill," which extends through Gallatin and Hamilton counties in an
east and west direction. This ridge, which attains a height of 343
feet above the high-water mark of the Ohio River, is crossed by the
Saline River a few miles below Equality. The soil is light-colored
clay loam, and a large part of it is still covered with thick timber.
The river is formed in western Gallatin county by the union of
North and South forks, the latter being joined by Middle Fork in
the southeastern part of Saline county. From the point of its
formation the main stream pursues its course along the base of the
Ozark ridge in a southeasterly direction, emptying into the Ohio
River in northeast Hardin county. The three forks of the river and
their principal tributaries are, in the main, re-established along pre-
glacial lines, and take meandering courses through broad valleys
which have 1 ieen filled to an elevation of 50 to 100 feet or more above
their rock bottoms.
The main river is about 16 miles long, and in this distance it
makes a descent of only about 35 feet. The banks of the river
along its northern border are low, but on the south they rise abruptly
and often to a height of 150 feet, especially in the upper half, where
the river hugs more closely the base of the ridge. The South Fork
is about 67 miles in length. In the first half mile, as it descends the
ridge, it falls 50 feet, but the fall gradually diminishes to 50 feet in the
last 24 miles. Its total descent is about 300 feet. The banks are
rather high, especially along the south, where they rise 50 to 60 feet
aUu\e I he water's edge. Middle Pork is onlv about 26 miles long,
THE TOPOGRAPHY AXD HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS lxill
with a fall of about 60 feet. North Fork in the first mile of its
course has a fall of about 30 feet. In the remaining 35 miles a
descent of about 60 feet is made. The banks of this stream are low
and subject to frequent overflow. In southeastern Hamilton county
the course of the North Fork is entirely lost for about 3 miles as it
crosses a swamp.
The course of the main stream is crooked and the current
sluggish, with long stretches of quiet water where soft black ooze
can accumulate year after year, and where a typically lacustrine
vegetation can grow. Here Nuphar, Nymphcsa, Potamogeton, and
the limnophilous species of filamentous algas abound. In dry
weather the visible flow may almost cease in places, and in flood a
full stream may fill the banks even to overflowing; but it is never
quite a rushing muddy torrent, nor ever quite a dry creek with
scattered pools floored with gravel or naked clay.
Cache River
Cache River drains the eastern part of Union county, the south-
western half of Johnson county, the northern part of Massac county,
and most of Pulaski and Alexander counties. The edges of this
basin are not clearly defined, but it probably covers an area of about
600 square miles. It lies entirely in the driftless area which covers
the southern point of Illinois, just south of the Ozark ridge. The
basin is very largely made up of alluvial bottomdands which border
all the streams, and which in southern Alexander county extend
entirely across the state from the Cache River to the Mississippi.
These bottomdands are generally flat, and are interspersed with
cypress ponds and marshes, being mostly too wet for cultivation
without a very thorough system of drainage. They are subject to
annual inundations from the floods of the rivers, and are generally
covered with timber, now being rapidly removed for lumber. The
most elevated portions of these bottomdands, however, have a
light, rich, sandy soil, very productive when cultivated. Farther
from the streams, the surface of the country is roughly broken.
The Ohio River may, at one time, have discharged wholly or in
part through "Cache valley." which crosses southern Illinois a few
miles north of its present course. Its point of connection with
Cache valley is immediately north of Metropolis, where for a dis-
tance of 4 to 5 miles a clay deposit has accumulated in the line of the
i '1' I valley. The surface of this clay deposit stands only about 75 f< :i :1
above the present stream, and is much lower than the surface of the
Tertiary deposits on either side. It is not known as vet. whether
lxiv FISHES OF ILLINOIS
the channel formerly constituted the sole line of discharge for the
Ohio or not. Possibly the river divided its waters between the
Cache and its present channel. The bluffs of the powerful stream
which excavated the valley of the Ohio extend from the Mississippi
half-way across Alexander county, and then turn northeast, leaving
a bottom from 3 to 5 miles in width between them and the Cache.
The headwaters of Cache River are in eastern Union county, the
river winding first southeast, then south-southwest, south, and east,
emptying finally into the Ohio River a few miles below Mound City.
It traverses a distance of about 70 miles, beginning at an altitude of
500 feet. It falls 50 feet in a little over 2 miles, 100 feet in the next
15 miles, and only 70 feet in the remainder of its course. Near its
head it has a definite channel, but just west of the Union-Johnson
county line it enters its first cypress swamp. This, however, is
very small, and the bottom-lands again become higher and drier,
averaging about half a mile in width for the next nine miles. Then
for a distance of about 3 miles there is scarcely any bottom-land,
below which the river enters an extensive cypress swamp having
a width of 5 miles in some places. A few miles above Collinsburg
the bottom again becomes narrow and ledges of sandstone form the
bed of the stream, which here is clear and swift. Below this point
the water is nearly stagnant, brown in color, and full of drifted logs.
The lowlands average about three fourths of a mile in width to near
the mouth of Dutchman creek, where they spread out to almost two
miles. At the Massac county line, Cache River enters the main
swamp region which extends across Pulaski county, and below
these swamps the river winds about through wide bottoms to its
mouth. The backwater of the Ohio reaches up Cache River hardly
as far as Ullin, and floods above this point are more immediately
caused by the headwaters of the stream when their discharge is
impelled by backwater. The country around the upper Cache is
hilly and precipitous, and so in times of freshets it pours immense
quantities of water into this lower flat, which then becomes a reser-
voir. As the waters which the Cache carries come from rocks of
subcarboniferous and cretaceous ages, they are somewhat different
in mineral characteristics from any of the rivers heretofore de-
scribed.
Big Bay Creek
]'■]■■ Bay creek drains eastern Johnson and western Pope counties
— an area very similar in character to that drained by the Cache.
Tlie stream rises in northwestern Pope county, flows southwest into
Johnson county, takes there a southeasterly direction, and empties
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS 1XV
into the Ohio near Bay City. It has a length of about 40 miles,
with an altitude of 750 feet at its source and of 300 feet at its mouth.
In the upper 7 miles it falls 300 feet and the banks are steep and
abrupt; but below, the river valley expands into a swampy region
3 to 4 miles in width. These swamps connect with those of the
Cache River, and often the headwaters of the latter stream find
their way to the Big Bay and down it to the Ohio. At other times,
high water in the Ohio produces a flow through Big Bay, the swamps,
and down the Cache. Much is now being done, through tiling and
ditching, to separate completely the basins of the two streams and
to make each course distinct. In the lower 8 miles of its course the
banks again hug the river closely, and rise on either side to a height
of 250 to 300 feet.
The Lake Michigan Drainage
In the northeastern part of the state there is a narrow belt of land
from ten to twenty miles in width bordering Lake Michigan and
sending its waters into that lake through many small, short streams,
only two of which are of sufficient size to receive especial mention,
namely, the Chicago and the Calumet rivers. Much of this area,
including the present site of Chicago, was formerly part of a gnat
glacial lake known to geologists as Lake Chicago, which existed at
the same time as the "Chicago Outlet" (see page xxxi). It dis-
charged its waters southward through this outlet instead of north-
ward as at the present time. This tract of land now lies as a
relatively level. plain, diversified with old lake-beaches and low
glacial moraines. It is very poorly drained and is filled with swamps
and lakes.
The small short streams are mostly to be found in Lake county,
where they drain a strip from two to four miles in width directly
bordering the lake. They rise in the morainic ridge which here
extends north and south along the shore at an altitude of about
700 ft., and from its crest they make very rapid and direct descents
to the lake.
Chicago River rises in northern Cook county and flows south and
east for a distance of 26 miles, emptying into Lake Michigan about
a mile and a half north of the Illinois Central station in Chicago. It
rises in a swampy area at an elevation of 630ft. above tide and makes
a descent of 20 ft. in the first two and a half miles of its course.
I'm low this, however, it has almost no fall, the month of the stream
lying at about 600 ft. above tide. Five miles from its source Chi-
cago River is joined by the North Branch. This stream rises in
(e)
lXVl FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Lake county in another swampy intermorainic area at an elevation
of 660 ft., and in its length of 12 miles makes a descent of 50 ft.
Although the upper courses of this stream and of the main river
can not be definitely traced farther up-stream than mentioned
above, they seem to drain indirectly a series of marshes lying be-
tween moraines extending north and south within those directly
bordering Lake Michigan and bounded on the west by the Des
Plaines 'watershed. About one mile from its mouth Chicago River
is joined by the South Branch. This river connects with the Des
Plaines near Summit and, as stated in the description of the latter
river, it has afforded a line of discharge for the upper Des Plaines
from the time of the withdrawal of the lake down to historic times.
The size and depth of its channel are such as to seem to demand the
work of a stream as large as the Des Plaines. Even in quite recent
years this river at high-water has been known to overflow into the
South Chicago channel and thus to discharge some of its water into
Lake Michigan. With the exception of a few miles at the head-
waters of North Fork, the entire drainage system lies within the
limits of old Lake Chicago. The southward course of. the stream
outside of the lake bottom is occasioned by till ridges of the Lake
Border morainic system, the one on the east preventing direct dis-
charge into Lake Michigan. Within the limits of Lake Chicago
the stream follows the slope of the old lake bottom.
Calumet River has its headwaters in the Valparaiso morainic
system south of Michigan City, Indiana. Its numerous tributaries
also rise in this system, and they and the main stream, on descending
from this ridge, flow in the lowland formerly covered by Lake Chi-
cago. Here their courses are controlled to some extent by the
lines of sand-dunes formed along the benches of the old lake, and,
to a slight extent, by till ridges. The streams have almost no fall,
and the section through which they flow is filled with swamps and
lakes. The course of the river is meandering, and at times it is
almost impossible to determine the direction of the flow of water,
as in the swampy region near Blue Island. Lake Calumet, near
Pullman, Illinois, is the largest of the many tributary lakes. The
mouth of l he stream is at South Chicago, Illinois, at an altitude of
580 ft.
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION lXYll
On the General and Interior Distribution of Illinois Fishes
The geography of Illinois is, in its most obvious features, so sim-
ple and so monotonous that one naturally expects a similar sim-
plicity and monotony in the geographic distribution of its plants and
animals. The plan of its hydrography is as little complicated as
the geography of its land areas. Surrounded on more than two
thirds of its circumference by -three large rivers, the Mississippi,
the Ohio, and the Wabash, with Lake Michigan covering a narrow
strip at its northeast corner and draining a bordering region of
scarcely greater area, its other waters flow southwestward into the
Mississippi and southward into the Wabash and the Oh o, all
mingling finally opposite its southernmost extremity for their
journey to the Gulf. Its principal watersheds are inconspicuous
ridges or slightly elevated plains, most of them originally more or
less marshy, and the headwaters and tributaries of its various
stream systems so approach and intermingle that in times of flood
they formed an interlacing network, through which it would seem
that a wandering fish might have found its way in almost any
direction and to almost any place.
Its climate varies considerably, of course, within the five and a
half degrees of its length from north to south, but by insensible
gradations, with no lines of abrupt transition anywhere to set definite
boundaries to the range of its aquatic species.
Its surface geology is more diversified than its topography, and
its soils, although uniformly fertile throughout most of the state, dif-
fer notably in their origin and physical constitution, some of these dif-
ferences being such as to affect more or less the surface waters and,
through them, to influence the conditions of aquatic life. The extreme
northwestern and the extreme southern parts of the state are bare
of drift, and their soil is derived immediately from the underlying
rock ; but the surface of all the remainder of the state, excepting a
small area above the mouth of the Illinois, hasbeen repeatedly worked
over by ice in the course of the successive divisions of the glacial period.
The oldest glaciated area, known as the lower Illinoisan glaciation,
covers the greater part of southern Illinois and a narrow belt of the
southeast part of the central section of the state. Next to this at the
lxviii FISHES OF ILLINOIS
northwest, and immediately east of the lower half of the Illinois
River, is the middle Illinoisan; above this, in the west-central part
of the state, between the Illinois River and the Rock, is the upper
Illinoisan; and still farther north, in the Rock River basin, are the
Iowan and Preiowan glaciations, reaching northward across the Wis-
consin boundary. East of the last three mentioned, and north of the
southern Illinois district, the Wisconsin glaciation, the most recent
of the series, covers about a fourth of the state. It is to the peculiar
features of the lower Illinoisan glaciation especially, that we shall
presently be compelled to pay particular attention, because of their
evident effect on the distribution of a considerable group of our
fishes.
The topographical relations of the state to the surrounding terri-
tory are as simple and open as its own interior hydrography, and
there is little to suggest the possibility of anything in the least pecul-
iar in the general constitution or the relations of its fauna, or any-
thing problematical or especially interesting in the details of the dis-
tribution of its native fishes. We shall find reason to believe, how-
ever, that this appearance is misleading, and that the subject, stud-
ied in detail, contains matter of unusual interest, and presents prob-
lems of considerable difficulty, a solution of which will lead us to
some novel results.
It is true, however, generally speaking, that the distribution of
Illinois fishes reflects, in uniformity and relative monotony, the fea-
tures of the topography of the state. A few species occurring in Lake
Michigan and characteristic of the Great Lakes are, in fact , the only Illi-
nois fishes which are definitely and permanently separated from their
fellows in other Illinois waters by what may be called geographical
conditions, and these conditions are not physical obstacles to their
passage from Lake Michigan to the Illinois River.
Excluding, for the moment, these fishes special to the Great
Lakes, we find elsewhere in Illinois a general commingling and over-
lapping of the fish population of the surrounding territory, the limits
to whose range are climatic, local, and ecological, but topographic
only in a secondary sense.
THE GENERAL DISTRIBUTION
Most of the 150 species of the native fishes of Illinois range far
and wide in all directions beyond its narrow boundaries, thus illus-
trating the breadth and the simplicity of our geographical affiliations
with the surrounding territory; but a considerable number, on the
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION lxix
other hand, coming into Illinois from one direction, do not pass be-
yond it in another, some part of the boundary of the general area of
their distribution passing through our state. Several southern fishes
go no farther north than Illinois; some northern fishes go no farther
south ; some eastern species find here their western limit ; and a few
western species range no farther east. The comparison of these geo-
graphical groups whose areas overlap by their borders here in Illinois
is a matter of special interest to the student of distribution, because
it is in them that we find indicated the more remote affinities of our
fish fauna, and from them, if anywhere, we may glean suggestions of
its various origins.
It will be convenient for a discussion of this subject to divide the
general expanse over which Illinois fishes are distributed, into the
following twelve districts: 1, the upper Mississippi Valley, including
the Missouri and its tributaries; 2, the lower Mississippi Valley, in-
cluding the Ohio and its tributaries ; 3 , the far North, extending north-
ward from the headwaters of the Mississippi, east to the Lake Supe-
rior drainage, and west to the Rocky Mountains; 4, the far North-
west, separated from the preceding by the Rocky Mountains range ;
5, the Great Lake region ; 6, the district of Quebec and New England ;
7, the Hudson River district; 8, the north Atlantic drainage, from
New England to the Chesapeake Bay; 9, the south Atlantic, from
the Chesapeake Bay to Florida; 10, the peninsula of Florida; 11, the
east Gulf district, bounded by the Mississippi drainage on the west;
and 12, the west Gulf district, bounded by the Mississippi drainage
on the east, and extending west and south to include the Rio Grande
and its tributaries. The following table shows the recorded dis-
tribution of our species over the territory so divided.
fishes of illinois
Table of the General Distribution of Illinois Fishes
PQ
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Silvery lamprey (Ichthyomyzon)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Paddle-fish (Polyodon)
+
+
+
+
+
+
4
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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+
+
+
Toothed herring (tergisus)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
1
+
+
+
+
+
+
Whitefish.
+
+
+
+
+
+
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Eel
1
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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Black-horse (Cy< leptus I
Red -mi mi li buffali i (i r/1/ inella)
+
Mongrel buffalo [uriis)
Small-mouth buffalo (bubalus)
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION lxxi
Table of the General Distribution of Illinois Fishes — continued
O
River carp (carpio)
Blunt-nosed carp (difjormis)
Lake carp (thompsoni)
Quillback carp (velifer)
Chub-sucker
Striped sucker
Common sucker (commersonii)
Hogsucker (nigricans)
White-nosed sucker (anisurum). . .
Common red-horse (aurcolum)
Short-headed red-horse (breviceps ) .
Placopharynx duquesnei
Harelipped sucker (Lagochila)
Stone-roller (Campostoma)
Red-bellied dace (Chrosomus)
Silvery minnow (H . nuchalis) . . . .
Hybognathus nubila
Black-head minnow (/'. promelas)
Blunt-nosed minnow (/'. notatus) ,
Horned dace (Semotilus)
Opsopceodus emilice
Golden shiner (Abramis)
+
+
+
+ +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-I-
lxxii
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Table of the General Distrib
UTION OF
llinois Fishes—
-continued
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Bullhead minnow {Cliola vigilax). . . .
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Straw-colored minnow (TV. blennius) . .
+
+
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+
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+
+
+
+
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Spot-tailed minnow (N. hiidsonins) . . .
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Common shiner {N . cornutus)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
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Blackrin (N. umbratilis atripes)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Sucker-mouthed minnow {Pht naco
+
+
+
+
+
I
Long-nosed dace ( R. < atarcu tee)
+
+
!
1
+
+
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION lx:
Table of the General Distribution of Illinois Fishes — continued
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Black-nosed dace (R. atronasus)
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Spotted shiner (H. dissimilis)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Great Lake cattish {lacustris)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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Common stonecat (A\ flavus).
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Brindled stonecat (5. vniurus )
1
4
Grass pike (Esox vermiculatus)
+
lXXiv FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Table of the General Distribution of Illinois Fishes — continued
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Menona top-minnow (F. diaphanus m.)
Striped top-minnow (F. dispar)
Common top-minnow (F. notatus) ....
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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+
+
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+
+
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+
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+
+
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+
+
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+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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Pigmy sunfish (Elassoma)
White crappie (annularis)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Round sunfish
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Warmouth (Cluenobryttus)
+
+
Lepotnis ischyrus
/.. sytnmetricus
+
+
+
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION 1XXV
Table of the General Distribution of Illinois Fishes — continued
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Bluee;ill (pallidas)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
1-
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Sauger (5. canadense griseum)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Black-sided darter (//. aspro)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Green-sided darter (blennioides)
1
+
+
1
+
+
+
+
1XXV1 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Table of the General Distribution of Illinois Fishes — concluded
V
•d
—
B
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15
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+
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Blue-breasted darter (E. camurum) . . .
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Rainbow darter (E. cceritlenm)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Fan-tailed darter (E. flabcllare)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
4-
+
+
+
White bass (Roccus chrysops)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Uranidca kumlienii
Burbot {Lota)
+
+ +
+
+
+
108
53 1"
in
15
23
56
134
131
17
1
37
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION
lxxvii
Arranged according to the number of Illinois species in each,
these districts succeed each other in the following order.
Districts
No. of
species
Per cent, of
all Illinois
species
Lower Mississippi and Ohio valleys . . .
Upper Mississippi and Missouri valleys
The Great Lake basin
The east Gulf district
Quebec and New England
The west Gulf and Rio Grande district
The south Atlantic district
The north Atlantic district
The far North
The Florida peninsula
The Hudson drainage
The far Northwest
134
131
108
56
53
47
45
40
37
23
19
4
SQ
87
72
37
36
31
30
27
25
15
13
3
Next to the two Mississippi Valley districts and the Great Lake
basin, which average 124 Illinois species, our fishes are most largely
represented in the east Gulf and the Quebec and New England dis-
tricts, averaging 54 Illinois species — the first closely related to the
lower Mississippi, and the second a continuation eastward of the
Great Lake basin. Then follow the north and south Atlantic and
the west Gulf districts, with an average of 43 species; the far North,
the Florida peninsula, and the Hudson River districts, with 37 to 19
species; and, finally, the far Northwest, with but 4 Illinois species.
The northern and the southern affiliations of the assemblage of
fishes represented in our Illinois collections may be contrasted by
comparing the list of Illinois species occurring in either or both of the
more northerly divisions — that is, the far North and the Quebec and
New England districts — on the one hand, with a list of those
found in either or all of the three most southerly districts — that is,
the Florida peninsula, the east Gulf, and the west Gulf and Rio
Grande — on the other hand. In this northern list of Illinois fishes
there are 64 species, and in the southern list there are 77 ; but 25 of
these species are more or less common to both north and south,
leaving 39 Illinois fishes distinctively northern in their distribution
and 52 distinctively southern. Northern and southern species thus
mingle in our territory in unequal proportions, the southern element
largely preponderating.
If we look to the further distribution of the northern and south-
ern elements of our fish population, distinguishing northeastern from
lxxviii FISHES OF ILLINOIS
northwestern species, and southeastern from southwestern, we find
that the southeastern species largely outnumber the southwestern
in Illinois, and that the northeastern outnumber the northwestern.
Thus there are 47 species of the west Gulf and Rio Grande region in
this state, and 58 species of the east Gulf and Florida districts.
Further, there are more species known as common to Illinois and
the far northeast than there are to Illinois and the southwestern dis-
trict of the west Gulf and the Rio Grande. Notwithstanding the
much greater distance from us of the Quebec and New England
district, there are 53 of the fishes of that region known in Illinois to
47 of those of the west Gulf district. The northeastern fishes have,
however, been much more carefully collected than the southwest-
ern, and an equal knowledge of both districts might change these
relative numbers.
THE INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION
The interior distribution of the fishes of the state may best be ex-
hibited by treating each considerable stream-system as a unit, and
comparing the fishes of each such system with all the others. The
state may be conveniently divided into ten such hydrographic
districts, as follows:
1. The Galena district, including the streams of the northwest-
ern unglaciated area, most of which empty into the Mississippi
through Galena, Apple, and Plum rivers. 2. The Rock River dis-
trict, extending southward and westward from the northern bound-
ary of the state to the Mississippi at the mouth of the Rock. 3 . The
Illinois district, including the entire drainage of the Illinois River.
4. The Michigan district, a narrow strip along the borders of Lake
Michigan — the Lake Michigan drainage — most of which centers in
the Chicago and the Calumet rivers. 5. The Mississippi River, and
an irregular strip adjacent not included in any of the more definite
river systems and mainly drained by small streams of the bluffs and
neighboring highlands. This district is divided by the lower end
of the Illinois basin. 6. The Kaskaskia basin. 7. The Illinois
drainage of the Wabash, including that stream itself so far as it helps
to form the boundary line between Illinois and Indiana. 8. The
basin of the Big Muddy River, in the southwestern part of the slate.
9. The Saline River basin, in the southeastern part of the state.
10. The Cairo district, the driftless area of extreme southern Illi-
nois, drained by the Cache River and smaller tributaries of the Ohio.
The Ohio itself is included in this last district.
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION
lxxix
The following list and table gives the details of the distribution of
the species in a way to show the number of collections of each species
made by us from each district. A cross opposite a species name indi-
cates that the species occurs in the basin mentioned at the head of
the column, but that it is not represented by preserved collections
affording numerical data.
Interior Distribution op Illinois Fishes by Rtver Systems
Species and Number of Collections of each
Districts
Number of species .
Collections made.
Silvery lamprey
Brook lamprey
Paddle-fish
Lake sturgeon
Shovel-nosed sturgeon.
White sturgeon
Long-nosed gar
Short-nosed gar
Alligator-gar
Dogfish
Mooneye
Toothed herring
Gizzard-shad
44
13
«
92
73
Si
1 28
1115
12
57 07
20 5 7
20
52
+
27
1
8
89
1 +
1 . . .
+
+
+
4
10
4
+
3
+
+
1
69
41
+
95
103
+
42
10
55
u
101
Sections
120
12.-!
95 2691083
3
o
■/.
119
192
+
+
+
+
+
0
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
lxxx
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Interior Distribution of Illinois Fishes by River Systems
Species and Number of Collections of each — continued
Districts
Sections
V
<u
be
-■
O
+^
R
T3
rt
a
+j
03
s
>
>
5
P
C
'S,
p.
^2
•d
—
a!
C
u
-
O
s
M
o
o
Pi
"3
t— (
u
'Js
o
'tfj
OS
m
rt
rt
3
bo
5
D
0
rt
8
3
u
X.
o
2
a
o
3
O
C/2
?
1
i
2
+
4-
+
+
Whitefish.
+
+
+
+
0
0
0
Lake herring
0
+
+
1
+
+
0
+
+
0
+
+
+
+
0
Eel
+
i
28
17
+
2
9
1
+
+
+
Black-horse
+
1
1
1
2
l
4-
Mongrel buffalo
+
1
1
1
46
1 1
1
9
?
1
2
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
4-
1
+
Blunt-nosed car])
1
6
54
S
15
21
3
3
+
+
+
10
39
1
1
+
+
+
+
0
Quillback carp
1
1Q
1
8
1
+
+
( liub-sucker
4
1
14
48
13
69
1
2
21
n
47
16
26
6
1
7
1
3
10
3
9
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Striped sucker
1
1
+
Common sucker
9 5
+
Long-nosed sucker. . . .
+
+
0
0
Hogsucker
1
1 1
61
1
9
97
1
+
4-
+
White a ised sucker
2
2
13
14
90
+
1
5
+
+
+
+
+
< i immi mi red hi irse
10
25
1
2
4-
Sin irt -headed red hi in e
4
39
1
<
?
+
+
+
4-
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION
I XXXI
Interior Distribution of Illinois Fishes by River Systems
Species and Number of Collections of each — continued
Placopharynx duquesnei
Harelipped sucker
Stone-roller
Red -bellied dace
Silvery minnow
Hybognathus r.ubila
Black-head minnow. . . .
Blunt-nosed minnow
Horned dace
Opsopaeodus emilice
Golden shiner
Districts
1
20
4
6
3
8
3i
9
3
18
1 i 14
Bullhead minnow. . . .
Notropis anogenu-. . .
Notropis cayuga
N. heterodon
Straw-colored minnow
Notropis phenacobius. .
N gilberii
N. illccebrosus
Spot-tailed minnow....!. I
Redfin.
1
X
99
13
86
67
162
72
49
183
110
2
29
81
108
2
IS
2
133
142
m
M
V
<D
-
O
g
•a
ri
c
cS
u
01
P.
a
^
txo
3
w
Cfl
2
<5
W
10
1
4
16
10
6
31
10
1
19
22
1
+
36
27
5
77
24
18
50
38
1
4
44
X
11
10
4
18
1
+
25
14
Sections
+
4 , +
10 +
+
3
O
tn
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
0
o
+
+
0
+
+
+
+
(f)
lxxxii
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Interior Distribution of Illinois Fishes by River Systems
Species and Number of Collections of each — continued
Districts
Sections
w
J4
<u
<D
CJ
+j
a
•a
-
c
■M
■/.
s
CI)
a
o
CO
>
3
M
o
o
Pi
0)
>
w
'o
u
-
c
_
5
C3
cS
a!
A!
w
«
m
§
s?
S
u
t-i
W
s
0
u
'3
o
O
■z,
1
a
CJ
a
3
O
3
1
34
19
116
105
l
8
99
71
22
2
3
1
6
12
+
+
+
+
+
Common shiner
11 14
+
1
+
n
0
1
S
21
1
in
S
?
5
4-
+
+
3
?
s
4
82
8
6
8
4
19
4
6
11
+
+
+
+
+
Notropis ritbrifrons
Blackfin
0
2
9
67
4
7S
3
25
25
17
56
58
36
5
11
19
+
8
+
+
+
+
+
+
4-
Sucker-mouthed minnow
2
15
13
1
4
+
Long-nosed dace
1
0
n
+
Black-nosed-dace
1
7
4
1
1
+
4-
0
+
4-
Spotted shiner
0
n
3
1
1
+
+
4-
Silver chub
2
7
90
10
10
37
5
16
4
2
4
4
1
3
2
1
0
+
+
0
o
(1
+
+
+
0
+
+
+
Storer's chub
1
12
7
8
4-
River chub
1
+
Flat-headed chub
4-
1
+
1
+
4-
h talurus anguilla
+
1 hannel-cal
17
10 -
+
7
17
•M
.'
1
2
+
+
+
0
+
Great Lake cattish
0
general and interior distribution i
Interior Distribution of Illinois Fishes by River Systems
Species and Number of Collections of each — continued
Dist
ricts
Sections
u3
<u
9>
O
+^
C
■o
-
c
^J
en
u
>
Q
ol
>.
X!
Q
C
3
O
>
s
M
o
o
Di
'3
c
e
M
IS
o
.2*
w
'5,
w
a!
w
a!
w
J3
a!
a!
-T
■d
3
s
m
en
Q
o
u
'5
o
o
+->
c
O
+J
3
o
w
3
S2
42
144
10
l
IS
IS
3
4
6
4
10
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
i
19
+
Black bullhead
l
11
35
4
6
+
+
2
3
3
?
22
32
1 3?
2
1
1 1
1
1
14
2
2
?1
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
4-
0
S
8
+
5
1
1
18
61
1
2
2
+
0
+
0
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Slender stonecat
1
2
1
6
9
+
1
1 1
26
4
19
1
7
5
1
6
+
8
5
i
i
1
4
+
+
Pike
2
17
+
i
1
1
+
+
+
n
0
0
Menona top-minnow. . . .
1 1
7
+
+
+
0
1
7^
1
8
5
+
+
+
( c immon top-minnow . . .
1
6
66
i.
23
58
8
17
27
+
+
+
1
1
4
1
9
Q
0
+
+
Ckologaster papilliferus
h
0
0
+
1
2
1
+
+
0
0
o
Nine-spined sticklebai 1.
Trout-perch
o
14
1
+
+
0
lxxxiv
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Interior Distribution of Illinois Fishes by River Systems
Species and Number of Collections of each — continued
Districts
Sections
a>
a>
O
+*
C
•d
•c
u
u
>
a)
u
Q
3
>*
Q
i>
Pi
C
ft
T
■7-1
UJ
01
a
H
Q
5
M
-->
o
Pi
"o
oj
s?
o
(A
a!
[A
OJ
OS
,0
3
s?
S
V
M
o
u
'3
o
1
c
o
0
V.
Brook silverside
1
6
80
54
2
2
l
0
21
11
+
+
+
+
+
Pirate-perch
7
11
0
+
5
1
0
o
+
9
0
110
7
1 1
6
14
3
1
6
+
+
+
8
1 in
3
1 5
8
13
T
1
+
+
+
l
35
83
158
3
1
1
10
57
1
1
6
7
2
6
12
8
2
11
15
0
+
+
+
+
0
+
+
+
+
+
4
3
20
1
1
3
3
16
2
5
33
+
+
2
+
Lepomis ischyrus
0
/,. symmetricus
9
3
4
o
1
+
L. euryorus
1
0
+
0
24
37
1
1
27
2
57
+
+
+
+
+
Long-eared sunfish
3
7
8
16
+
Orange-spotted sunfish
5
112
22
15
23
2
3
3
+
+
+
Bluegill
?
7
170
1
6
3
18
1
1
6
+
+
+
Eupomotis heros
5
1
0
0
+
Pumpkinseed
4
82
4
2
1
1
+
+
+
Small-mouthed black
ir,
6Q
5
?
8
1
3
+
+
+
Large-mouthed black
7
135
4
13
8
33
?
4
12
+
+
+
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION
lxxxv
Interior Distribution of Illinois Fishes by River Systems
Species and Number of Collections of each — continued
'-
+J
>
tfi
o
n
>
g
cti
s
in
C
^i
O
o
C
nl
0
rZj
o
Pi
H-t
Pike-perch
Sauger
Yellow perch
Log-perch
Hadropterus evermanni. . .
II. phoxocephalus
Black-sided darter 2
Hadropterus ouackitcB.
II. evides
II. si ieriA s
'aster shumardi .
Green-sided darter. . . .
1
Districts
Sections
a £
i
+
4
12
IS
Ji ihnny darter
Boleosoma camurum
i rystallaria asprella .
Sand darter
Banded darter
Blue-breasted darter
Etheostoma ioww . . . .
its 4
Rainbow darter 2 9
20 1
13
75
35
3
58
70
1
14
+
100
45
7
?1
6
1
1
1
1 19
39
6
42
1
m
11
10
3
O
tn
lxxxvi
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Interior Distribution of Illinois Fishes by River Systems
Species and Number of Collections of each — concluded
Districts
Sections
en
u
9)
CU
hn
rt
O
+j
C
■o
m
c
+j
+->
w
S
c
O
0)
>
2
u
o
>
<2
'S
D
c
to
o
§
'5-
'tn
w
i
a!
12
m
tn
a!
en
a!
s
s
to
s
<u
IX
s
s
3
o
u
O
"c3
C
o
A
o
w
1
0
n
+
1
1
1
7
n
+
+
1
6
1
11
n
i
l
s
14
18
3
S
+
+
+
+
+
Bolcichthys fusijormis
s
8
+
1
2
1
1
10
36
95
1
1
+
+
+
+
0
+
+
+
+
1
2
12
5
1 S
+
+
i
1
1
+
5
6
+
+
+
+
+
0
0
+
+
+
+
1
0
0
3
0
THE ILLINOS BASIN AND THE OTHER DISTRICTS COMPARED
The key to the distribution of Illinois fishes within the state is t he
species list of the Illinois basin. Covering fully one half t he area of Illi-
nois, and extending in abroad belt diagonally northeast and south-
west across its northern two thirds, this basin contains nearly every
variety of stream, lake, pond, and marsh to be found between the
Great Lakes on the one hand and the giant flood of the Mississippi
on the other, and it is to be expected that its fish population will be
tiighlj typical of Illinois as a whole. It includes, in fact, more than
four fifths of the species on our Illinois list, and the special features
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION
of the various other basins and areas may best be seen by comparing
them with this characteristic central basin as a type.
The following is a list of the species of the Illinois system obtained
by us in collections, arranged in the order of the frequency of their
appearance in 1 , 1 1 5 collections made from that stream and its tribu-
tary waters.
Species of the Illinois Basin, and Number of Collections
containing each
Species
Collections*
Species
Collections*
Golden shiner
Bluegill
Blunt-nosed minnow
Green sunfish
Black bullhead
Redfin (lulrcusis)
Large-mouthed black bass
Spot-tailed minnow
Tadpole cat
Black crappie
Etheosloma jessice
White crappie
Silverfin
Orange-spotted sunfish. . .
Bullhead minnow
Straw-colored minnow. . . .
Channel-cat
i i i union shiner
Johnny darter
Stone-roller
Yellow bass
River chub
183
179
162
158
144
142
135
133
132
130
119
119
116
112
1 10
108
108
105
100
99
95
90
Common red-horse
Gizzard-shad
Brook silverside
Silvery minnow
Warmouth
Shiner
Yellow bullhead
Pumpkinseed
Notropis heterodon
Sucker-mouthed minnow
Yellow perch
Striped top-minnow
Horned dace
Black-sided darter
Common sucker
Small-mouthed black bass
Blackfin
Black-head minnow ....
Common top-minnow ..
Hogsucker
Grass pike
Hadropterus phoxocepkalus
90
89
89
86
83
82
82
82
81
78
75
75
72
70
69
69
67
67
66
61
(.1
58
\ .toss ( f ) in this column indii ates the known i rrerice of a species which
is not represented in our collections from the Illinois basin
lxxxviii
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Species of the Illinois Basin, and Number of Collections
containing each — continued
Species
Blunt-nosed carp
Pirate-perch
Sheepshead
Sh' >rt-nosed gar
■ ipsopceodus emilicB
( 'hub-sucker
Small-mouth buffalo
Boleosoma catnurum
Common bullhead
Quillback carp
Rainbow darter
Short-headed red -horse. .
Long-eared sunfish
White bass
Rock bass
Log-perch
Stonecat
Notropis cayuga
Red-mouth buffalo
I >ogfish •
I i p miis miniatus
Mud cat
Notropis jejunus . .
Banded dai ter
Long-nosed gar
Pike-perch
Mud minni m
Mi mgrel I >uffali i
Collections
54
54
53
52
¥)
IS
\t
45
42
39
30
39
37
36
35
.5 5
32
29
28
27
24
22
21
21
20
2(1
18
17
Species
Pike
Notropis gilbert!
White-nosed sucker. .
Trout-perch
Cottogaster shwmardi. .
Striped sucker
Red-bellied dace
Sauger
Boleichthys fusiform is .
Silvery lamprey
Menona top-minnow . .
Fan-tailed darter. . . .
River carp
Least darter
Lake carp
Paddle-fish
Toothed herring
Notropis rubrifrons . . .
Storer's chub
Sand darter
Blue-breasted darter
Freckled stonecal ....
Miller's thumb
Black nosed dace
I- in ymba buci ata
Skipjack
S] ii it ted shiner
/ epomis isi h v us
Collections
17
15
14
14
14
13
13
13
13
12
11
11
11
10
10
8
S
8
7
7
6
5
5
1
I
3
3
3
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION
Ixxxix
Species of the Illinois Basin, and Number of Collections
containing each — concluded
Species
Collections
Species
Collections
Hadropterus evermanni. . . .
3
Brindled stonecat
Burbot
3
2
Slender stonecat
Brook stickleback
Xotropis phenacobius
2
2
Lepomis symmctricus
Lepomis euryorus
2
Hadropterus scicrus
N. illecebrosus
2
+
Viviparous top-minnow. .
Shovel-nosed sturgeon ....
+
+
Black-horse
Eel
+
Placopharynx duquesnei. . ,
Ictalitrns anguilla
+
Notropis pilsbryi . .
+
Hybopsis kyostomus
,
Green-sided darter
+
1
Of the twenty-three Illinois species which have not been taken by
us in the Illinois River or its tributaries, two are distinctively western
fishes, and occur but rarely anywhere within our limits; nine are
southern species, few of which have been found as far north as the
mouth of the Illinois, and one other is only southern in this state;
two are northern species which barely reach our borders ; five are typ-
ical fishes of the Great Lakes; one has been found by us only in the
main Mississippi and the Ohio ; one is a subterranean fish of strictly
local occurrence; and the two remaining species are very rare in this
state.
Further particulars as to the species of these various geograph-
ical groups are given in the following classified list.
Illinois Species not found in the Illinois Basin
western (2):
// ybognathus nubila
Flat -headed i bul i
northern (2):
Long-nosed sucker
Nine spined s1 ii 1- leback
xc
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
SOUTHERN (10) :
Harelipped sucker
Pigmy sunnsh
Round sunnsh
Eupomotis hcros
Hadropterus ouachitcc
H. evides
Crystallaria asprella
Etheostoma obeyense
E. squamiceps
Brindled stonecat
GREAT LAKES (5) :
Whitefish
Lake herring
Lake trout
Coitus ricei
Uranidca kumlienii
MAIN MISSISSIPPI (1) :
White sturgeon
SUBTERRANEAN (1):
Chologaster papilliferus
RARE IN ILLINOIS (2):
Brook lamprey
Long-nosed dace
As the Illinois basin contains 128 of the 150 species taken by us in
the state, it is evident that the other and smaller basins must differ
from this negatively rather than positively. Being not only much
smaller, but also much less complex than the Illinois district, and
offering less variety of situations for fishes as homes and places of
resort, they may lack many species which find a fit environment
somewhere in the Illinois or its dependent waters, but can contain
relatively few not found there as well.
Regarded from this standpoint, the Michigan district is farthest
removed from the Illinois ichthyologically, and of its fifty-seven spe-
cies nine (16 per cent.) are wanting in the Illinois basin. The Cairo
district differs much less, eight of its one hundred and one fishes
being without representation in our collections from the Illinois sys-
tem. Next follows the Wabash basin in Illinois, with ninety-five
species and a difference from the Illinois basin of 6 . 1 per cent. ; the
Galena district, with forty-four species and a difference of 4.6 per
cent. ; the Saline district, with fifty-five species, and a difference of
3 .8 per cent. ; and the Mississippi and its marginal area, with ninety-
seven species, 3 . 2 per cent, of which are wanting to the Illinois
streams and lakes. The Kaskaskia and the Big Muddy, on the other
hand, which arc scarcely more than extensions of the Illinois district
downward to the southern end of the state, contain virtually no fishes
i mi in the main district, the Kaskaskia but one out of sixty -nine (1 .4
per cent.), and the Big Muddy none out of forty-two species. The
Rock River district differs from the Illinois by only three species out
of ninety two (3 .2 jut cent.). These data arc presented more com-
pactly in the tal ile fi illi wing.
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION X
Differences between the Smaller Districts and the Illinois Basin
Districts
Species
in
dis-
Species
not
found
in Illi-
trict
nois
basin
12S
57
9
101
8
95
6
44
2
55
2
97
3
92
3
69
1
42
0
Ratios
of differ-
ence
Illinois
Michigan. . .
Cairo
Wabash
Galena
Saline
Mississippi.
Rock River
Kaskaskia. ,
Big Muddy.
.16
.08
.061
.046
.038
.032
.032
.014
.000
Five species were found in the Illinois system and not in any
other — three of them minnows of the genus Notropis (anogenus,
phenacobius, and pilsbryi), one of them a sunfish (Lepomis euryorus),
and one of them a darter (Hadropterus evermanni) . All of these spe-
cies have been very rare in our collections, occurring only from one to
three times each, and it was probable that they would be found, if at
all, where the largest number of collections was made.
The Galena district is distinguished from the Illinois basin espe-
cially by the presence of a minnow and a darter (Hybognathus nubila
and Crystidlaria asprella), the latter southern in its main range, and
the former western, not occurring, indeed, farther east than western
Illinois. These two fishes appear in the Rock River basin also, to-
gether wit h another distinctively western darter (Hadropterus evides) .
In the Michigan district, besides the five lake fishes already referred
to — the whitefish, the lake herring, the lake trout, and two cottoids
or miller's thumbs, Cottus ricei and Uranidea kumlienii — are the
brook lamprey, the long-nosed sucker, the Great Lake catfish, and
one of the sticklebacks (Pygosteus pungitius). All but the lamprey
(which is rare in Illinois) arc northern species no1 taken by us in the
Illinois valley. The Mississippi distrid is distinguished from the
XC11 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Illinois by the presence of the rare white sturgeon (Parascaphirhyn-
chus albus) , hitherto taken only in the Mississippi itself, and by a
southern darter and a western minnow already referred to. In the
Kaskaskia district we find another southern darter (Etheostoma squam-
iceps). The six fishes of the Wabash district not found in the Illinois
or its tributaries, are all southern species. The Big Muddy list con-
tains no species not found in the Illinois basin ; and the Saline River
district contains two southern darters {Etheostoma squamiceps and
E. obeyensc). And, finally, among the eight species by which the
Cairo district differs from the Illinois are three southern and two
western species, a cave-fish, and two species of general distribution
but rare in Illinois (Lampetra wilderi and Rhinichthys cataract®).
Thus, of the twenty-three Illinois fishes not found by us in the
waters of the Illinois basin, eight are distinctively southern, six are
purely northern, if we include in this number the Great Lake fishes,
four are western, one is an extremely local cave-fish, and four are so
rare in Illinois that their appearance in any waters is a matter of
unusual chance. The limitation upon the range of these imperfectly
distributed species is thus climatic and general, and not geographic
or local. This state lies on the extreme borders of their proper terri-
tory, and they are not found more commonly in our waters because
climatic and other general conditions most favorable to their main-
tenance, here reach the vanishing point.
Lists of Species distinguishing different Districts from the Illinois Basin
galena district (2): kaskaskia river district (i):
Hybognathus nubila (Western) Etheostoma squamiceps (Southern)
Crystallaria asprella (Southern)
WABASH DISTRICT (6):
rock river district (3): Harelipped sucker (rare; Southern)
Hybognathus nubila ( Western ) Pigmy sunfish (Southern)
Hadropterus evides (Western) Eupomotis heros (Southern)
Crystallaria asprella (Southern) Hadropterus ouachitce (Southern)
Crystallaria asprella (Southern)
Michigan district (9): Etheostoma squamicep s (Southern)
Brook lamprey (rare) .
Long-nosed sucker (Northern) saline river district (2):
Whitefish (Great Lakes) Etheostoma obeyense (Southern)
Lake herring (Great Lakes) E. squamiceps (Southern)
Lake troul (('.real Lake i
Great Lake catfish (Northern) Cairo district (8)
Nine-spined sti< I lebai 1. (Northern) Brook lamprey
Cottus ricei (Greal Lakes) Hybognathus nubila (Western)
Uranidea kumlienii (Great Lakes) Long nosed dace (rare in Illinois)
Hat headed chub ( Western i
Mississippi strip (3): , -hologaster papilliferus (subterranean)
Whiti in (rare; Mississippi only i Pigmy sunfish (Southern)
Hybognathus nubila (Western) Eupomotis hero', (Southern)
Crystallaria asprella (Southern) Etheostoma squamiceps (Southern)
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION XC111
RELATIONS OF EACH DISTRICT TO ALL THE OTHERS
In the foregoing discussions and analyses the fishes of the various
districts have been compared with those of the largest and most cen-
tral district as a type ; but a fuller and more accurate idea of the com-
position of the fish population of Illinois and of its relations in the
various hydrographic divisions of the state may be obtained by a
comparison of the species of each of our ten districts successively
with those of all the others. This may lie done in an exact and uni-
form manner by determining for each pair of districts the ratio which
the number of species common to the pair bears to the whole number
of species occurring within the area of both the districts taken to-
gether as one. In the Galena district, for example, there are 44 spe-
cies recorded, and in the Saline River basin there are 55, a total of 99 ;
but as 26 of these species have been found in both these districts, this
number has been taken twice in the above addition, and the number
of species found by us in the entire area of these two districts is con-
sequently 73. The ichthyological affinity of these two areas is evi-
dently to be measured by the ratio which the number of species com-
mon to both bears to the whole number of species found in either or
both the areas — in this case, the ratio of 26 to 73, or 36 per cent.
That is, 36 per cent, of the fishes found in either of these two districts
have been found by us in both of them.
A similar analysis of the data for each of the forty-five pairs
which it is possible to make up from our ten hydrographic districts,
yields the material for the following table of common species and of
ratios of affiliation. This table shows, in the lower left-hand part,
the number of species common to each pair of districts, and in the
upper right-hand part the ratios which these numbers bear to the
number of species occurring in each pair of districts taken as one.
The number of species common to any two districts will be found
in the lower left-hand part of the table, where the column for one
district intersects with the line for the other, and the ratio of affil-
iation for the same pair of districts will be found in the opposite
part of the table at the intersection of the line for the first with
the column for the second. A simple inspection of the figures in
the latter part shows at once which districts are most alike and
which are most unlike in respect to their fish inhabitants. Thus, the
Rock and Illinois basins and the Mississippi are the most closely re-
lated, according to these data, with affiliation ratios of 68-72 per
cent, and an average of 70; and the Michigan, Galena, and Big
Muddy districts are the least alike, with ratios of 20-28 per cent.
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
and an average of 23. The two highest single ratios of ichthyo-
logical affiliation are those of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers (. 72)
and of the Big Muddy and Saline ( . 70).
Number of Species Common to each Pair of Districts, and Ratios
of such Common Numbers to the whole Number
of Species in each Pair
Districts
a
H
>
£
M
o
o
Pi
'8
c
s?
IS
o
i§
a
.9*
%
ni
(S
in
-a
•a
bo
S
00
a
13
w
at
2
3
o
<6
be
aj
u
<v
>
<
45
89
39
77
60
72
38
47
74
32
68
48
94
68
89
42
53
93
20
35
35
39
25
34
IS
21
38
41
69
72
34
58
73
35
45
79
40
59
53
25
54
66
38
48
59
38
63
66
29
61
66
40
52
76
28
40
33
22
34
52
41
40
40
36
47
41
23
42
63
53
70
51
37
62
68
32
66
53
63
39
49
352
2 . Rock River
42
42
17
41
32
38
19
26
39
542
3 . Illinois River
4 . Michigan
.52
283
525
6 . Kaskaskia
.517
534
8. Big Muddv
398
9 . Saline River
471
10 . Cairo
521
Total species
44
92
128
57
97
69
95
42
55
101
Number of collections
13
73
1115
20
57
41
103
10
18
95
The data of this table may be generalized by bringing into com-
parison the average of the ratios of affiliation for each district with
those for all the rest, as shown in the column of figures farthest to
the right. If the ten districts are arranged in the order of the size of
their average ratios, they readily fall into two groups, the first of six
districts, with relatively high ratios, and the second of four, with
relatively low ratios. The first group comprises the basins of the
larger rivers — the Mississippi, the Rock, the Illinois, the Kaskaskia,
the Wabash, and the Ohio, each with its more or less complex system
GENERAL AXD INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION XCV
of tributaries. The average ratio for this group is 52.7 per cent.
The second group is made up of small, widely separated districts,
containing only small streams and lakes, except that one of them in-
cludes a little of the shallow southwestern border of Lake Michigan.
In this group are the northwestern driftless area, the Saline River
and its tributaries, the Big Muddy district, and the Michigan dis-
trict, with an average affiliation ratio of 37 .6.
If we average separately, for these groups, the ratios of each dis-
trict to all the other districts of its group, we obtain for the first and
higher group a ratio of mutual affiliation of 63 per cent., and for the
lower group a similar ratio of 33 per cent. It is thus made clear
that the districts most typical of our Illinois fauna are the first six
above mentioned, while those most individual and peculiar — least
closely affiliated among themselves and each with all the others —
are the Michigan, the Galena, the Saline, and the Big Muddy dis-
tricts, excepting only the relation of the two last mentioned which,
as already said, is unusually close.
THE FISHES OF NORTHERN, CENTRAL, AND SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
If mere difference in latitude, involving a climatic difference
within a range of five and a half degrees, limits the distribution
of any of our fishes, the fact should appear upon a comparison of
the species list of the northern, central, and southern sections of the
state, although due caution must, of course, be exercised that
other and more local causes are not confused with climatic ones.
The division of the state here adopted is shown on Map II. of the
accompanying set.
The fishes of these three divisions number 119 species for
northern, 123 for central, and 119 for southern Illinois, respect-
ively. Fourteen species have been found by us only in the northern
division, 9 only in the southern, and 5 only in the central, and 89 spe-
cies are found in all three sections. Twelve species occur in both
northern and central Illinois, but not in southern, 17 in both south-
ern and central Illinois, but not in northern, and 4 in both the north-
ern and southern divisions of the state, but not in the central.
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Fishes of Limited Distribution in Illinois
Illinois Distribution
General Distribution
Species Peculiar to Northern Illinois
Whitefish
Great Lakes
Lake herring
,,
Lake trout
..
Long-nosed sucker
Northern
Notropis anogenus
"
N . phenacobius
N . pilsbryi
Southern
Great Lake catfish
Northern
Muskallunge
"
Brook stickleback
"
Nine-spined stickleback
••
Hadroptcnts cvides
Rather general
Coitus ricei
Great Lakes
Uranidca kumlien ii
..
Species Peculiar to Southern Illinois
Harelipped sucker
Southern
Long-nosed dace
General; rare in Illinois
Flat-headed chub
Western
Chologaster papilliferum
Local; cave
Pigmy sunfish
Southern
Round sunfish
"
Eupornotis heros
■■
Hadroptcnts Ouachita
•■
Etheostoma obeyense
"
Species in Northern and Central Illinois,
but not in Southern
Lake carp
Northern
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION
Fishes of Limited Distribution in Illinois — concluded
Illinois Distribution
General Distribution
Notropis cayuga
General
N . rubrijrons
"
Hybopsis hyostomus
•■
Stonecat
Northern and southwestern
Pike
Northern
Menona top-minnow
"
Trout-perch
■•
Lepomis ischyrus
Sauger
General
Yellow perch
Northern
Burbot
Great Lakes
Species in Southern and Central Illinois,
but not in Northern
Paddle-fish
General
Shovel-nosed sturgeon
"
Alligator-gar
Southern
Mooneye
Northern
Black-horse
General
Ericymba buccata
"
Silver chub
"
Blue cat
Southern
Ictalurus anguilla
"
Freckled stonecat
"
Brindled stonecat
General
Viviparous top-minm iw
Southern
Lepomis symmeiricus
"
Cottogaster shumardi
General
Green-sided darter
"
Etheostoma squamiceps
Southern
(g)
xcvm
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
An examination of the general distribution of the species of these
sectional lists of Illinois fishes shows, as was to have been expected,
that the distinctively northern Illinois fishes are chiefly northern in
their outside range, and that those of southern Illinois are mainly
southern. Thus, of the 14 especially northern Illinois fishes, 1 1 are
northerly in their general distribution and 1 is southerly ; while of the
9 distinctively southern Illinois species, 6 are southerly in their gen-
eral range, 1 is western, and 1 is a cave-fish local to Illinois. The
species found in the northern and central sections of the state and
not in the southern are varied in their distribution, 6 of them ranging
northward from Illinois, and 4 of them in all directions, while 1 has
been thus far found in Illinois only. The central and southern fishes,
on the other hand, comprise 7 southern species, 1 of northern and 8
of general range, and 1 whose distribution is not recorded. Includ-
ing only species whose general area shows that their restricted occur-
rence in Illinois is a feature of their geographical distribution at
large, and excluding fishes special to the Great Lakes,we have twenty-
six species whose distribution in this state seems limited by condi-
tions connected with differences in latitude merely — twelve of these
species essentially northern and fourteen of them southern.
Especially Northern Species in
Illinois (16) :
Whitefish
Lake herring
Lake trout
Long-nosed sucker
Lake carp
Noiropis anogenus
Great Lake cattish
Mooneye
Pike
Muskallunge
Menona top-minnow
Brook stickleback
Nine-spined stickleback
Trout-perch
c 'ottus > i, i i
I Wanidea kumlienii
Especially Southern Species in
Illinois (14) :
Alligator-gar
Blue cat
Ictaluriis anguilla
Freckled stonecat
Harelipped sucker
Notropis pilsbryi
Viviparous top-minnow
Pigmy sunfish
Round sunfish
Lepomis symmetricus
Eupomotis heros
Hadroptcrus ouachitai
Etheostoma oheyense
E. squamv. eps
USE OF LOCALITY MAPS
In the foregoing discussion of the sectional distribution of Illinois
fishes no account has been taken of differences in the frequency of the
occurrence of the species in Hie different sections in which they have
been found, a single occurrence in southern Illinois, for example,
counting for as much as fifty such occurrences in the northern pari of
the state. That highly interesting and important peculiarities of
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION XC1X
distribution are concealed by this gross method of comparison is
made evident by an examination of the maps of the distribution of
our collections of the various species accompanying this report, where
the data are presented in a way to show, not the number of collec-
tions, it is true, in which each species was represented, but the
number and distribution of localities from which the species has
been obtained. From such a study of these maps it appears that
the northern half or two thirds of this state is more favorable to a
considerable number of species than the southern part, since these
species have been taken there in a much larger number of localities ;
and also that a small group of species of wide general distribution
has been found by us with surprising frequency in the Wabash drain-
age in this state as compared with that of adjacent districts.
The preference of certain species for the northern part of Illinois
over the southern is clearly illustrated by the distribution maps of
the following fifteen species: Noturus flavus, Carpiodes thompsoni,
Notropis cayuga, N . hudsonius, N. rubrifrons, Hybopsis dissimilis,
H. kentuckiensis, Fundulns diapliauus, Percopsis guttatus, Eupomotis
gibbosus, Stizostedion canadcnse, Pcrca ftavescens, Etheostoma zonale,
Roccus chrysops, and Morone interrupta. With few and slight excep-
tions, all the species of this varied list, representing eight families
and twelve genera, are so definitely limited to the northern half of
this state that one gets the impression, as he examines these maps in
succession, that some invisible barrier to their southward dispersal
exists in the neighborhood of the Sangamon River.
PECULIARITIES OF DISTRIBUTION IN THE LOWER ILLINOISAN GLACIATION
That the distribution of these more northerly species is not lim-
ited by the watersheds is shown by the fact that they range across
the state indifferently into all the stream systems of northern Illinois.
It is not until we compare with our distribution maps a map of the
surface geology of the state (Map III.) that we find a plausible ex-
planation of a part, at least, of this peculiar distribution, for all but
one of the species above mentioned are wholly excluded from the
area of this glaciation, and this excepted species (Hybopsis dissim-
ilis) appears in but one locality within the lower glaciation, and that
a short distance within its border, on the upper Kaskaskia.
Especially significant in this relation are several cases in which
species of this list range southward in the eastern part of the stale
upon the upper tributaries of the Kaskaskia and the Embarras, for
in so doing they simply follow southward the course of the Shelby-
ville moraine which forms the boundary between the Wisconsin and
C FISHES OF ILLINOIS
the lower Illinoisan glaciations in east-central Illinois. The maps
for Noturus flavus, Hybopsis dissimilis, H. kentuckiensis , and Stizo-
stedion canadense are examples.
That this coincidence of distribution and surface geology points
to a true explanation is further shown by the maps for twenty-two
other species which range more definitely to the southward than the
foregoing twelve, but which nevertheless avoid the southern glacia-
tion more or less completely and to an unmistakable degree. For
example, 19 of our 94 collection localities for the hogsucker (Catos-
tomus nigricans) lie below the Springfield parallel, but only three of
them are in the lower Illinoisan glaciation, and these are barely
within its borders. Of our thirty localities for the short-headed red-
horse (Moxostoma breviceps) only two are in this glaciation, and these
are near its boundaries on the Embarras and the Kaskaskia. The
very abundant minnow Campostoma anomalum was taken by us from
one hundred and sixty localities, thirty-one of which are south of the
Sangamon and eight of them from the non-glaciated area of the Cairo
district, but only one of the entire number is within the lower glacia-
tion, and that is on the upper Kaskaskia just across the limiting mo-
raine. The map for Notropis cornutus shows one hundred and sixty-
one localities from which collections of this species were made, ninety
of them below the Sangamon and twenty-nine in the Cairo district,
but only three are in the southern glaciation. Other species testify-
ing to the same effect will be found in the following list of fishes ab-
sent from this characteristic southern Illinois district.
Illinois Fishes Rare or wanting in the Lower Illinoisan Glaciation
Short-nosed gar A', rubrifrons
Common bullhead Spotted shiner
Stonecat Storer's chub
Lake carp River chub
Quillback carp Pike
Common sucker Menona top-minnow
Hogsucker Trout-perch
Short-headed red-horse Pumpkinseed
Stone-roller Small-mouthed black bass
Red-bellied dace Sauger
Notropis cayuga Yellow perch
N . heterodon Banded darter
Straw-colored minnow Rainbow darter
Notropis gilberti Fan-tailed darter
S|» it -tailed minnow White bass
Common shiner Yellow bass
Notropis jejunus Miller's thumb
general and interior distribution ci
Fishes Tolerant of the Lower Illinoisan Glaciation'
Dogfish Silver chub
Channel-cat Grass pike
Yellow bullhead Common top-minnow
Black bullhead Viviparous top-minnow
Mud-cat 1 'irate-perch
Tadpole cat White crappie
Brindled stonecat Round sunfish
( hub-sucker Warmouth
Striped sucker Green sunfish
Silvery minnow Long-eared sunfish
Blunt-nosed minnow Orange-spotted sunfish
i fpsopceodus emilitE Large-mouthed black bass
Golden shiner Black-sided darter
Bullhead minnow Boleosoma camitrum
Silvertm Sand darter
Shiner Etheostoma jessia
Blackfin Boleickthys fusiformis
Ericymba buccata
Among the ninety-six Illinois species for which distribution maps
have been prepared, thirty-four belong clearly to this group of fishes
which seem to avoid the conditions common to the flat gray lands of
the southern part of the state. Thirty-five species, on the other
hand, are distributed over this glaciation in a way to indicate a tol-
erance of its conditions if not an indifference to them, the data con-,
cerning the remaining thirty-three species being ambiguous or inde-
cisive in this respect.
Two facts concerning the soil and waters of the lower Illinoisan
glaciation may be held to account, at least in part, for the failure of
certain species of fishes to thrive in its streams. Compared with the
other regions of the state, this oldest of our glaciation areas has de-
veloped its drainage system to a point such that the rainfall runs off
rapidly in a large number of small streams, leaving no marshes or
ponds to hold back the waters during periods of dry weather. It is a
level country whose streams fill up quickly and run down rapidly, the
smaller ones drying up completely during the midsummer drought,
which is here more marked than farther north. These variable and
temporary creeks are, of course, less favorable to the maintenance of
a varied and permanent fish population than the waters of the earlier
Illinoisan or the Wisconsin areas.
As a further consequence of its geological antiquity, involving
degenerative chemical changes and a long-continued leaching, the
soil of this lower glaciation has become an extremely fine-grained,
light-colored clay which, when compact, sheds water almost com-
pletely, but which washes into the streams as a fine detritus that re-
mains persistently in suspension and renders the waters very turbid
for a long time after a rain. Standing pools, indeed, never become
Cll FISHES OF ILLINOIS
even approximately clear. So persistent is this turbidity, due to
very finely divided matter in suspension, that the chemists of the
Water Survey find it almost impossible to free the water wholly from
suspended solids even by repeated filtration. Furthermore, this soil
has a definitely acid reaction, to which is due a notable physical dif-
ference between the soils of this area and those of the later glacia-
tions west and north of it. A surplus of lime in a soil coagulates or
granulates it, causing its ultimate particles to cohere in larger gran-
ules, while in an acid soil this effect is entirely wanting. This lack of
granulation in a very finely divided soil increases, of course, the per-
manent muddiness of its waters as compared with those of the other
areas in which lime in the soil renders it alkaline.
The acidity of this southern soil seems not to be of a kind or
amount to affect the surface waters sensibly and directly, since the
water samples from this region analyzed by the State Water Survey
show a soft water, slightly alkaline, and chemically unobjectionable
as a medium for fishes.
CLASSIFICATION AND USE OF ECOLOGICAL DATA
That these conditions are a part, at least, of the cause of the phe-
nomenal distribution of southern Illinios fishes may be shown by a
comparison of our ecological data for the fishes of the two lists — one
composed of those adapted to the conditions of the lower Illinoisan
glaciation and the other of those avoiding them. In the organiza-
tion of the data of our collections of Illinois fishes, those concerning
the character of the water body in which collections were made were
classified in a way to show the number of collections of each species
taken from each class of situation. By reducing these numbers to
ratios of frequency of occurrence, we have a means of exhibiting the
preference of species with respect to the situations in which each oc-
curs. Pimephales notatus, for example, was found twenty times
over a muddy bottom to thirty-four over a bottom of mud and
sand , and to forty-six over a bottom of rock and sand. Aphredoderus
sayanus, on the other hand, was found sixty-two times on a muddy
bottom to nineteen times in each of the other situations.
By tabulating data of this description separately for each of the
two lists of species referred to — thirty-four species in the one list and
thirty-five in the other — and averaging the ratios for each group
separately, significant evidence was obtained of the factors which
afreet the distribution of these fishes.
The species which distribute themselves freely over sou f hern Illi-
nois are those which are generally tolerant of turbid waters, as shown
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION Clll
by the fact that 32 per cent, of all our collections of this group came
from muddy streams and ponds, 34 per cent, from situations where
the bottom was composed largely of rock and sand, and 24 per cent.
from a bottom of sand and mud. The species avoiding the central
area of southern Illinois, on the other hand, are, as a rule, intolerant
of muddy waters, only 10 per cent, of all our data-bearing collections
of this group coming from such situations, while 61 per cent, of them
were from bottoms of rock and sand, and 29 per cent, from those of
sand and mud. It is consequently clear that the suspended detritus
of the streams of southern Illinois and the clay and mud of which
their banks and bottoms are commonly composed, are an important
part, at least, of the cause of the smaller variety of fishes in these
waters ; and these conditions trace back through the character of the
soil to the geological history of the central part of southern Illinois.
FISHES OF THE OHIO AND OF THE MISSISSIPPI DRAINAGE
A comparison and classification of our distribution maps from
another point of view enables us further to distinguish two rather
definite groups of species coincident in great measure, but not wholly
so, with the two groups which we have found in an opposite relation
to the lower Illinoisan glaciation. No less than 27 of our species
have either an exclusive, or at least a strongly preponderant, dis-
tribution in the Mississippi drainage in the western and northern
parts of the state, while 8 species, on the other hand, are very defi-
nitely preponderant in the Ohio drainage in the southern and eastern
parts. Nineteen of the 27 species of the first list are also on the list
of species excluded from the region of the lower Illinoisan glaciation,
while 6 of the 8 species of the second list are also on that of species dis-
tributed freely through this southern Illinois district. We have evi-
dence here of another influence strongly affecting distribution, coin-
cident in part with that already discussed, but independent of it also
in part, the two causes, or sets of causes, operating together to deter-
mine the actual range of most of the species of limited distribution in
this state.
The impression produced by an examination of the two sets of
maps for the fishes above mentioned, is that of a small group of spe-
cies, on the one hand, which enter the state from the south and east
by way of the Wabash and the smaller tributaries of the Ohio, and,
on the other hand, of a much larger group, most of which have en-
tered the state from the west and north, making their way to its in-
terior mainly by the Illinois and the Rock, but sometimes by the
CIV FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Kaskaskia and the Big Muddy also. Species of the Ohio group
sometimes seem to spread into the headwaters of adjacent streams,
especially into the branches of the Kaskaskia where these come near-
est to the Embarras, and into those of the Big Vermilion of the Illi-
nois which are nearest to the Little Vermilion of the Wabash. Some
species, however, remain carefully within the tributaries of the Wa-
bash system.
It seems possible that this appearance of an approach to the state
and entrance upon its territory from opposite directions is not alto-
gether deceptive, and that the annual movements of the fishes of the
state, up the streams at the time of the spring floods, downwards
with the recession of the waters, and still farther downwards, for
many species, into deeper water in the winter, may take these two
contingents of our fish population in opposite directions, from and
towards local centers of population for the species, situated on oppo-
site sides of the state. Whether and where such local centers of
population actually exist, is a question which can not be answered
definitely for lack of numerical or statistical data in the faunal
lists and other literature of geographical distribution for the sur-
rounding states. If they exist, the Wabash fishes would constitute
one such system, and those of the Mississippi and its tributaries,
another.
If we may speculate still further upon this subject, we may per-
haps surmise that a general critical analysis of the fish population of
the larger area of which Illinois forms the central part, would enable
us to distinguish fairly well-defined districts, each with its charac-
teristic assemblage of prevalent species, so associated and ecologic-
ally related as to form a balanced assemblage of species, all so ad-
justed to each other and so advantageously placed in their environ-
ment as to constitute a closed system, which the characteristic
species of adjacent areas can not enter, or in which they can not
permanently remain.
Distribution chiefly in the Ohio Drainage
Brindled stonecat Pirate-perch
Green-sided darter Notropis illecebrosus
Boleichthys fusiformis Ericymba buccata
Chub-sucker Long-eared sunlish
DlSTKIUI riON CHIEFLY IN THE MISSISSIPPI DRAINAGE
Short-nosed gar White bass
Stonei at Yellow bass
Lake carp Common bullhead
Notropis cayuga Short-headed red-horse
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION < V
Spot-tailed minnow Red-bellied dace
Notropis rubrifrons Notropis gilberti
Spotted shiner Long-nosed gar
Pike Dogfish
Menona top-minnow Mongrel buffalo
Trout-perch Black-head minnow
Pumpkinseed Hybognathns nubila
Sauger Redrin
Yellow perch Rock bass
Banded darter
BOUNDARY BETWEEN NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN SPECIES
Recurring next to the distinction made on another page (xciv) 1 >e-
tween northern and southern fishes whose areas extend into Illinois
but not beyond, and comparing the distribution of these groups
within the state, as given on Map CIII., we see that northern and
southern species meet and mingle in the western part of the state
from Meredosia to Pekin on the Illinois, and from Quincy to Dallas
City on the Mississippi, but that in eastern Illinois they are separated
by a wide interval extending from Cook county to the mouth of the
Embarras, in which interval we have never taken any representative
of either group.
The distinctively southern species, although most abundant
south of the line 28° 30", nevertheless go up the Wabash to the Em-
barras, up the Kaskaskia to Shelby county, up the Mississippi to
Henderson county, and up the Illinois to Pekin, also following the
branches of the Sangamon to Logan county. The northern species,
on the other hand, although most abundant above 40° 20", come
down the Illinois to Meredosia, and down the Mississippi to Quincy.
The boundary between the northern and southern species thus
appears as a broad belt some fifty miles in width, extending two
thirds of the way across the state just above its center, but widening
to a distance of one hundred and seventy-five miles on the eastern
boundary.
GENERAL FEATURES OF ECOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION
In addition to the general distribution of Illinois fishes over the
North American continent, their general or partial distribution
within the state, and the unevenness of their distribution over the
different divisions of the state, hydrographic, climatic, and geolog-
ical, there are also recognizable differences and inequalities of dis-
tribution corresponding to the size of the water bodies in which the
species are found, to the nature of the bottom and the consequent
clearness and purity of the waters, and to the existence and rate of
current or flow in the waters inhabited by them. In this class of
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
divisions, geological distribution merges into ecological relation, the
distribution of species being no longer by geological areas, but by
ecological situations. In this sense two species may occupy pre-
cisely the same territory without ever coming into any effective con-
tact with each other, because they are differently related to certain
features of their environment.
As an explanation of the more general facts of distribution re-
quires an analysis and interpretation of continental, terrestrial, and
even cosmic agencies affecting it, so an understanding of what we
may call the ecological distribution of a species, requires a corre-
sponding analysis of the ecological features of the region. Such an
analysis can here be carried but a little way, since the ecological data
borne by our collections are only of a very general type ; but such as
they are, they may, if used with discretion, add definiteness and de-
tail and some degree of satistical precision to our knowledge of this
part of the subject.
The attention of the reader is called especially to the interesting
manner in which our statistics of associate occurrence exhibit the
frequent tendency of closely allied species inhabiting the same terri-
tory to avoid each other's company, and thus to evade competition
with one another, by the choice of different haunts and situations
within the area of their common habitation. In consequence of
this tendency, we sometimes find widely unlike species more closely
and commonly associated in our collections than like, the ecological
repulsion of each for its similars bringing dissimilars together in
more or less definite associate groups. Apparent examples of this
reaction may be found in the body of this report in the discussion
of the suckers, the minnows, the catfishes (especially the bullheads),
the top-minnows, and the sunfishes.
Ninety-seven of our species have been collected in large enough
numbers, and from a sufficient variety of locations, to give us data
for comparison with reference to the general character and size of the
water bodies which they prefer; 62 species furnish available data
concerning the bottom or substratum of these water bodies; and 49
species, data concerning current and rate of flow. The numbers of
collections for the various species covered by these figures vary
greatly from a minimum of 10 collections of a species to a maximum
of 376. Unfortunately, the larger and more important fishes are
commonly represented by the smaller numbers of collections, and
statements made concerning these arc less likely to be found fairly
accurate anil generally correct than are those concerning the smaller
fishes, represented by larger numbers of collections.
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION CV11
One available set of our data may best be presented in tabular
form, for such use as the student may wish to make of them ; and to
this table we add, as an illustration of its use, only a few statements
concerning the more conspicuous ecological groups of our Illinois
fishes.
By assorting the species according to the size of the ratios of fre-
quency of occurrence for each class of situations distinguished in this
table, we may separate those strongly preferring the given situa-
tion from those apparently avoiding it. In this way we learn that
the species occurring in our collections with disproportionate fre-
quency in the larger rivers of the state are the mud-cat (Leptops oli-
varis), one of the river carp (carpio), the toothed herring {Hiodon
tergisits), and the sheepshead (Aplodinotus) , among the larger fishes ;
and a small darter (Cottogaster shumardi) , the trout-perch (Percopsis
guttatus), and a minnow (Hybopsis dissimilis) among the smaller
fishes.
The principal larger fishes of the smaller rivers make a much
longer list, comprising the hogsucker, two of the native carp {veli-
fer and difformis), a species of red-horse (aureolum) , the rock bass,
and the small-mouthed black bass; and the principal smaller
species are six darters (Ethcostoma zonale, Hadropterus phoxocepha-
lus, H. as pro, Diplesion blennioides , Etheo stoma casruleum, and Am-
■mocrypta pellucida), a stonecat (Noturus flavus), and Hybopsis
kentuckiensis , and four other minnows, all of the genus Notropis
(rubrifrons, gilberti, blennius, and comutus) — their ratios running
from 70 per cent, for rubrifrons to 41 per cent, for comutus.
The species of our list which have from 50 to 100 per cent, of
their representatives in creeks, as illustrated by our collections, in-
clude three sunfishes (the green sunfish, the round sunfish, and the
long-eared sunfish), three suckers (the common sucker, the chub-
sucker, and the striped sucker1), four darters, ten minnows, and the
brindled stonecat.
The larger species found most abundantly in lakes, ponds, and
other stagnant waters were the common bullhead, the buffaloes, the
yellow perch, the white bass, the yellow bass, the large-mouthed
black bass, and five sunfishes (both crappies, the warmouth, the
pumpkinseed, and the bluegill) ; and the smaller kinds were the
smallest of our fishes (Microperca punctulata) , another darter (Bole-
ichthys jusiformis) , two minnows {Notropis cayuga and N. hetcrodon) ,
the mud-minnow, and a killifish (Fundulus dispar).
Turning next to the 62 species for which our data of preference < >r
avoidance of a muddy bottom are available, we find 7 species whose
cviii FISHES OF ILLINOIS
ratios of frequency of occurrence in such situations range from 43
to 88 per cent., and which may consequently be called limophagous
fishes. These are the warmouth sunfish, the black and the yellow-
bullheads, the pirate-perch, a single darter (Boleosoma camurum),
and two minnows, the golden shiner and the common shiner (No-
tropis cornutus. )
It is interesting to find, by an examination of our maps, that all
these 7 species are freely distributed over the lower Illinoisan glacia-
tion of the southern part of the state, where, as we have already
shown, only fishes indifferent to a peculiarly persistent turbidity of
the water are likely to occur.
By selecting from this same list of 62 species those with the lowest
ratios of frequency over a muddy bottom, we get 13 species (with
ratios of 4 to 10 per cent.) which evidently avoid such situations;
and these, again, are without exception so distributed that the area
of the lower Illinoisan giaciation is almost never entered by them.
These are one of the native carp (velifer), a species of red-horse (aure-
olum) , the small-mouthed black bass, two darters (Hadropterus phox-
ocephahis and Etheostoma coeruleum), five minnows (Campostoma
anomalum, Notropis heterodon, Ericymba buccata, Hybopsis kentuck-
iensis, and Notropis blennius), two stonecats, and the little brook sil-
verside (Labidesthes).
A more precise statement and a fuller discussion of the ecological
relations of our fishes, including statistics of companionship for the
various species, as shown by the frequency of their joint occurrence
in collections, must be left for later contributions.
Attention may be profitably called, in conclusion, to the econo-
mic significance of the details of distribution of the various species,
as influenced both by geographical and ecological conditions, since a
proper understanding and application of these facts will prevent
wasteful efforts to introduce species where they do not belong and
can not thrive. Indeed, the more detailed our knowledge of favor-
able, and even optimum, conditions for the different species, and
the more exact, also, our acquaintance with the relations of each
species of fish to its companion species in any associate assemblage,
the more intelligent, and hence the more successful, in the long run,
will be our efforts to extend the range and multiply the numbers
of the more useful species and to lessen the numbers of those espe-
cially injurious.
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION
C1X
ECOLOGICAL TABLE
ALL ILLINOIS SPECIES WITH AT LEAST TEN AVAILABLE RECORDS EACH*
03
o
Water
(97 species)
Current (49 species) Bott
om (62 species)
is
a
c
S
a
>
W
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c
id
§
•a
u
0
1—1
Species
a
q
'■*->
o
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o
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u
>
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o
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s
o
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en
c
a
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cd
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w
O
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55
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■a
a
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5
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o
o
Pi
a
w
•a
a
ca
3
1 S 1
Long-nosed gar
Short -nosed gar
Dogfish
35
?5
19
7
22
ts?
57
^7
28
18
24
7
4
A
25
so
tss
207
171
122
20
7
32
6
27
37
8
23
31
14
68
36
19
43
13
-'1
7 5
35
21
43
44
34
35
215
Yellow bullhead
23
217
Common bullhead
Black bullhead
4S
244
15
8
5
21
4
37
44
26
218
38
37
53
10
56
54
46
221
Mud -cat .
30
41
193
30
39
19
53
10
17
3
13
17
21
53
5
36
5
34
23
60
9
7
8
41
???
15
21
48
13
43
26
9
24
45
13
8
29
8
58
27
62
34
223
44
?31
Brindled stonecat
Red-mouth buffalo.
Mongrel buffalo
Small-mouth buffalo . .
River carp
30
?61
-
45
?6?
?64
52
1 5
14
4 7
12
4
8
49
10
?65
266
Blunt-nosed carp
102
9
42
30
12
16
50
25
25
47
21
36
43
268
70
10
50
19
5
19
47
32
21
28
4
60
36
289
132
3
19
71
1
1"
39
47
14
7"
13
44
43
294
Hogsucker
99
4
63
?5
4
71
?0
63
17
59
54
46
302a
Chub-sucker
131
9
12
57
1 1
23
52
48
57
32
39
29
♦The figures of this table, except
ratios of frequency of the species in
comparative numbers of collections of
those in the columns for available collections, are
our collections, computed with due reference to the
all kinds made in each situation
ex
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
ECOLOGICAL T ABLE— continued
ALL ILLINOIS SPECIES WITH AT LEAST TEN AVAILABLE RECORDS EACH
w
O
Water (97 species)
Current (49 species)
3ottom (62 species)
a
a
a
B
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Species
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53
cs
>
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JS
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303
Striped sucker
46
2
31
53
?
19
76
3?
4?
305
18
7
44
20
(,
314
Common red-horse. . . .
143
9
32
40
4
47
57
28
15
65
6
55
39
319
55
13
25
15
1 >
14
14
43
43
328
195
93
3
10
37
55
71
1
65
63
23
14
105
7
5 7
36
334
340
Silvery minnow
183
12
36
32
7
30
47
40
13
67
33
40
27
349
Black-head minnow. . .
95
14
30
48
4
12
50
42
8
44
25
41
34
350
Blunt-nosed minnow. .
376
5
34
43
12
108
50
34
16
202
20
46
34
355
Horned dace
151
4
28
63
2
42
48
36
16
81
17
47
36
391
Opsopccodus emilice. . . .
40
13
6
36
32
394
303
12
17
29
32
28
32
57
11
82
44
29
27
398
Bullhead minnow
187
17
31
28
7
36
67
17
16
62
11
44
45
405
29
13
26
57
13
54
38
8
15
27
73
406
92
185
1^
7
1
44
19
37
60
3
14
103
7
in
22
50
71
408
Straw-colored minnow.
63
49
26
25
40
420
Notropis gilberti
Notropis illecebrosus . . .
Spot-tailed minTii ,.■..
Redfin
30
2
49
43
2
IS
11
45
44
426
11
147
100
2
428
432
28
5
39
....
in
?n
80
163
24
32
20
14
13
46
38
16
55
27
40
33
448
Silvertin
268
6
39
40
4
65
54
26
20
126
■ 3
56
31
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION
CXI
ECOLOGICAL TABLE — continued
ALL ILLINOIS SPECIES WITH AT LEAST TEN AVAILABLE RECORDS EACH
Species
Water (97 species) Current (49 species) Bottom (62 species)
o
■z
c
9
s
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3
2
27
20
4
3
1
5
50
5
21
4
16
17
7
7
41
19
36
70
32
18
36
27
29
32
41
50
13
15
26
65
81
53
22
66
11
51
4
11
76
45
36
19
102
12
48
11
100
38
92
44
25
21
17
8
15
48
67
64
82
43
63
51
8
8
485
489
498a
Shiner
Notropis rubrifrons. . . .
20o
13
70S
11
1
23
11
69
14
53
57
45
41
43
53
30
IS
45
29
24
13
36
14
28
23
14
18
40
499
501
Ericymba buccata
Sucker-mouthed min-
74
159
11
41
29
34
528
Spotted shiner
533
10
1
16
20
49
30
49
72
12
12
19
13
77
15
7 20
SO
55
15
534
536 River chub 129
674 Toothed herring . 10
677 C\vvnT(\ sh.nrl . 10^
55
53
24
23
74
8
43
49
32
24
16
7
8
34
42
3
49
32
4
22
23
55
27
919
922
34
11 1
17
83
208
17
15
1 1
36
57
7
29
38
21
41
939
Menona top-minnow . .
Striped top-minnow. . .
Common top-minnow .
Viviparous top-minnow
966
11
6
12
52
25
21
967
100C
34
41
50
9
81
32
42
26
1145
CX11
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
ECOLOGICAL TA BLE — continued
ALL ILLINOIS SPECIES WITH AT LEAST TEN AVAILABLE RECORDS EACH
Water (97 species)
Current (49 species) Bottom (62 species)
o
c
01
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100
IS
5
42
21
14
21
72
7
37
62
19
19
1177
Brook silverside
120
13
28
13
36
16
31
44
25
21
10
62
28
1381
White crappie
166
15
1"
17
34
14
64
29
7
43.
35
49
16
US'
Black crappie
170
17
16
10
42
28
25
50
25
1383
Round sunfish
Rock bass
11
48
69
?4
30
1 3
1385
7
40
">0
55
15
30
?7
48
5">
1387
Warmouth
122
313
12
7
17
12
57
45
1 1
17
156
88
?8
12
41
13Q1
Green sunfish
sn
W
45
16
T1
13Q7
Lepomis miniatus
Long-eared sunfish. . . .
23
112
in
2
12
11
76
41
4
1399
17
41
47
12
41
37
63
1400
Orange-spotted sunfish
174
12
25
34
20
21
38
38
24
60
30
35
35
1403
Bluegill
?14
16
in
7
54
?4
?5
58
17
1408
Pumpkinseed
s5
6
17
4
5(5
1409
Small-mouthed black
bass
inn
6
43
?3
16
40
55
18
?7
50
6
68
?6
1410
Large-mouthed black
bass
211
36
16
83
60
8
16
36
20
10
20
10
7
38
17
8
4
3
27
40
33
25
51
1')
19
58
26
16
48
19
54
27
1413
Pike-perch
1414
141 S
1417
Log-perch
1 1
93
7
20
100
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION
ECOLOGICAL TABLE— concluded
ALL ILLINOIS SPECIES WITH AT LEAST TEN AVAILABLE RECORDS EACH
0
Water
(97 species)
Current (49 species)
Bottom (62 species)
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Hadroplcrit s pin >.v. >ceph-
alits
ss
7
57
^7
3
37
87
H
48
6
94
1421 Black-sided darter. . . .
159
6
42
47
1
4"
70
30
76
16
84
1436 Cottogaster shwmardi. . .
16
24
234
55
3
46
25
4
53
53
18
1443 Green-sided darter. . . .
1446 fohnny darter
16
71
68
32
126
1 1
89
1448 Boleosoma camurnm . . .
107
9
23
42
17
17
41
59
39
60
40
1450
Sand darter
19
32
13
3
47
74
39
23
1461
Banded darter
18
89
11
19
11
89
1474
Etheostoma jessice
158
20
19
16
24
12
83
17
31
23
67
1477 Rainbow darter
80
3
44
45
1
29
83
17
37
8
92
1489 Etheostoma squamiceps
1490 Fan-tailed darter
10
30
56
12
56
100
57
9
1
35
12
64
87
24
4
8
1
4
62
95
46
52
27
11
21
33
100
67
1494 Boleichthvs iusiformis . .
1497
1529
1531
. . . .
White bass
28
20
29
4
16
Yellow bass
1871
(h)
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
GENERAL SUMMARY.
The principal conclusions of this chapter may be thus sum-
marized :
1 . The 150 native species of Illinois fishes here recognized, are so
distributed within and without the state as to indicate an unequal
commingling of the faunae of the surrounding territories, southeast-
ern species preponderating over southwestern, northeastern over
northwestern, eastern over western, and southern over northern.
2. The Illinois basin may be taken as typical, in its fish popula-
tion, of the ichthyology of the whole state — occupying, as it does, a
central position, including more than half the area of the state, and
containing a great variety of waters and situations fit for the habita-
tion of fishes, and more than four fifths of the species found anywhere
in Illinois. The more important fishes of the state not known from
this basin are a few distinctively northern species, most of which are
peculiar to the Great Lakes, and a few southern species which do not
range as far north, in this state, as the mouth of the Illinois. The
remainder are very rare in our territory, most of them coming from
the west and south, and they are extremely insignificant elements of
our fish fauna.
3 . If the ten stream systems of the state be brought into com-
parison one with another, it appears that the six larger areas, con-
taining the largest streams and presenting the greatest variety of
situations, are much more closely affiliated ichthyologically than are
the four smaller areas. The least closely affiliated with each other
and with all the rest are the Michigan district of northeastern Illinois
and the Big Muddy basin in the southwest. The closest relations are
those between the Illinois, the Rock, and the Mississippi.
4. In the absence, in Illinois, of geographical barriers to the dis-
persal of fishes, the causes influencing their distribution are climatic,
geologic, and ecological. As Illinois extends through 5.5° of lati-
tude, differences of climate between the northern and the southern
sections of the state are sufficient to affect, in considerable measure,
the distribution of its plant and animal species — differences which,
in its ichthyology, express themselves in the presence in northern
Illinois, hut not in southern, of 17 species of general northward
range; and in southern Illinois, but not in northern, of 14 species of
general southward range. These two groups of species meet and
mingle in the great north and south rivers of the western half of the
state, in an area of common occupation about fifty miles in width,
from the latitude of Springfield northward; while on the eastern
GENERAL AND INTERIOR DISTRIBUTION CXV
boundary of the state, occupied bysmall streams of various direction,
these groups are separated by an interval of about a hundred and
seventy-five miles over which no representative of either group has
been taken.
5 . Geological limitations to the dispersal of fishes are illustrated
by peculiarities of distribution in southern Illinois as related to the
area of the lower Illinoisan glaciation, which 34 species evidently
avoid while 35 other species enter upon it freely and inhabit it suc-
cessfully. A comparison of the ecological relations of these two
groups of species as represented by our collection records, shows that
they are strongly distingushed by the repugnance of the first group,
and the indifference of the second, to waters with a muddy bottom,
collections of the first group having been made from such situations
in an average ratio more than three times as great as that for the sec-
ond. The waters of this region, on the other hand, are remarkably
and persistently turbid, never clearing themselves spontaneously.
This is owing in part to the extremely fine division of the soil, and in
part to its generally acid character and the consequent lack of "gran-
ulation," or cohesion of its ultimate particles in granules, such as oc-
curs in the alkaline soils of the other geological areas of the state. The
surface waters of the district are soft and slightly alkaline, but con-
tain much silica, and much solid matter in suspension which it is ex-
tremely difficult to remove completely by any ordinary filtering or
precipitation process. The inference is plain that it is to this condi-
tion of the waters — due to the geological history of the soil of this
region — that the unequal distribution of these fishes is largely to
be attributed.
6. In consequence of another clearly recognizable inequality of
distribution, partly coincident with the two preceding and partly in-
dependent of them, two additional groups may be distinguished; one
of 8 species, distributed in this state mainly through the Ohio and
Wabash drainage, and the other of 27 species, distributed through
the Mississippi and its more northerly tributaries. The general dis-
tribution throughout the country at large of each of these two groups
of species is quite varied, and offers no hint of a reason for these dif-
ferences in Illinois. Two hypothetical explanations are suggested—
the first presupposing different centers of population outside the
state, from and towards which these species move, into and out of
Illinois streams, with the spring rise, summer recession, and winter
cooling of the waters, one of these centers to the west and north, and
one to the east and south ; and the second presupposing an organiza-
tion of the fish population into more or less distinct communities of
CXV1 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
mutually well-adjusted species, each community so adapted to its
environment that members of adjacent communities can not success-
fully intrude upon its territory.
7. An analysis of our statistical data of ecological distribution
gives us many instances of a marked difference in preference of
situation between nearly related species inhabiting the same area,
the effect of which is to break the force of a competition between
these species such as would prevail if they were similarly distrib-
uted ecologically as well as geographically. Closely related species
are, as a consequence, often found much less frequently associated
in their common territory than either is with widely unlike species
of the same geographical range. Exceptions to this rule are found
where similar species occupy adjacent areas of distribution which
merely overlap by their borders.
8. A table of the broader ecological relations of 97 species of
Illinois fishes is made the basis of a few general statements, but
that subject as a whole is reserved for more detailed treatment else-
where.
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THE FISHERIES OF ILLINOIS CXV11
The Fisheries of Illinois
Since the state and the nation maintain, in their commissions of
fish and fisheries, special agencies for the investigation and promo-
tion of economic ichthyology, the Natural History Survey is not con-
structively responsible for work in this field. The subject of our
fisheries is, however, an essential part of the science of ichthyology
broadly considered — a division, indeed, of ichthyological ecology, of
which the reciprocal relations and interactions of fishes and men are
as legitimate and necessary a part as those of fishes and any other
factor of their ecological environment. The economic element has,
consequently, been taken into account in our discussion of species
and the larger groups, and a brief resume of its principal features is
evidently appropriate to this introduction.
The distinction of Illinois as a fish-producing state is to be found
in its relation to the Mississippi River and some of the most impor-
tant branches of that stream. Bordered by the main river for the
whole length of its longest side, by the second largest tributary of the
Mississippi for 130 miles of its southeastern boundary, and by the Wa-
bash for 198 miles on the east, the state is also traversed diagonally by
the Illinois River, admirably adapted, by its sluggish current, by the
many bottom-land lakes connected with it at low water, by the ex-
tensive breeding-grounds afforded to fishes during the period of the
spring overflow, and by the vast abundance of fish food in its waters
at all seasons of the year, to support an unusually large and varied
fish population. Illinois is consequently far in the lead of all the
states of the Mississippi Valley in respect to river-fishery products.
It markets a larger value per annum in fishes taken from flowing
streams than all the states immediately surrounding it taken to-
gether. The total for this state in 1899 was $517,420, and that for
Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, and Wisconsin combined was
$435,137. Illinois furnishes, indeed, more than one third of the
fishes sent to market from all the streams of the Mississippi Valley, —
valued in 1899 at $1,473,040. Furthermore, the Illinois River and
its tributaries produced in 1899, 72 per cent, of all the fishes taken
from the streams of the state, and a fourth of the entire fish product
of the Mississippi Valley came in that year from this one stream.
The totals for the different Illinois stream systems were as follows:
CXV111 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Illinois, $371,110; Mississippi, $118,278; Wabash, $38,065; Ohio,
$20,029 ; Kaskaskia, $3,002 ; Big Muddy, $1,136.
The Great Lake fisheries in Illinois waters are of insignificant pro-
portions. The total longshore product for Cook and Lake counties
during the last census year was $12,500 — about $2,000 less than the
sum derived from our river turtles alone.
The river fisheries of the state gave employment in 1899 to 2,389
men, and utilized a capital of $225,000. Sixteen steamboats, 200
house-boats, and 1,500 row-boats were used in these fisheries, to-
gether with about 45 miles of seines, 10 miles of trammel-nets, half a
mile of gill-nets, and 14,000 fyke-nets, pound-nets, and traps. The
seines and the fyke-nets together yielded about 80 percent, of the prod-
uct, the seines bringing in $2 5 1,5 62 and the fyke-nets $2 10,054. Set-
lines yielded $3 7 , 1 9 1 ; trammel-nets, $24,185 ; traps, $2,707 ; gill-nets,
$1,290; drift-lines, $1,141; pound-nets, $811; and hand-lines, $701.
The dozen most productive kinds of Illinois fishes, according to
the statistics of the last census year, were as follows: European
carp, $244,322; buffalo, $111,707; catfishes and bullheads, $68,535;
sheepshead or drum, $17,729; crappie, $14,419; sunfish, $12,067;
black bass, $10,842; suckers and red-horse, $7,845; paddle-fish,
$6,210; white, yellow, and rock bass, $5,601 ; lake and shovel-nosed
sturgeon, $3,904; wall-eyed pike, $1,174.
About three dozen of our 150 species of Illinois fishes have a mar-
ketable value as food, and a dozen more may be classed as edible,
although not popular enough or abundant enough within our limits
to have any commercial value as Illinois products. A dozen of the
more useful species are of really good quality, and half of these are
among the best of the fresh-water fishes. In the following list the
edible species are distinguished in classes of graduated importance,
according to our judgment of the estimation in which these fishes are
generally held. A few species are put in a lower class than their
quality would call for because of their infrequent occurrence in our
fisheries.
Although the fisheries of the state are not, it must be admitted,
commercially of the first importance, they are of sufficient economic
interest to make it the duty of all concerned to preserve them care-
fully and to take all practicable measures for their improvement and
development. Making due allowance fi ir fishes sold in local markets,
distributed by peddlers, eaten by those win > take them, and not rep-
resented, consequently, in published statistics of the trade, it may
fairly be said that Our Illinois fisheries now yield at the rate of a
pound a day, throughout the year, of cheap and desirable food to
THE FISHERIES OF ILLINOIS
CX1X
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CXX FISHES OF ILLINOIS
about 80,000 persons — virtually equivalent to one meal of fish a
day for a quarter of a million people. It is encouraging to con-
clude, from a comparison of available statistics, that we have no
reason to believe that the general fishery product of our rivers is
now declining, either in value or amount. On the contrary, accord-
ing to reports of the State Fishermen's Association published from
1897 to 1901, the total value of the Illinois River product increased
by 60 per cent, during that interval, being $207,685 for 1897 and
$351,753 for 1901. The yield of carp increased in value 69 percent,
during this period; that of buffalo, 88 per cent. ; of black bass, 32
per cent.; of catfish and bullpouts, 41 per cent.; of crappie, 47 per
cent. ; of sunfish and yellow perch, 154 per cent. ; and that of striped
bass, 27 per cent., — the only important species then reported as di-
minishing being the sheepshead, or fresh-water drum, commonly
marketed as white perch, the yield of which declined 27£ per cent.*
Comparative Statistics, Fisheries Illinois River, 1897 and 1901
computed from reports of the illinois fishermen's association
1897
10111
Carp
Buffalo
Black bass
Drum
Catfish and bullpouts
Spoonbill
Sunfish and perch . . . .
Striped bass
< Crappie
Dogfish
99,059
48,139
3,434
20,452
26,283
3.0S0
3,234
4,004
167,266
90,357
4,532
14,838
36,933
232
7,830
4.117
5,880
10,460
2(17, f.85
342,445
♦Unpublished data of shipments from Illinois River points, recently furnished
me through the courtesy of Mr V II. Cohen, President of the Illinois State Fish
Commission, enable me to compare the total product of this river for 1906 and
1907 with that for 1899 as contained in the Report of the United States Commis-
sioner "l Fish and Fisheries for the year ending June 30, 1901. Against a total
product ot the Illinois River of approximately 14J million pounds in 1899 we have
for 1906 16,149,076 pounds, and for 1907 13,218,137 pounds, or an average for
the two latter years oi 1 1,683,606 pounds. — S. A. P.
THE FISHERIES OF ILLINOIS CXX1
A large part of the increased yield is doubtless due, however,
to a mere enlargement of fishing operations, illustrated by the data
for 1894 and 1899, which show that the number of men employed
increased in the interval between these years by 44 per cent, and
the capital invested by 44£ per cent. This favorable condition of
our fisheries is doubtless due in part to natural conditions, and
evidently also in great measure to state legislation effectively con-
trolling the times and methods of capture, and providing for the
recovery and restoration, to streams suitable for their maintenance,
of fishes left stranded on the river bottoms by the retreat of the
waters of overflow.
It will be seen from the foregoing that the Illinois River, with its
tributary lakes and streams, is by far the most important fishing
ground within the boundaries of Illinois, and that this stream and its
dependencies are gifts of nature to the state, valuable in many ways,
which we should fully appreciate and utilize to the best advantage,
allowing no single interest to destroy or overshadow any other..
ft 1 1 asures for its utilization as a sewage outlet for great cities and as a
commercial highway between the Mississippi and the Great Lakes,
and for the reclamation of its enormously fertile bottom-lands, should
not be taken without due regard to its importance and promise as a
perpetual source of cheap and healthful food to the people of the
state and country.
CXX11 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Explanation of Terms and Measurements most frequently
used in Keys and Descriptions
1. General Body Proportions
The length of the fish is measured from the tip of the snout (muzzle) to the base of
the caudal rays (end of last vertebra). It does not include the caudal fin, and
does not necessarily include the last scales, which in most scaled fishes encroach
more or less on the base of the fin. In fishes with a heterocercal tail the length
is measured on the median line to the point where that line crosses the line of
insertion of the caudal rays.
The depth of the fish is the vertical distance through the body at its deepest part.
The ■width of the fish is taken at the widest part of the body.
The caudal peduncle, or tail, is the tapering portion of the body behind the base of
the last ray of the anal fin. Its length is taken from a vertical from that point
to the base of the mid-caudal rays. The depth of the caudal peduncle is taken
at its slenderest part.
The profile is the curve from the front of the dorsal fin to the tip of the snout.
2. The Head and Contiguous Parts
The length of the head, ordinarily called "head" in descriptions, is measured from the
tip of the snout to the extreme hinder margin of the bony portions of the
opercle. It includes the opercular spine in percoid fishes.
The width of the head is taken at its widest part.
The interorbital space, or distance, is the horizontal distance on the top of the head
between the eyes.
The diameter of the eye, called "eye" in descriptions, is taken lengthwise, the form of
the orbit not always being round.
The nose, or snout, is measured from the tip of the upper jaw to the anterior margin
of the orbit.
The length of the upper jaw, referred to as "maxillary" in descriptions, is measured
from the tip of the upper jaw (premaxillary symphysis) to the posterior end of
the maxillary.
The gill-rakers are counted both above and below the angle or bend of the gill-arch,
the upper number being mentioned first, and rudiments being omitted. The
formula 35 + 60, for example, indicates 35 rakers on the upper and 60 on the
lower limb; if the number on the upper limb of the arch is unknown or unessen-
tial, it is indicated as "X".
The teeth. For explanation of dental formula? used in description of CyprinidcE, see
foot-note, pp. 102-103.
3. The Fins
Fins may be either soft or spinous, or may consist partly of soft rays and partly of
spines. The rays of the soft fin or portion are distinguished from spines by
their articulated or jointed structure. The peculiar "cross-marks" on the soft
ray are, as a rule, easy to make ou1 with the naked eye unless the spei inicn is
very small or tin- tin rays are covered with thick skin or dark pigment. In
cases of doubt tin- epidermis may be scraped away from a part of the ray or
spine and a lens used. In counting tin- fin rays, rudimentary rays are omitted.
Rudimentary rays are those rays, in general, at the beginning "i tin- fin which
EXPLANATION OF TERMS AND MEASUREMENTS CXX111
are unbranched, membraneless, closely appressed the one to the other, and in
ordinary cases not more than half the length of the fully developed rays. This
limitation does not, however, apply to the so-called "club-shaped" short first
dorsal ray of certain Cyprinidce (Pimephales and Cliola spp.), which is separated
from the ray back of it by a well-developed membrane. The last ray of the
dorsal and anal fins is often split nearly or quite to the base and appears as two
rays, although counted as only one (Fig. 3). In descriptions, Arabic numer-
als are used to indicate fin rays and Roman numerals to indicate spines. If a
fin contains both spines and soft rays in a continuous series, a comma is
used to separate the numerals indicating the two portions, "Dorsal X, 13,"
for example, indicating a single dorsal fin with 10 spines and 13 soft rays.
Two separate dorsal fins are indicated by a dash separating the numerals,
"Dorsal X-12" and "Dorsal X— I, 12," indicating respectively: first, a single
spinous dorsal of 10 spines followed by a separate soft dorsal of 12 rays; and
second, a spinous dorsal of 10 spines followed by a separate second dorsal fin
consisting of a single spine and 12 soft rays.
The height of a fin is measured on the longest ray.
The length of a fin is measured along its base.
The origin or insertion of a fin — identical terms — is that of its first ray, or spine.
The position of a fin is, technically, the distance from the tip of the snout to the
base of its first ray or spine. For example, it may be said of a fish that the
"position of the dorsal fin" is contained more, or less, than twice in the fish's
length.
4. The Scales
The most ready indication of the size of the scales in afish isfurnished by the enumer-
ation of the scales in the lateral line, or, if that is absent, of those in a line along
the horizontal axis, as nearly as possible, from the upper corner of the gill-open-
ing to the base of the caudal rays. It is customary in descriptions to include
also counts of the scales in oblique series from the middle line of the back to the
lateral line and including it; and the number between the lateral line (not in-
cluding it) and the median line of the belly in front of the anal fin. These
counts are expressed in a conventional formula, "Scales 6-42-9," for example,
indicating 6 scales in an oblique series above the lateral line, 42 in the lateral
line (or in a longitudinal series from the gill-opening to the base of the caudal
rays), and 9 in an oblique series below the lateral line.
CX XIV
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
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GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS CXXV
Glossary of Anatomical and other Technical Terms*
Abdominal ventral fins. Ventrals which are inserted posteriorly, the pelvic bones
having no connection with the shoulder girdle. (See key to families, b,
note, p. 1.)
Acanthopterygian. Spiny rayed. Said of the numerous families of fishes related to
the basses and perches, in which part or all of the rays of at least one dorsal fin
and the first ray of the ventral fins are of a spinous (unarticulated) character.
(See spine and ray.)
Accessory caudal rays. Short, procurrent rays on the upper and lower (rather than
posterior) part of the caudal peduncle.
Accessory pectoral scale. An enlarged scale at the base of the pectoral fin in certain
herring-like fishes.
Actinosts. Small bones at the base of the paired fins.
Adipose fin. A fleshy fin-like structure behind the dorsal fin, as in salmons and
catfishes. This is sometimes more or less continuous with the caudal fin, being
separated from it only by a notch.
Air-bladder. A sac filled with air or other gases, lying beneath the backbone, and
either adherent or not to the walls of the visceral cavity. It may be simple
(most teleosts) or divided into compartments by constrictions {Catostomidce
and Cyprinidce) or of a cellular structure (some Ganoidei). It is typically con-
nected with the oesophagus by a duct, which is closed in many recent forms.
Ammocates. A name applied to the larval form of lampreys.
Amphicwlian. Concave both before and behind. Said of the vertebra; of fishes
generally, with the exception of certain forms. (See opisthoca'lian.)
Anadromous. Running up rivers from the sea to spawn, as do shad and some sal-
monoids.
Anal. Pertaining to the anus, or vent.
Anal fin. The fin on the median line behind the vent. (Fig. 1, a.)
Anal papilla. A protuberance, usually bilobed, in front of the genital pore and be-
hind the vent in darters and sculpins.
A ngular. A bony element of the lower jaw.
Anlrorse. Directed forward.
. 1 nus. The posterior external opening of the alimentary canal; the vent.
Arterial bulb. (See conus arteriosus.)
Articular. A bony element of the lower jaw.
Articulated. Jointed. (See ray.)
Auditory ossicles. (See Weberian ossicles.)
Barbel. An elongated, feeler-like projection, usually about the mouth, chin, or
nose, as in the carp, and in catfishes.
Branchial. Of the gills (branchice).
Branchioslegals. Bony rays supporting the membranes which close the branchial
cavity below. (Fig. 1, br.)
*In the preparation of this glossary, that of Jordan's Manual of the Vertebrates
(ed. 8) has been of substantial assistance, and, naturally, some of the definitions will
be found to be the same. In addition, however, a good many new terms have been
inserted, and many old definitions amended, applied to particular cases, extended to
more informative dimensions, or simplified by reference to figures.
CXXV1
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
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GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS CXXV11
Buccal. Of the mouth.
Caducous. Falling off. Said of certain plate-like scales on the belly of darters.
Ccecum. A blind sac, or tubular diverticulum, connected with the alimentary canal.
(Fig. 2, pyl.)
Canines. Conical teeth (in jaws) which are larger than the rest, as in the pike-
perch .
Cardiform. Said of teeth which are coarse and sharp, like wool-cards.
Carinate. Keeled ; having a sharp median ridge. Said of the belly of certain herring-
like fishes.
Catadrcmous. Going down to the sea to spawn, as does the common eel.
Caudal. Pertaining to the tail or caudal fin.
Caudal peduncle. The fleshy (usually tapering) end of the body, between the anal
and caudal fins. (Fig. 1, cp.)
Centrum. The body of a vertebra.
Chiasma. The union of the trunks of the optic nerves, in ganoid fishes. In teleos-
tean fishes (recent bony forms) the optic nerves cross or interlace without
uniting to form a solid chiasma.
Chin. The space between the two rami of the lower jaw.
Chondrocranimn. The rudimentary cartilaginous cranial skeleton, corresponding
to the primitive skull of cartilaginous fishes, of which traces remain in recent
bony forms.
Clavicle. An element of the shoulder girdle.
Compressed. Flattened from side to side.
Conus arteriosus. A muscular and contractile bulb between the ventricle and the
root of the aorta. It is furnished interiorly with one or more transverse rows of
pocket-shaped valves to prevent a backward flow of the blood. (Fig. 2, aob.)
Coracoid. (See Hyper- and hypo-coracoid.)
Ctenoid. With the posterior edge pectinated. Said of the scales in most spiny-
rayed fishes.
Cycloid. Smooth-edged. Said of the concentrically striated (not ctenoid) scales of
typical soft-rayed fishes.
Dentary. An element of the lower jaw, usually bearing teeth.
Dentate. With tooth-like notches.
Depressed. Flattened from above downwards.
Depth. The vertical diameter or distance through, as of the body or head of fishes.
Dorsal. Pertaining to the back.
Dorsal fin. The fin on the back, in front of the adipose fin, if that is present. (Fig.
1, dl, and d2.)
Ectopterygoid. A paired bone of the roof of the mouth. (Fig. 1 and Fig. 56, ecp.)
Emarginate. With a slight, shallow notch at the tip. Said of the caudal fin of
fishes. (Fig. 7.)
Ento pterygoid. A paired bone of the roof of the mouth, behind the ectopterygoid.
(Fig. 56, enp.)
Falcate. Scythe-shaped.
Falciform. (See falcate.)
Fauna. The assemblage of animals inhabiting a region.
Filament. Any slender or thread-like structure.
Filamentous. Slender or thread-like; said of certain elongated fin-rays in some
fishes.
Fontanelle. An unossified space in the roof of the skull, tilled with cartilage or
covered with membrane.
Foramen. A hole or opening.
Frontal. One of the anterior bones of the roof of the skull.
CXXV111 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Fulcra. Spine-like structures bordering the anterior rays of the fins in ganoid
fishes.
Furcate. Forked.
Fusiform. Spindle-shaped. Said of the form of fishes which have the body taper-
ing both anteriorly and posteriorly, and but little or not at all compressed.
Ganoid. A term applied to scales or plates of bone covered by enamel. Those of
the gars are examples.
Ganoid fishes. A name applied to the families of sturgeons, paddle-fishes, gars,
etc. (See analytical key to the orders of Teleostomi, p. 13.)
Gill-arches. The bony axes of the gills. (Fig. 2, ug and lg.)
Gill-membranes . The thin wall of skin, supported by the branchiostegals, and clos-
ing the gill-cavity below. (Fig. 8 and 9.)
Gill-rakers. A series of tooth- or filament-like bony appendages placed along the
anterior edge of the first gill arches. (Fig. 2, gr.)
Graduated. Becoming progressively longer in one direction. Said of the spines in
the fins of certain fishes.
Gular plate. A bony plate imbedded in the skin between the sides of the lower jaw
of certain ganoid fishes.
Hicmal spine. The lower spine of a caudal vertebra.
Heterocercal. Unequally lobed. Said of the tail of a fish in which the vertebral
column is bent upward posteriorly. (Fig. 4, 5, and 6. See also note under
c, of key to families, p. 1.)
Homocercal. Equally lobed. Said of the tail when the backbone stops (at least
apparently) at the middle of the base of the caudal fin. (Fig. 7. See hetero-
cercal. )
Hyoid. A bone in the floor of the mouth; tongue bone. (Fig. 57, hy.)
Hyomandibular . One of the chain of bones forming the suspensorium of the lower
jaw (i. e., connecting it with the skull).
Hypercoracoid. An element of the shoulder girdle.
Hypocoracoid. An element of the shoulder girdle.
Hypural. The expanded last vertebra.
Imbricated. Overlapping, like shingles on a roof.
Intraoral. Below the mouth. Said of the teeth of the mouth disc below the oeso-
phageal opening in lampreys. (Fig. 10.)
Infraorbitals. A chain of small bones below the eye.
/ nterneurals. The bones to which the dorsal fin rays are attached.
Interopercle. A bone of the lower part of side of head. (Fig. 1, io.)
Interorbital space. The space between the eyes on top of the head.
Is<'i ircal. With the vertebra; becoming progressively smaller backward, as in the
codfishes.
Isospondylous. With the anterior vertebra? simple. Said of the herring- and pike-
like fishes, which lack the Weberian ossicles found in the suckers, carps, and
catfishes. (See Weberian ossicles.)
Isthmus. The fleshy interspace between the gill-openings.
Jugular. Pertaining to the throat. Said of the ventral fins or vent when placed in
advance of the attachment of the pectorals.
Keeled. (See carinate.)
Larva. The young of an animal, if differing in an important w-ay from the adult.
Lateral line A series of sensory muciferous tubes along the sides of a fish.
Leptocephalus. A name applied to the larval form of the eel.
Lingual. Pertaining to the tongue.
Lingual teeth. The serrated teeth on the "tongue" (i. e., at the opening of the
oesophagus) in lampreys. (Fig 10
Lunate With a broad and shallow notch.
GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS CXX1X
Mandible. The lower jaw. (Fig. l,md.)
Maxillary. The posterior element of the lower jaw. (Fig. l,mx.)
M eta pterygoid. One of the chain of bones connecting the lower jaw with the skull.
Molar. With a flattened, grinding surface. Said of teeth.
Muciferous. Producing or containing mucus.
Muscular impressions. The visible diagonal lines or grooves marking externally
the intervals between the muscle plates. (See myotome.)
Muzzle. The anterior extremity of the head.
Myotome. A muscle plate. (See muscular impressions.)
Nape. The part of the neck next to the occiput. (Fig. 1, np.)
Nasal. A bone of the nose.
Neural spine. The upper spine of a vertebra.
Notochord. The embryonic cartilaginous vertebral colvfmn, persistent in lampreys,
sharks, and rays, and most ganoids.
Nuchal. Pertaining to the nape.
Obsolete. All but disappeared; only faintly apparent.
Occiput. The back of the head.
Ocellus. An eye-like spot.
Operclc. The gill-cover. (Fig. 1, o. See operculum.)
Operculum. A bone of the side of the head, forming the major portion of the cover-
ing of the gill cavity.
Opercular flap. A backward prolongation of the posterior angle of the opercle.
(Fig. 62, 63.)
' opercular gill. A rudimentary gill on the lower inner face of the operculum in gars
and sturgeons. It is a true gill, receiving venous blood, in which respect it dif-
fers from apseudobranch. In the gars, in which there is both an opercular gill
and an exposed pseudobranch, meeting at an angle on the inner face of the
operculum, the opercular gill may be rei ognized by its inferior position and by
the downward and backward direction of its gill-hlaments. (See pseudo-
branch, i
stkoceslian. Concave behind only; said of the vertebra? of gars, which connect
by ball and socket joints, as in reptiles.
Orbit. The bony eye-socket.
Ossicula auditus. (See Weberian ossicles.)
Palatine. A paired bone of the roof of the mouth. (Fig. 56, pi.)
Papilla. A small fleshy projection.
Papillose Covered with papillae.
/ 'arii '.id. One of the roofing bones of the skull
I'e, tinate. Having teeth like a comb.
Pectoral. Pertaining to the breast.
/ V. loral arch. | See shoulder girdle.)
Pectoral fins. The anterior or uppermost of t lie paired tins. (Fig. 1, p.)
<ral girdle. (See shoulder girdle I
Pelvic arch, or girdle. The bones t<> which the ventral tins are attached; pubic
bone
Peritoneum. The membranous inner lining of the abdominal cavity.
Pharyngi al boni Bones representing a rift li gill-arch, behind the gills, opposed to
i ii oilier, usually in several upper and one lower pairs, as masticatory struc-
tures, for which purpose they are, as a rule, armed with teeth. (Fig. 57, lph.
and Fig. 56, uph.)
' totnous Having the air-bladder connected with the oesophagus by an open
dui i
Pit ctO <pondylous. I Living the anterior vertebra- modified and furnished with Webe
rian ossicles. (See Weberian ossicles i
(i)
CXXX FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Plicate. With wrinkle-like folds.
Postclaviclc. An element of the shoulder girdle.
Postfrontal. A roofing bone of the skull.
Post-temporal. The element of the shoulder girdle which connects it with the skull.
Prefrontal. An anterior roofing bone of the skull.
Premaxillary. The paired bone forming the front of the upper jaw. (Fig. 1 , pmx.)
Preoperclc. A bone of the cheek. (Fig. l,po.)
Preorbital. A large bone lying in front of the eye
Procurrent. Coming forward. Said of small accessory caudal rays encroaching on
the caudal peduncle in front of the base of the caudal fin.
Protractile. Capable of being drawn forward. Said of premaxillaries which are ex-
tensible forward and are separated (when retracted) from the skin of the fore-
head by a groove.
Pseudobranch. A rudimentary gill-like structure, not functioning as a gill, devel-
oped on the upper inner side of the opercle, differing from true gills in the fact
that it is supplied with arterial rather than venous blood. The pseudobranch
may be exposed in the branchial cavity (as in the perch) or covered entirely by
skm or hidden in the spiracular cavity (as in sturgeons and the paddle-fish).
(See spiracle and opercular gill.)
Pterygoids. Paired bones of the roof of the mouth. (See cnto pterygoid and ecto-
pterygoid.)
Pubic bones. (See pelvic girdle.)
Punctulate. Dotted.
Pyloric cccca. (See ccecum.)
Quadrate. One of the chain of bones connecting the lower jaw with the skull.
Ray. An articulated cartilaginous rod supporting the membrane of a fin. (Fig. 1,
d2r. See spine.)
Retrorse Turned backward.
Rudimentary. Undeveloped.
Scapular arch. (See shoulder girdle.)
Scute. A bony or horny plate.
Shoulder girdle. The framework of bones, in most fishes connected with the skull,
to which the pectoral fins are attached, including the post-temporal, clavicle,
postclavicle, hypercoracoid, and hypocoracoid.
Soft dorsal. That dorsal fin or portion of it which consists of soft rays only. (Fig.
1 , d2r. See spinous dorsal.)
Spine. Fin rays which are unbranched and unarticulated, and, as a rule, more or
less stiffened and sharpened apically. (Fig. I,d2s. See ray.)
Spinous dorsal. The dorsal fin or portion of it which consists of unbranched, un-
articulated spines only. (Fig. I,d2s. See soft dorsal. )
Spiracle. An opening in the head, anterior to and above the opercular opening,
representing a primitive gill-cleft, in paddle-fishes and in some sturgeons.
Spiral valve. A spiral infolding of the wall of the intestine in ganoid fishes.
Subopercle. The bone below the opercle. (Fig. 1, so.)
Suborbitals. (See infraorbitals.)
Subulate. Aw 1 shaped.
Supplemental maxillary A small bone lying on the upper posterior edge of the
maxillary.
Stipraoccipital. The unpaired bone at the back of the skull, usually with a crest
above.
Supraoral, Above the mouth.
Symphysis. The poinl of junction of the two parts of the lower jaw in front; the tip
of the chin.
Symplcctic. A bone connecting the hyomandibular and quadrate.
GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS CXXX1
Swim-bladder. (See air-bladder.)
Teleost. A name applied to fishes which have the skeleton fully ossified, embracing
most recent forms. (See ganoid.)
Terete. Cylindrical and tapering.
Tessellated. Marked with checks or squares, as in mosaic work.
Thoracic. Pertaining to the chest or thorax.
Thoracic ventral fins. Ventral fins which are attached far forward, nearly beneath
the pectorals, the pelvic bones being connected with the shoulder girdle. (See
key to families, bb, note, p. 2.)
Truncate. Cut squarely off.
Vent. The external opening of the alimentary canal; anus.
Ventral. Pertaining to the abdomen.
Ventral fins. The posterior or lower paired fins, corresponding to the posterior
limbs in higher vertebrates. (Fig. 1, v.)
Vertebra. A single bone of the spinal column.
Vertical fins. The fins (dorsal, anal, and caudal) on the median line of the body.
in contradistinction from the paired fins (pectorals and ventrals).
Villiform. Of the form of villi. Said of teeth which are slender and crowded closely
together in velvety bands.
Vomer. The anterior bone of the roof of the mouth. (Fig. 56, vo.)
Weberian ossicles. A chain of small bones developed in connection with the modi-
fied anterior vertebrae and connecting the air-bladder with the ear in suckers,
carps, and catfishes.
KEY TO THE FAMILIES OF ILLINOIS FISHES
Key to the Families of Illinois Fishes
a. External gill-openings, seven on each side; nostril single, median; no
paired fins; mouth circular, suctorial; no true jaws
Petromyzonidae. Page 5.
aa. External gill-openings, one on each side, the gills covered by an oper-
culum; nostrils paired; one or two pairs of fins not median; mouth
more or less obviously a transverse cleft.
b. Ventral fins, abdominal* or wanting.
c. Tail evidently heterocercal. f
d. Body naked or with 5 series of bony shields.
e. Body naked; mouth horizontal Polyodontidae. Page 15.
ee. Body with 5 series of bony bucklers; mouth inferior
Acipenseridae. Page 21.
dd. Body with cycloid scales or rhombic (ganoid) plates.
f. Body with rhombic (ganoid) plates; dorsal fin short (of about 10 rays).
posterior Lepisosteidae. Page 30.
ff. Body covered with cycloid scales; dorsal fin long (of about SO rays)
Amiidas. Page 37.
cc. Tail not evidently heterocercal.
g. A single soft dorsal fin, without spines, except in scaleless forms and in
the carp, which has two pairs of maxillary barbels. (In forms with an
adipose fin the ventrals are inserted distinctly nearer the anal than
the pectorals.)
h. Vent behind insertion of ventrals when ventrals are present; body eel-
shaped in forms without ventrals.
i. Head naked. J
j. Body more or less completely scaled \ (the scales small and sometimes
hard to make out in eel-shaped forms) ; head without barbels or with
not more than 2 or 4 (all maxillary).
*In this key understood to mean that the first ventral ray or spine is inserted
evidently nearer to the first (soft) rays of the anal than to the angle under the
throat formed by a union of free gill-membranes, or (in case the gill-membranes
are not free from the isthmus) to a transverse line connecting the lower corners
of the opercular openings. Exceptions to the application of this definition are
found in some species of Gasterosteidce, Pa'ciliidcu, and Percopsida; which do not
come within our range.
fThe heterocercal structure of the tail (i. e., the upward bending of the end of
the vertebral column) is in all ganoids indicated externally by the obliqueness
of the line of insertion of the caudal rays. This line forms a regular crescent,
set at right angles-with the horizontal axis of the body, in other fishes. In one
genus of American ganoids (Amia) the line forms an irregular crescent, which is
set, however, at a distinctly oblique angle with the horizontal axis. (Fig. 4-7.)
X Care must be used here, as the scales are often imbedded, or obscured by
mucus. The edges of the scales may be lifted by a needle in these cases.
§ Except in a few forms, not found in Illinois.
2 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
k. Gill-membranes "free"* from isthmus, i. e., split far forward and meeting
in an acute angle. (Fig. 8.)
1. No adipose fin; belly narrow, carinated; silvery fishes.
m. Lateral line present Hiodontidae. Page 42.
mm. Lateral line wanting.
n. Last rays of dorsal fin much elongated; mouth small, low
Dorosomidae. Page 45.
nn. Dorsal fin normal, its last rays not elongated; mouth large, terminal,
oblique Clupeidae. Page 47.
11. An adipose fin Salmonidae. Page SO.
kk. Gill-membranes more or less broadly joinedf to isthmus, not meeting in
an acute angle. (Fig. 9.)
o. Ventral fins wanting; body eel-shaped Anguillidae. Page 58.
oo. Ventral fins present; body not eel-shaped.
p. Dorsal fin of more than 25 rays, or shorter, and the lips thickened
and covered with plicate or papillose skin; pharyngeal teeth numerous
and comb-like Catostomidae. Page 61.
pp. Dorsal fin of not more than 10 rays; lips usually thin, never plicate
or papillose; pharyngeal teeth fewer than 8 on a side, in 1 to 3 rows
CyprinidaB. Page 94.
jj. Body and head naked (except in some tropical forms); head typically
furnished with 4 to 8 long barbels (1 pair nasal, 1 pair maxillary, and 2
pairs chin barbels in fresh-water forms of United States)
Siluridas. Page 172.
ii. Head scaly; body completely scaled.
q. Lateral line present; jaws shaped like a duck's bill . . . . Esocidae. Page 205.
qq. Lateral line wanting.
r. Upper jaw not protractile Umbridae. Page 202.
rr. Upper jaw protractile (i. e., the upper lip separated from the skin of the
forehead by an evident groove, which passes wholly across the muzzle).
Poeciliidae. Page 210.
hh. Vent jugular, in front of pectorals and close behind gill-openings; eyes
more or less concealed beneath skin; ventrals ordinarily wanting
Amblyopsidae. Page 217.
gg. Dorsal fin with either (1) a single spine (occasionally 2), in which case the
ventrals are inserted distinctly nearer to the first ray of the pectorals than
to the first ray of the anal and an adipose fin is present ; or (2) with two or
more free spines; or (3) preceded by a separate spinous dorsal finlet of 4
or more spines.
s. Dorsal with a single spine or preceded by 4 or more free spines.
t. No adipose fin; dorsal free, preceded by 4 or more free spines
Gasterosteidae. Page 221.
tt. An adipose fin; dorsal, anal, and ventral fins each with a weak and rather
indistinct spine Percopsidas. Page 225.
ss. Dorsal fin preceded by a finlet of 3 to S slender spines. . Atherinidae. Page 226.
bb. Ventral fins thoracicj or jugular.
* See note under kk.
t In these forms the distance from the tip of the snout to the angle of the gill-
membranes or to a transverse line connecting the lower corners of the gill-
openings is greater than the distance from the same point to the back of the orbit.
t In all Illinois species of the following families (below bb) the ventrals are
distinctly nearer to the throat (angle of gill-membranes), or to a transverse line
connecting the lower corners of the opercular openings, than to the first anal
spine, except in the deep-bodied genera of Centrarchidce; in which, however,
the ventrals are nearer to the throat than to the first soft ray of the anal.
KEY TO THE FAMILIES OF ILLINOIS FISHES 3
u. Ventral rays usually I, 7 (I, 6 or 7) ; vent in front of pectorals .
Aphredoderidae. Page 228.
uu. Ventral rays I, 3 to I, 5, typically I, 5; vent normal.
v. Chin without barbel.
w. Body scaled.
x. Anal spines 3 to 10.
y. Lateral line wanting Elassomidae. Page 231.
yy. Lateral line present.
z. Dorsal fins confluent, the spinous portion always somewhat lower than the
soft portion; in forms with deep notch between dorsal fins, the highest
dorsal spine but little more than half the height of the highest soft ray.
Centrarchidae. Page 232.
zz. Dorsal fins either (1) separate, and the soft and spinous portions about
equally high; or (2) barely confluent, with the notch between them very
deep and with the highest dorsal spine as high as, or higher than, the
highest soft ray (marine forms not included) Serranidae. Page 318.
xx. Anal spines 1 or 2, never more than 2.
z1. Lateral line not extending on rays of caudal fin Percidse. Page 269.
z'z1. Lateral line extending on rays of caudal fin Sciaenidae. Page 322.
ww. Body naked, or variously armed with scales, prickles, or bony plates,
never uniformly scaled Cottidae. Page 325.
vv. Chin with a median barbel Gadidae. Page 329.
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Fig. 4
Heterocercal tail of Sturgeon (Aci-
penser) .
Fig. S
Heterocercal tail of Garpike (Lepi-
sosleus).
Fig. 6
Heterocercal tail of Dogfish (Amia).
Fig. 7
Typical homocercal tail of Pike-perch
(Stizostedion). (After Jordan and
Evermann.)
Fig. 8
Ventral view of head of Large-
mouthed Black Bass, showing free
gill-membrane.
Fig. 9
Ventral view of head of Common
Sucker (Catostomus commersonii),
showing connection of gill-mem-
branes.
CLASS MARSIPOBRAXCHII THE HAGFISHES AND LAMPREYS
Class MARSIPOBRANCHII
(THE HAGFISHES AND LAMPREYS)
Skull imperfectly developed, not separate from the vertebral col-
umn; no true jaws, no limbs, no shoulder girdle, no pelvic elements,
and no ribs; gills in the form of fixed sacs, purse-shaped, without
branchial arches; nostril single. Naked, eel-shaped animals, with a
suctorial mouth, inhabiting both fresh and salt water.
Order HYPEROARTII
(THE LAMPREYS)
Nasal duct not penetrating the palate. This order is equivalent to
the single family Petromyzonidce, which follows.
Family PETROMYZONIDiE
(the lampreys)
Limbless, eel-shaped, naked-skinned vertebrates of parasitic or
modified parasitic habit, with a circular suctorial mouth furnished
with cusp-like teeth suited for rasping; body subcylindrical forward,
vertically flattened behind; skeleton wholly cartilaginous; skull im-
perfect, continuous with the vertebral column; no shoulder girdle, no
pelvic elements, and no ribs; vertical fins with feeble rays, ordinarily
continuous around the tail ; gills 7 in number on each side, in the form
of fixed sacs, and without true branchial arches, being supported l>v
a wicker-like arrangement of cartilages known as the "branchial
basket"; gill-openings separate, arranged in a row along each side of
neck; nostril single, median, in front of eyes, the nasal tube in it
penetrating the palate; mouth suctorial, without true jaws; interior
of buccal funnel (mouth disk) armed with horny teeth or tooth-like
tubercles, these being simple or multicuspid ami resting on papilla?;
teeth immediately above and below oesophagus (on the so-called
"tongue") more or less specialized ; heart without arterial bulb; ali-
mentary canal straight, simple, without caecal appendages, pancrea
or spleen; intestine with a spiral valve; air-bladder wanting; gene ,
tive outlel | the egg -mall and falling into the abdominal
cavity; young undergoing a metamorphosis, the larvae being Mind
and burrowing' in I'm mud or sand.
6 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
These remarkable creatures are among the most peculiar in our
waters, — peculiar in appearance, in habits and behavior, in
structure, in taxonomic relations, in physiological activities, and
in relations to nature. They are not true fishes, their primitive
skeletal structures, the total absence of limbs and limb-bases,
the very highly specialized suctorial mouth by means of which
they attach themselves to their victims to devour their flesh and
blood, their peculiar and numerous purse-shaped gills, and their
single median nostril distinguishing them easily from the true
eels and from all other fish-like vertebrates except their marine
relatives, the hagfishes. From the hagfishes they are dis-
tinguished by having functional eyes in the adult, and by the
fact that their single nasal tube does not open into the mouth.
Lampreys are found in the coastal and inland waters of the
temperate regions of both hemispheres, most species passing a
part of their lives in salt water. A number of kinds, however,
live entirely in fresh water, and all spawn in fresh water so far as
known. Species of Petromyzon are found along the coasts and
in the rivers of Europe, West Africa, Japan, and North America,
the great sea-lamprey of Europe and America (P. marinus) being
represented in the interior waters of New York by a land-locked
variety. Some four other genera are American, two of these
{Ichthyomyzon and Lampetra) being found in our state or in
neighboring waters of the Mississippi Valley and eastern United
States.
The common names given to lampreys are numerous. They
are called variously, in this country and in England, "lampreys,"
"lamperns," 'dampers," 'damper eels," or even (by misnomer)
simply "eels." The name "blood-sucker" is not uncommonly
applied to them by our fishermen.
All lampreys arc carnivorous, and most species, in feeding.
attach themselves to the bodies of fishes by means of the sucking
mouth, rasping off the flesh and sucking the blood of their helpless
victims, which swim about unable to dislodge them. The ring-
muscle of the month-disk works all the teeth at once against the
selected surface, and both scales and skin are soon bored through.
Hie relentless voracity of these fearful pests of our fresh waters
is shown by the deep holes* which they make in the living bodies
0 their victims, -mil by their own intestines gorged with blood
* Fin phol aphs showing tlit- work of lampreys see Surface, Hull. I'. S. Fish
.mi,. 1898, pp IS; and 4th Ann. Rep. Comm. Fish, Game, and Foi
X. V., 1898, pp 191 145
PETROMYZOXIDvE THE LAMPREYS /
and flesh. Their hold is probably seldom loosened by any fish,
unless by accident. The power of suction exerted by the buccal
funnel, without the aid of the formidable armature of cusps, is
such as to require considerable force* to loosen it. Lampreys
most frequently attach themselves to the side of a fish under the
pectoral fin. Scaleless fishes, such as catfish and spoonbills, and
the relatively sluggish soft-rayed and soft-scaled fishes, such as
suckers and buffaloes, are much more subject to their attack
than the more alert and better protected spiny-rayed fishes. The
listf of species infested in Cayuga Lake, New York, by the land-
locked marine lamprey (Petromyzon marinus unicolor) included
practically all the fresh-water species which were not too small.
The brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) suffered most severely,
and the common fine-scaled sucker (Catostomus commersonii)
next. Black bass were rarely attacked. The period of the
lamprey's most destructive activity was in early spring — February
and March.
Whether adult lampreys take any food except the flesh and
blood of the fish upon which they prey is not certainly known. A
common statement of the earlier writers that they feed on worms,
insects, and decaying animal matter, probably rests mainly on
hearsay and needs confirmation. Stomachs of Cayuga Lake
lampreys examined by Dr. Gage in 1893 and 1898 contained
nothing but blood and fragments of muscle. The presence of
pieces of various small animals in the stomachs of lampreys, which
has been only occasionally reported, is probably due to the com-
plete perforation of the body wall and intestine of the infested
fish. The charge sometimes made that lampreys eat the eggs of
fishes has not been substantiated.
The breeding habits and development of the brook lampreys
of both America (Lampetra wilderi) and Europe (L. planeri) have
been studied in detail by various workers. The females spawn
in shallow water, and, as a rule, where there is some current over
pebbly or stony bottom near the headwaters of a stream. During
the spawning process the females cling with their oval mouths to
pebbles or stones, with the body streaming in the current, and
* Recent experiments by Miss Dawson (Biol. Bull., IX., 1905, pp. 1-21,
91—111) have shown that the funnel of a dead brook lamprey {Lampetra wilderi)
becomes firmly attached to a perfectly smooth surface when merely pressed
against it with the fingers. Her experiments also indicate that a lamprey is
able to glide about over the surface of its host without loosening its hold.
t H. A. Surface, Fourth Ann. Rep. Comm. Fish, Game, and For., X. V., 1898,
PP. 191-245.
8 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
are clasped at the nape by the suctorial disks of the males. The
young lampreys burrow in the mud as soon as hatched. They
are sightless at first, the eyes being deeply buried beneath the
skin. The mouth is toothless, and is not circular, like that of the
adult, but the upper lip is of a squarish, hood-like form, and the
lower one is much shorter and included within it. The food of
the larval lamprey consists of microscopic organisms which are
carried into the pharynx by currents of water produced by ciliary
action. It is an interesting fact, first ascertained by Alcock*, that
during the larval period the epidermis of the European brook
lamprey (L. planeri) has the power of secreting a digestive ferment
which protects the burrowing larva from the injurious action of
fungi and bacteria. The length of the larval period is from 3 to
5 years. The period of transformation, during which the eyes
move to the surface, the suctorial disk replaces the hood, and the
teeth are formed, is 7 or 8 months — September to April according
to Gage. It is not known how long a period of parasitic activity
intervenes between this transformation and complete sexual
development in typical, parasitic lampreys. That spawning
takes place but once and that it is accompanied by serious patho-
logical changes in both parents, from which they recover with
difficulty if, indeed, at all, is a belief long generally held. This
is known to be true of the small American brook lamprey (L.
wilderi), in which spawning and death are said to follow so soon
after the transformation that the parasitic stage appears to be quite
passed over in the life cycle, the adults not taking food of any kind.
The economic importance of lampreys as food for man and as
bait, especially in the European countries, has been and is to-day
considerable. In the earlier centuries they were highly esteemed
as an article of food in England, France, and Germany, the French
regarding as an especial delicacy stewed lampreys which had
been first drowned in wine. In England to-day both the fresh-
water and the marine lampreys hold a place among edible fishes,
and in Russia extensive lamprey fisheries were still carried on
along the Volga in 1873. 'Nets and wicker traps are used in the
lamprey fisheries. As late as 1880 an extensive fishery was
carried on along the lower Connecticut River, though this industry
is now practically discontinued. Lampreys pickled and put up
in fins may be obtained of our larger American dealers in fishery
products, and are said to be of very fine flavor.
* J i >urii Anal and Physiol norm path., (2) XIII., pp. 612-63 7.
KEY TO GENERA OF PETROM YZONID.-E FOUND IN ILLINOIS
Key to Genera of PETROMYZONIDjE found in Illinois
a. Supraoral cusps 2 or 3 in number, placed close together; dorsal fin continu-
ous with a broad notch Ichthyomyzon.
aa. Supraoral cusps spaced wide apart, one at each end of a crescent-shaped
plate, which may bear a rudimentary median cusp; dorsal fin with a sharp
notch Lampetra..
Genus ICHTHYOMYZON Girard
(RIVER LAMPREY'S)
Supraoral plate typically armed with 2 or 3 (sometimes 4) separate
teeth, set close together; anterior lingual tooth with a median groove;
dorsal fin continuous, with a broad and shallow notch. Small lampreys,
confined to the rivers of the Mississippi Valley and eastern United
States.
ICHTHYOMYZON CONCOLOR (Kirtland)
(silvery lamprey)
Kirtland, '40, Bost. J. Nat. Hist., Ill, 342 (Petromyzon argenteus); id., 1. c, 473
(Ammocoetes); Girard, '58, Pac. R. R. Surw, 381, 382 Icastaneus and hirudo).
G . VIII, 507 (hirudo); J. and G.. 10 (argenteus) ; M. V., 10 and 11 (Petromyzon
castaneus and concolor); J. and E., I, 11 (castaneus and concolor); X . 52
(argenteus and hirudo); J., 70 (Ammoccetes argenteus and hirudo); F.. 86
(argenteus); L., 7 (concolor and castaneus).
Length 10 inches; depth 9.8 to 13.8 in length; width of body 1.4 to 2
in its depth; distance from last gill-opening to front of dorsal fin 3.3 to
3.8 in length; last gill-opening to vent 1.9 to 2.2; muscular impressions
(between last gill-opening and vent) 49 to 55. Color silvery, bluish
above, sometimes with bluish spots; a small dusky spot above each
i,'ill-opening, usually conspicuous even in the larva. Head (to first
;,'ill-opening) 6.5 to 8.3 in length; diameter of expanded buccal disk
about j} length of head, a double row of fimbria; about the circum-
ference of the disk, inside of which is a thin flexible lip; eye 6 to 8
in head to first gill-opening; anterior lingual tootli witli a median (an-
terior! groove; supraorals typically bicuspid, occasionally with one,
three, or four cusps; intraorals typically 7 to 9, occasionally 10. and in
ot our specimens 13; extraorals, when supraorals are bicuspid, as
a rule unicuspid, though this character is subject to much variation,
10 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
instances of as many as 6 or 7 biscupid extraorals having been noted in
specimens with bicuspid supraorals.*
Supraorals Infraorals. Extraorals. Specimens.
bicuspid 7 all unicuspid [concolor) 5
7 1-7 bicuspid 5
S 0 " 3
8 2-7 " 6
9 0 •' 4
9 6 " 1
10 2 1
unicuspid 7 0 " 1
tricuspid S 0 1
s 3 iSri
" 9 3 gf 1
10 6 u3 [ 1
quadricuspid 13 S 1
Dorsal fin continuous with caudal, with a perceptible depression in
front of vent ; greatest height of fin about \ distance from vent to end of
tail, height at depression abotit f greatest height anterior to it, and
about \ to § height of posterior portion; the larva- with the dorsal fin
single as in adults.
Our 15 collections of this species are chiefly from the Illinois
River at Havana, Meredosia, Ottawa, and Pekin. We have also 1
collection from Green River, 1 from the Wabash at Mt. Carmel, and
several specimens from the Mississippi at Alton, and have records
of the occurrence of the species at Galena, Cairo, and Ouincy. It
seems that lampreys are, on the whole, rather rare in our waters.
Illinois River fishermen seem to know little of them. Fishes with
lampreys attached, or with marks of their previous presence, are
not common in the seine catches along the Illinois. At Alton they
seem to be more numerous, showing their usual preference for
spoonbills, which species is said rarely to be taken at Alton or
Grafton without lamprey marks. At Havana also they are com-
monest on the spoonbills — sometimes two or three fast to a single
fish — and next on buffalo-fish and car]'.
At Galena and at Cairo lampreys have been seen by one of the
Slate Laboratory assistants, .Mr. J. E. Hallinen, attached to large
fish. We may consequently say that, so far as known to us,
lampreys arc not seriously injurious t< > the fisheries or t lie fish pi ipu
lation of this state, perhaps because of the scarcity of suitable
nesting places in our comparatively sluggish and muddy streams.
Tins species is found in the Greal Lakes and the St. Lawrence
River, in the valleys of the Ohio, the Missouri, and the upper Mis
sissippi, ami northward to the Assiniboin (castaneus).
* A study of oui ' I is of Ichthyom yzon sho i i ; un1 of niter I
in dental charactei tha impossible the separation of the nominal
dor), as is evidenl from the following tabulation:
LAMPETRA — BROOK LAMPREYS
II
Genus LAMPETRA Gray
(BROOK LAMPREYS)
Supraoral plate crescent-shaped, with a large bluntish cusp at each
end, separated by a wide space, there being rarely a very small median
cusp; lingual teeth small, with dentate edges, the median denticle en-
larged; dorsal fin with a sharp notch or entirely divided. Small lampreys
of the brooks of Europe and North America.
Fig. 10
Oral disk of Brook Lamprey (Lampetra
wilder: J, & E.)
LAMPETRA WILDERI Jordan & Evermann
(bro<>k lamprey; small black lamprey)
Rafinesque, '20, [chth. Oh., 84 iPetromyzon nigrum; name preoccupied) ; Jordan
& Evermann, '96, B. U. S. X. M., 47. I, 13.
G., VIII, 504 iPetromyzon branchialisi ; J. & G., 9 (Ammocoetes niger); M. V., 10
(A. branchialisi; N\, ;2 (P. niger I , J., 70 (A. niger); P., 86 (A. niger); L., 7.
Length 6 to 10 inches; depth 13 to 16 in length; width of body L.3
to 1.4 in its depth; distance from last gill-opening to front of dorsal 3.4
to 3.5 in length; last gill-opening to vent 1.9 to 2; muscular impressions
70 73. Color bluish Marl, above, silvery below. Head (to first "ill
opening) 7.9 to 8.7 inlength; diameter of expanded buccal disk less
than \ bead; fimbriae consisting of small and closely set tubercles,
nol arranged in definite rows, and dense, i mi lower lip; no flexible
lip inside fimbriae; eve 6 to 7 in head; supraoral lamina with a large
triangular cusp at each end. separated by an interval nearly twice the
width of base ol a ingle cusp; infraorals 6 or 7, a siiv.de cusp at eai h
12 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
end of the plate larger than those (4 or 5) between; 3 lateral (extraoral)
bicuspids on each side of mouth; remaining teeth simple, unicuspid, and
rather weakly developed.* Dorsal fin consisting of an anterior and
posterior portion, separated in adults by a deep notch (in breeding sea-
son) or divided by a narrow space; in larvas the fin divided by a space
i [ual to the greatest height of the fin; first dorsal about half the height
of second.
Males with a long urogenital papilla, whose length in breeding season
is equal to the diameter of the eye.
Here described from 5 specimens, one from Lake Michigan
(presented by Dr. Jordan), and four from Cayuga Lake, New York
(from Dr. Gage). A half dozen larvae received from an unknown
source in the winter of 1903, probably from within Illinois and in
answer to circular letters of inquiry concerning lampreys, are
doubtless of this species. Its almost total absence from our col-
lections is probably a consequence of its small size and non-para-
sitic habit.
This species is known from western New York and the Great
Lakes to the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and west to Iowa and
Kansas.
* It is the belief of Gage ('93) and others that this lamprey is not parasitic in
habit.
CLASS PISCES 13
Class PISCES
(fishes)
Skull well developed, separate from the vertebral column; a lower jaw,
or both upper and lower jaws, developed; limbs typically present and
developed as fins, in rare cases (Apodes, etc.) wanting through atrophy;
shoulder girdle usually present, rarely obsolete; pelvic bones present
las a rule absent, or represented by rudiment or vestige. — Bridge, Cam.
Nat. Hist., p. 475); gills attached to bony or cartilaginous gill-arches;
nostrils paired.
The class Pisces as here defined, includes, in addition to the true
fishes (Teleostomi), the sharks, skates, and Chimseras (Elasmobran-
chii), and the lung-fishes {Dipnoi). To the first -mentioned sub-
class belong all American fresh -water fishes and fish-like vertebrates
above the lampreys. The relation borne to each other by the 10
orders of Teleostomi represented in the waters of the central Missis-
sippi Valley may be expressed in the following analytical key.
Key to Orders of TELEOSTOMI
(The definitions following will in some cases not apply to species not occurring
in Illinois.)
a. Tail strongly heterocercal throughout life; some fins usually with fulcra;
arterial bulb muscular and with numerous valves (not less than 3); optic
nerves forming a solid chiasma; air-bladder with a well-developed duct.
b. Skeleton cartilaginous; ventrals with an entire series of basilar segments.
c. Maxillary and interopercle obsolete; skin naked; air-bladder cellular.
Selachostomi.
cc. Maxillary and interopercle present; skin with 5 series of bony shields; air-
bladder simple Chondrostei.
bb. Skeleton bony; ventrals with basilar segments rudimentary; air-bladder
cellular.
d. Vertebrae concavo-convex; maxillary transversely divided into several
pieces; scales rhombic enameled plates Rhomboganoidea.
dd. Vertebras double-concave; maxillary not transversely divided; scales
cyli iid Cycloganoidea.
aa. Tail homocercal, diphycercal; arterial bulb thin, with a pair of opposite
valves; optic nerves crossing, not forming a solid chiasma; duet to air-
Ider slender < >r obsi >lete.
e. Ventral fins abdominal, ii present, (the pelvic girdle being presenl and ab
.luminal in forms which lack ventrals); mostly soft-rayed forms.
14 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
f. Mesocoracoid present except in eel-shaped forms; air-bladder with open duct
when present.
g. Anterior vertebras not modified, similar to the others, or more elongate,
separate and not provided with Weberian ossicles
h. Body not eel-shaped; vertebra? usually in moderate numbers; ventrals
ordinarily present; mesocoracoid present Isospondyli.
hh. Body eel-shaped; vertebra? very numerous. 100 to 250; no ventral fins;
mesocoracoid wanting Apodes.
gg. Anterior (3 or 4) vertebrae modified, coossified and provided" with a chain of
small bones (Weberian ossicles), connecting the air-bladder with the
auditory apparatus in typical forms; mesocoracoid present.
i. Parietals distinct from the supraoccipital; symplectic present; maxillary per-
fect or (rarely) wanting Plectospondyli.
ii. Parietals usually fused with the supraoccipital; symplectic absent, maxil-
lary imperfect, forming the base of a conspicuous barbel . . . Nematognathi.
ff. Mesocoracoid absent; body not eel-shaped,
j. Air Madder with open duct; no spines in fins; shoulder girdle connected with
the skull by a bifid post-temporal Haplomi.
jj. Air-bladder with a rudimentary duct or with duct obsolete; dorsal fin with
one or two rudimentary spines, with two or more free spines, or preceded
by a finlet of four or more spines. . . . Acanthopteri (with abdominal ven-
trals).
k. Air-bladder with rudimentary duct, (Suborder SalmoperctB.)
kk. Duct to air-bladder wanting.
1. Dorsal fin preceded by two or more free spines. (Suborder Hemibranchii.)
11. Dorsal fin preceded by a finlet of four or more spines. (Suborder Perc-
esoces.)
ee. Ventral fins thoracic or jugular, spines typically, though not always, present
in the fins.
m. Pelvic girdle more or less solidly attached to the clavicular arch; spines
ordinarily present in the fins Acanthopteri (with thoracic ventrals).
Including the great group of scombriform and perciform fishes and their
allies.
mm. Pelvic bones loosely attached to the clavicular arch by ligament; tins with-
out spines; tail isocercal, the hippura] not expanded. .... Anacanthini.
ORDER SELACHOSTOMI — THE PADDLE-FISHES IS
Order SELACHOSTOMI
(the PADDLE-FISHES)
Skeleton chiefly cartilaginous; the notochord persistent and the ver-
tebrae imperfectly formed, acentrous; anterior vertebrae single; fins with-
out spines, the ventrals abdominal; a mesoeoracoid arch present; a feeble
suboperculum and a small rayed operculum; maxillary obsolete; air-
bladder cellular, with open duct. Fresh-water fishes of large size, in-
habiting rivers of North America and China. The order contains but
one family, Polyodontidce.
Family POLYODONTID.E
(the paddle-fishes)
Fishes with smooth" skin, and with the snout prolonged and ex-
panded into a thin flat blade or paddle; notochord persistent; skeleton
chieflv cartilaginous, the vertebral column entirely so; the division into
vertebras imperfect; ventral fins abdominal; dorsal and anal fins far
back; tail heterocercal, the caudal fin with fulcra; pectorals low: a
mesoeoracoid arch present ; gills 4£ ; spiracles present ; spiracular pseudo-
branch vestigial or obsolete; no opercular gill; a single broad branchi-
ostegal; a small operculum present; suboperculum feeble and interoper-
culum obsolete; nostrils double, situated at base of blade; optic nerves
forming a solid ehiasma; mouth broad, terminal, shark-like, the cleft dee] i,
and overhung by the paddle-shaped snout; border of mouth formed by
pri'maxillaries, the maxillaries being obsolete; two pairs of minute bar-
bels situated on the under side of the rostrum in front of the mouth ; jaw s
and palatines, in younger specimens, with numerous fine deciduous
teeth; intestine with a spiral valve; pyloric caeca present, in the form of a
broad, branching, leaf-like organ; air-bladder cellular, not bifid, con
nected by a duct with the o opha ;u arterial bulb with several pairs ol
valves.
This family is represented by but two genera, each containing a
single species. These are Polyodon spathula, the paddle-fish of the
Mississippi Valley, and Psephurus gladius, found in the valley of the
Yang-tse-Kiang in China. The latter species is said to reach a
length of 20 feet. Fossil Polyodontidce are represented by the head
* The upper 1"1"' of the tail has .1 trace oi the primitive rh< 1
16 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
and caudal region of a form (Crossopholis magnicandatus) discovered
in the Eocene Green River shales of Wyoming by Cope.
The fishes of this family, in addition to their growing economic
importance in America, are of exceptional interest to biologists
on account of their primitive shark-like* form and characters, and
their consequent importance in tracing the descent of the bony fishes.
Genus POLYODON Lacepede
(paddle-fishes)
Gill-rakersf exceedingly fine, slender, and numerous; paddle broad
and widening forwards; caudal fulcraf of moderate size, 13 to 20 in num-
ber. Represented by a single species, confined to the rivers of the Missis-
sippi Valley in North America.
POLYODON SPATHULA (Walbaum)
(paddle-fish; spoonbill cat)
Walbaum. 1792. Artedi Pise, 522 (Squalus).
G., VIII, 346 (folium); ]. & G., S3; M. V., 33; J. & E., I, 101; N., 51 (folium); T..
69 (folium); F. F., I. 2, S2 (folium), II. 7, 464, II. 8, 514, ff; F., 85; L., 7.
Body fusiform, little compressed; large fishes with a smooth skin and
an elongate paddle-shaped snout; length 5 to 6 feet; depth 4 to 4£ in
length without snout; caudal peduncle slender, tapered, nearly cylindric-
al in cross-section, its least depth less than $ depth of body. Color
pale to dusky bluish olive; channel specimens (from Mississippi River)
regularly lighter in color than those from sloughs. Head large, its
total length including spathula and opercular flap 1.5 to 1.7 in length
of head and body; eye to back gill-opening about 3 in distance
from eye to base of caudal; spathula (from eye) 3.2 to 3.5 in length
in adults, 2.3 to 2.8 in younger specimens (1 to 2i feet) ; greatest breadth
of spathula (near tip) 3.4 to 4.3 in its length, least breadth (near base)
5.3 to 5.4; a pair of minute barbels on under side of rostrum, at a
distance in front of mouth about equal to width of rostrum at its base;
e - small, about 5$ in interorbital space, situated nearly over tip of
mandible and directed obliquely downward and sidewise; mouth very
large, shark-like, its cleft equal to § distance from eye to back of gill-
opening; jaws and palate with numerous fine teeth in young specimens;
lower lip of spiracle with a small barbol-like lappet; opercular flap greatly
elongate and tapering, reaching nearly to front of dorsal fin in half-
grown specimens and almost or quite to the ventral tins in adults; gill-
The American paddle-fish (Polyodon spathula) was originally described by
Walbaum (1792) as a species of shark; and Rafinesque, who described the species
under a i least three different names, was an led \ into an elaborate description
• if ii under the name Proceros, "a singular new genus oi shar!
t Thesi characters eparate Polyodon Erom / 'se phurus, the paddle fish of China.
C3
w
"is
■JS
tt<
■a
•d
m
POLYODO.X — PADDLE-FISHES 17
membranes connected, free from isthmus; gill-rakers long and slender
and exceedingly numerous, in a double series on each arch. Dorsal
fin posterior, nearly over anal, its insertion behind base of ventrals,
on a raised fleshy base; dorsal rays SO to 65; caudal heterocercal, but
scarcely unequally furcate, the upper lobe with 13 to 20 well-developed
fulcra; anal rays about 60. Body scaleless; tip of caudal peduncle and
sides of upper caudal lobe with small elongate rhombic plates; margins
of gill-openings, under flap, with numerous corneous shagreen-like denti-
cles; a continous lateral line of ramifying tubes from eye along upper
part of head to base of caudal fin; upper and under side of paddle,
top and sides of head, and opercular flap much sprinkled with sensory
pits, distributed in small circular patches.
This is, on the whole, the most remarkable of our fresh-water
fishes. Its large, paddle-shaped snout, of no very obvious use, and
regarded by Kofoid as "an expanded sense organ" merely; its
enormous mouth with weak and slender-boned jaws, very finely
toothed in the young, but smooth and toothless in the adult ; the
elaborate straining apparatus borne on its gill-arches; ami its de-
pendence, although one of our largest species, on the semi-micro-
scopic animals and plants of the plankton as the most important
element of its food, give it a unique place in the classification and
the economy of the fish population of our larger rivers.
It is found in the bayous, lowland streams, and river channels
of the Mississippi Valley, northward to Minnesota and Wisconsin,
and southward as far as Louisiana and Texas. It is not found in
the basin of the Great Lakes, and is rare in any except the larger
water bodies of its range. It is represented in our collections rather
sparingly, coming only from the central and southern regions of
Illinois (Ohio R., at Cairo, and Illinois R., at Meredosia and Ha-
vana). It is abundant in the bayous of the Mississippi about Alt< >n.
It is rather rare now in the Illinois River above Meredosia, though
it was formerly abundant throughout the year as far north as
Havana, where it is now taken only in spring. Its entrance to the
upper Illinois is generally thought to be obstructed by the dams.
The paddle-fish grows to a great size. The largest on record,
reported by Drs. Ji irdan and Evermann from Lake Manitou, Indiana.
weighed 163 lb. Mr.Wm.C. Harris records an example, from Lake
Tippecanoe, Indiana, which was 6 ft. 2 in. in length, and 4 ft. in
itest circumference, and weighed 150 lb. It is not ordinarily
taken heavier than 30 to 50 lb.
Various names in addition to those here used have been applied
to this fish, the commonest of which are spoonbill, shovel-fish or
shovel-cat, duck-bill cat, and spade-fish. Perhaps the earliest
18 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
mention of the paddle-fish is by P ere Marquette (1673-1677), who
described it as a remarkable fish, resembling a trout with a large
mouth. " Near its nose * * is a large bone shaped like a
woman's busk, three fingers wide and a cubit long, at the end of
which is a disk as wide as one's hand." — Jesuit Relations, LIX., p.
111. Edition Thwaites.
Although the paddle-fish frequents waters with a muddy bottom,
the relatively minute size of many of the objects on which it feeds,
the absence of mud from its intestine, and its seeming preference for
animal food, indicate that it is not only able to gather large quanti-
ties cf very minute objects from among the weeds and from the
muddy bottom, without filling itself with m it J, but that it can
separate the Entomostraca from the algae among which they swim.
The facts concerning the food of this fish were first ascertained
and published by the senior author in 1878,* and were studied again
more extensively by him in 1888. t The paddle-fish is generally
supposed by fishermen to live on the slime and mud of the river
bottom, an idea confirmed at first sight by the general appearance
of the contents of the alimentary canal, which are commonly a dark
brownish semi-fluid mass resembling mud, but which, when placed
under a microscope, are seen to be made up largely of countless
myriads i if Entomostraca of nearly every form known to occur in our
waters. Mixed with these in varying proportion, often, indeed,
predominating, are soft-bodied aquatic insect larv;e, chiefly those
of day-flies, dragon-flies, and gnats (Chironomus) , ami a smaller
percentage of adult aquatic insects, amphipod crustaceans, leeches,
and water-worms (Naidae), to which are added, in some cases, con-
siderable quantities of aquatic vegetation, largely algae, hut includ-
ing likewise fragments of various aquatic plants. In the food of
eight specimens, obtained from Peoria, Pekin, and Henry, on the
Illinois, from the Ohio at Cairo, and from the Mississippi at Quincy,
in six years between 1877 and 1887, no fishes or mollusks wen-
found ; but insects and crustaceans — the latter mainly Entomostra* a
—made by far the larger part of the food,, the insects being taken
by all the specimens and in nearly twice the ratio of the crustaceans,
neuropterous larvae of day flies (Hexagenia) alone amounting to 47
per cent. As those are commonly creeping over the mud or swim-
ming near the bottom, it is likely thai this fish is usually a bottom
feeder. One of our specimens contained nothing but insect food,
the ephemerid larvae above mentioned amounting to 85 per cent, of
i Bull, III. State Lab. Nat. Hist., Vol. I., p. 82.
i [bid., Vol [I., pp. 464 167.
POLYODOX PADDLE-FISHES 19
it. In another, 30 per cent, of the food was algae belonging to the
genus Nostoc ; in still am ither, Entomostraca made 80 per cent, of the
food, and in a second specimen, 95 per cent.
An explanation of the peculiar feeding habits of this species is to
be found in its no less remarkable alimentary structures. The very
remarkable straining apparatus borne by the gills, the immense
mouth-opening, and the equally large gill-slits, provide for the
rapid passage of enormous quantities of water through the gill-
chamber, and for the thorough straining out of all contents available
for food. The absence of any raptatorial teeth or crushing appara-
tus in its large and feeble jaws or in its throat makes it impossible
fur the paddle-fish to capture other fishes or to break the shells of
mollusks, and it is dependent consequently on the stores of insect
and crustacean life most commonly reserved for young or half-
grown fishes. It thus becomes a rival, for food, of all the other
species in our waters, living continuously upon objects which all of
them must have f< >r at least a part of their lives.
Bv observing its feeding operations while in confinement, Dr. C.
A. Kofoid learned that "'in swimming the mouth is held wide open,
without the rhythmical respiratory movements common in most
fishes, though it is occasionally closed energetically. The plankton
is thus strained from the water 1 iy the long gill-rakers, and Polyodon
is a living plankton-net. The fish was never observed to use the bill
to stir up the bottom, or in any mechanical way. It quickly per-
ceives plankton or ground fish added to the water of the tank, and,
when feeding, circles repeatedly over the same path, at times drag-
ging the lower fins upon the bottom."
In swimming slowly by the use of its caudal fin, its head and
paddle are thrown alternately to the right and left, the tip of the
paddle thus covering a considerable space on each side of the line
along which it is swimming.
Little is known of the breeding habits of the paddle-fish. The
young have hen much sought by zoologists, but up to the present
time none under 6 or 8 inches in length have been authentically
repi irted. Females full of nearly ripe roc have been seen by different
observers in this latitude in the latter part of May, but the at tempi
to find their spawning beds has thus far failed. Dr. Kofoid reported
a 30-tb female taken moving down stream at IVIeredosia May 5, 1899,
which had evidently completed spawning, the large ovary being
flabby and spent. On the other hand, a male weighing 25 lt>. taken
in Meredosia Haw had the testes Large and full of milt. It is a
20 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
common belief of the fishermen that these fishes spawn in deep
water, though the reasons for this view are not conclusive.
Dr. Evermann has recorded the paddle-fish's habit of swimming
near the surface of the water during the spring run — a fact which is
known to some fishermen*, and is taken advantage of by them in
their fishing operations. At other seasons the paddle-fish is taken
occasionally with set-lines.
Although long used and esteemed by the negroes of the South , it
has not had, until recently, any commercial value. Small speci-
mens weighing from 5 to 25 lb, are now regularly sold, without
head, fins, or tail, under the name of "boneless cat." It is said that
the flesh resembles that of the larger catfishes, though perhaps
inferior in quality. The fish is valued chiefly, howrever, for the roe,
which is made into a good quality of caviar and sold for a high price.
The caviar industry is chiefly carried on along the lower Mississippi
River, in Mississippi and Tennessee. The paddle-fish catch of
Illinois was in 1894 reported at 135,756 lb, valued at $2,658; and
in 1899 at 195,174 lb, with a value of $6,210. The total production
of the Mississippi Valley varies annually from 1,000,000 to 2,500,000
lb, about 10,000 lb of this now being made each year into caviar.
* Mr. H. L. Ashlock, of Alton, says that he always fishes the upper portion of
the water for spoonbills, and gets them when the other fishermen can get none,
since few of them seem to know of this peculiar habit of the species.
ORDER CHONDROSTEI THE STURGEON'S 21
Order CHONDROSTEI
(THE STURGEONS)
Skeleton chiefly cartilaginous, the vertebral column entirely so;
vertebra; simple, acentrous, the notochord being persistent; fins without
spines; ventral tins abdominal; a mesocoracoid arch present; opercular
series represented by an operculum only; maxillary present; air-bladder
simple, with a well-developed duct. Large fishes of the seas and fresh
waters of northern regions. A single living family.
Family ACIPENSERIDjE
(the sturgeons)
Elongate, subcylindrical fishes, with the head covered with bony
plates united bv sutures, and with the body armed with 5 longitudinal
rows of bony bucklers; skin of sides between bucklers roughened more or
less with small irregular plates or spine-tipped ossicles; skeleton chiefly
cartilaginous, the notochord persistent and the vertebrae imperfectly
developed; ventral fins abdominal, behind middle of body; dorsal and
anal fins posterior; tail heterocercal, its upper lobe covered with rhombic
scales; pectorals placed low; gills 4; spiracles developed in some
species; an accessory opercular gill; spiracular pseudobranch small or
obsolete; no branchiostegals; an operculum and an interoperculum
present; no suboperculum or preoperculum; nostrils double, in front
of eve; lateral line present, concealed, traversing the interior of the
lateral bucklers; eyes small; optic nerves forming a chiasma; mouth
inferior, protractile, with thickened papillose lips; four barbels in a
transverse series on lower side of snout in front of mouth; no teeth except
in very young; stomach without blind sac; rectum with a spiral valve;
pancreas divided into pyloric appendages ; air-bladder simple, connected
with oesophagus by a duct; arterial bulb with several pairs of valves.
Sturgeons are widely distributed in the seas, estuaries, and
rivers of Europe, Asia, and America, south of the arctic circle, most
species being anadromous — that is. living part of the time in salt
water and ascending rivers to spawn, as do the salmon and the shad.
Aboul Hi species ol the genus Acipenser are found along the coasts
and in the seas and rivers of Europe and Asia, being most abundant
in the Black Sea, the Azi *\ , and the Caspian. Five species are !'■ mini
in North America, two on the Atlantii o two on the Pacific
(3)
22 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
coast, and one in the Great Lake region — one of the Atlantic species
(A . sturio) frequenting the coasts of both Europe and America. The
shovel-nosed sturgeons are represented in the waters of the
Mississippi Valley by two species. Three species of the genus
Pseudoscaphirhynchus, resembling more or less the American shovel-
nosed forms, are confined to small tributaries of the Aral in
Tartary. Fossil Acipenseridce are little known, though numerous
scutes have been described from Tertiary formations of Europe and
America. Some species of sturgeon reach an immense size, speci-
mens of the great Russian sturgeon (.4. huso) having been taken
weighing more than 3,000 lb. A. rubicundus, of the North American
Great Lake's, reaches a length of four to six feet. The smallest of the
species of Acipenser, the sterlet (.4. ruihenus) of Europe, reaches
three feet in length.
Sturgeons are bottom feeders, using their hard beaks to stir up
the mud in their search for food. Stomachs of sturgeon have been
found to contain worms, mollusks, insect larva-, small fishes, and
aquatic plants. In feeding, the mouth is protruded downwards,
spout-like, and thrust into the mud. The sensitive barbels and
papillose lips doubtless assist in locating objects of food, although
the intestines are generally more or less filled with mud, swallowed
with the organisms it contains. Schools of sturgeon have been
obseiwed in clear water along the coasts digging up the soft bottom
of shallows with their snouts, in search, no doubt, of mollusks and
other organisms. Sturgeons are ordinarily captured with gill-nets
and set-lines, though seines and pound-nets, set for other fish, are
said to take them in considerable numbers.
Their breeding season is in spring, as a rule from the first to
the last of May. The eggs of all species very quickly become
glutinous and adhere to sticks, weeds, and other objects. The
incubation period of the Atlantic sturgeon is about 7 days in
water at 62° to 65° Fahr. The young live on the yolk alone up to a
length of :l inch, and from that size to 5 inches they feei 1 < in rhizopi » Is,
algse, Infusoria, and minute larvae.
The flesh of all sturgeon, excepting the small shovel-nosed forms
i if Asia, is used as food, ami from the eggs of the larger kinds caviar
is prepared. \\ eaten fresh the flesh, except of young specimens, is
usually found to be rather coarse and beefy, and in consequence
sturgeon arc as a rule smoked or boiled in vinegar before being
sold. Smoked sturgeon is now considered scarcely inferior to
halibut, and the demand for it is increasing. Tin consumption of
ACIPEXSERID.-E — THE STURGEON'S 23
smoked sturgeon in the United States was given in 1898 as about
4,000,000 lb, annually. The smoked flesh usually keeps only from
one to two weeks. It is not kept in cold storage because of its ten-
dency to mold. Sturgeon is canned on a small scale, and the roe, pre-
served in brine and sold in tight packages under the name of caviar,
is an expensive food product highly relished by many. The method
of preparing caviar is simple, the first essential being to work the eggs
loose from the membranous tissue in which they are embedded.
When once separated they are mixed with Luneburg salt, with a
small addition of one of the ordinary preservatives. The eggs an'
then sieved and drained for 12 to 20 hours, after which they are
ready for packing. Caviar is usually packed in small oaken kegs,
although it is also sealed in small tins for the retail trade. The
Russian output amounts to about 8,000,000 lb annually, most of i1
prepared on the Volga and the Caspian. The American product is
about 300,000 lb annually (1898), about | of it being exported
Sturgeon bladders are used in the manufacture of isinglass, and oil
is made from the offal and softer parts. Sturgeon skin has been
somewhat used of late for an ornamental leather. The skin is
exceptionally durable and has been used for laces for mill-belts.
Owing to their great commercial importance, the artificial
propagation of sturgeon has long been a subject of more or less
interest in this country and in Europe. Up to the present time,
however, although the artificial fertilization of the eggs and the
successful hatching of the young has been accomplished experi-
mentally*, it has not been practiced on a large scale anywhere, the
difficulty of obtaining ripe roe and milt at the same time, the ad
hesiveness of the eggs and their tendency to mold, and the difficulty
of finding food for the young (which live on microscopic organ
isms), having proved serious obstacles. It has, however, been the
opinion of all who have investigated the subject that if artificial
culture were once undertaken, these difficulties would soon be
greatly diminished. It may be said that the number of eggs pro-
duced by the Atlantic sturgeon is from 1,000,000 to 2,500,000 to a
single adult female — a fact of much importance to its artificial
culture.
*The eggs were fertilized dry by Dean (Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., 1893, p. 33S),
and then put into water and allowed to adhere in a single layer to a sheet of cloth
stretched over a frame- They were hatched mil in the current of the river, the
loss by fungus being only 5 per rent. Artificial propagation was tried by the
Germans in 1888 with fair success, and in America by Ryder (1889), who l'>st
■ : i. eggs. Some succe has been more recently obtained by the Russian
ninent, operating on the Ural.
24 fishes of illinois
Key to Illinois Gexera of ACIPENSERIDjE
a. Spiracles present; caudal peduncle short, roundish, and incompletely
armored; snout not shovel-shaped Acipenser.
aa. Spiracles wanting; caudal peduncle long, flattened, and completely armored;
snout broad and shovel-shaped.
b. Ribs 10 or 11; gill-rakers 2- to 5-pointed; belly and breast wholly covered
with subrhombic plates Scaphirhynchus.
bb. Ribs 20 or 21 ; gill-rakers 2- or 3-pointed; belly and breast naked
Parascaphirhynchus.
Genus ACIPENSER Linn^us
(THE STURGEONS)
Snout not shovel-shaped; caudal peduncle short, roundish, and in-
completely armored; lower lip developed only at corners (2-lobed); spir-
acles and pseudobranchs present ; gill-rakers lance-shaped ; air-bladder^
well developed. Large fishes, numerous in all northern rivers and seas.
ACIPENSER RUBICUNDUS Le Sueur
(lake sturgeon; rock sturgeon; red sturgeon)
Le Sueur. '18, Trans. Amor. Phil. Soc, 388.
G., VIII, 338-339, 341 (rubicundus,maculosus,;md Iiopeltis) ; J .& < '. ,87; M V., 34;
J. & E., I. 106; X . , 51 (maculosus and rubicundusi; J., 69 (maculosus and
rubicundus) ; F., 85; L., 7.
Body elongate, rather slender, nearly cylindrical; depth 7 to 7.8 in
length; size large, reaching a length of 6 feet and a weight of 100 lb.
Color dark olive above, sides paler or reddish, often with irregular
blackish spots; color changing with age, the young drab and the adults
green or red. Head 3.1 to 3.8 in length; snout narrow, subconic,
strongly convex above, flat below, its length 2 to 2.4 in head (usually
less than 2.3); interorbital space 3.2 to 4 in head; eye small, 3.3 to 4.2
in interorbital distance; width of mouth about 'j greatest width of snout;
lips 2-lobed. the lobes of the lower lip separated by a wide smooth
space; barbels of nearly equal length, weakly pectinate on their outer
edges; distance between two inner barbels greater than between each
inner and outer; gill-membranes united to isthmus; gill-rakers 27+6,
lance-shaped*, the surface of the arch between outer and inner rows of
rakers rather broad and covered with fine papilla?. Dorsal fin with
35 36 rays, its insertion over tips of reflexed ventrals; anal rays 25-28;
upper caudal lobe considerably lunger than lower, but not produced
into a filamenl as in the shovel-nosed sturgeons; caudal fulcra numer-
ous Dorsal scutes 12-16, lateral 32 43, ventral 8 10; skin of lireast
ingle bifid raker was observed on the upper pari of the first arch in one
ACIPEXSER THE STURGEONS 2 5
and belly and of sides between scutes more or less densely covered with
small rough spinule- or tubercle-like ossifications;* sides of upper
caudal lobe sheathed with small rhombic plates.
This species, which is confined to inland waters, was formerly
abundant throughout the Great Lake region and the Mississippi
Valley. Lake sturgeon have of late years been steadily decreasing,
and are now only rarely taken in the .Mississippi on our own bi orders,
and are seldom caught in the Illinois. Fishermen at Alton now see
but five or six in a year that weigh over 10 lb, whereas fifteen years
ago forty or fifty large ones, weighing from 50 to 100 lb, were taken
each season.
The lake sturgeon is said to inhabit comparatively shoal waters
in the lakes, ascending streams in the spring to spawn. The most
extensive study of their habits has been made by Milner, who found
their food, in the Great Lakes, to consist almost entirely of fresh-
water snails (Gasteropoda). Crawfishes and insect larva' are
also eaten by them, and the eggs of fishes have been occasionally
found in their stomachs, though not in quantity sufficient to justify
the charge of destructive spawn-eating sometimes made. Lake
sturgeon taken in the vicinity of grain elevators have been found
with stomachs well filled with corn or wheat. They spawn early in
June, generally preferring rocky ledges near the shores. While their
spawn is probably subject to the depredations of other fishes, the
young are well protected, after reaching two or three inches in
length, by their spine-tipped bucklers Adult sturgeons are much
subject to attack by lampreys.
Previous to 1870 the flesh of the lake sturgeon was scarcely used.
Fishermen generally made no use of them at all, and by many they
were considered a nuisance and ruthlessly destroyed. In the
following decade, however, several firms began the business of
smoking lake sturgeon and manufacturing caviar, isinglass, and oil
from the eggs, air-bladders, and viscera. Smoked lake sturgeon is
now considered a superior article, and lake caviar is ranked as the
best produced in the United States — selling (in 1898) for eighty-
cents a pound, while the Delaware product brought only sixty cents,
and the South Atlantic fifty cents (Gill).
The artificial propagation of lake sturgeon was seriously con-
sidered by the United States Government in 1898, when a hatchery
* Younger specimens are much rougher than adults; in a young sturgeon in
inches long taken at < Ittawa, 111., eai h lateral scute has a pei ufiar flexuo e 1 eel oi
ridge in pit I the charai teristic < entral spine, and the ventral plates are similarly
keeled We have small spei in i-'ir. m ail. lit ion which arc perfectly normal in t lie
Li ter nieni ii med
26 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
would have been established on Lake Erie or Ontario if a location
had been found where spawning females and ripe males were plenti-
ful enough to justify it. The Michigan Fish Commission hatched
and planted 450,000 young sturgeons in the Detroit River in 1893,
130,000 in 1894.
The sturgeon fisheries of the Illinois lake shore, at Chicago,
South Chicago, and Waukegan, were formerly of considerable
importance, the catch at those three points in 1885 amounting to
101,362 lb, or nearly as much as was obtained in 1899 from the
whole of Lake Michigan. The quantity taken in 1899 was negligible,
finding no place in the statistics. The decrease in Lake Michigan
in the two decades ending 1899 is shown by the following totals:
1880 3,839,600 lb.
1885 .• 1,406,678 "
1890 946,897 "
1893 311,780 "
1899 108,279 "
We find no early statistics of the sturgeon fisheries of the Illinois
and Mississippi rivers, though it is generally known that they have
decreased greatly in the past 30 years. The quantity of lake
sturgeon taken from the Illinois river in 1894 was 2,145 lb, while
the Mississippi on our borders the same year furnished 37,366 lb. In
1899 the Illinois River product had fallen to 635 lb, and in 1903 no
lake sturgeon at all were reported from the Illinois. The total
product of the interior waters of the United States, exclusive of the
Great Lakes, in 1894 was 1,494,022 lb, falling in 1899 to 234,145,
and in 1903 to 142,059 lb.
Genus SCAPHIRHYNCHUS Heckel
(SHOVEL-NOSED STURGEONS)
Snout broad and shovel-shaped; caudal peduncle lon» and flattened
ml completely armored; lower lip well developed, with 4 lappet-bearing
papillose lobes; spiracles wanting; pseudobranchs rudimentary; gill-
rakers 2- to 5 pointed; ribs 10 or I 1 ; air-bladder 5 in length of head and
body. Fresh-water lishcs of the Mississippi Valley. One species known.
A
&
c
a
PS
v
1
>~"
o
s
o
y
f
s, U'HIKHYXCHUS SHOVEL-XOSED STURGEONS 27
SCAPHIRHYNCHUS PLATORHYNCHUS (Rafixesque)
(shovel-nosed sturgeon)
Rafinesque, '20, Ichth. Oh.. 80 (Acipenser).
G., VIII, 345 (cataphractus), ]. & G., 88 (Scaphirhynchopsl; M. V., 34; J. & E.,
I, 107; N., 51 (Scaphirhynchopsl; J., 69 (Scaphirhynchopsl; F., 85 (Scaphirhyn-
chops); L., S.
Body comparatively elongate; depth 6.7 to 11.7 in length; distance
fr< im gill-opening to front of dorsal fin 2.1 to 2.2 in length without caudal;
length 2 to 3 ft* Color pale olive, darker above, where the color is
often a yellowish brown; belly whitish. Head 3.5 to 3.8 in length of
head and body; rostrum comparatively short and wide, its greatest
width 1.3 to 1.6 in its length; interorbital space 3.3 to 3.7 in head;
eye 5.3 to 8.3 (usually less than 7) in interorbital space; mouth wide,
1.6 to 1.9 in greatest width of rostrum; labial papilla? well developed;
barbels flattened, the anterior edge furnished with one, and the pos-
tern >r edge with two rows of branched fringe-like pectinations; inner
barbels 1.1 to 1.4 in length of outer; gill-membranes meeting at the
isthmus in a rather shallow and usually quite obtuse angle, the mem-
branes foreshortened, as a rule falling short of the notch in the pectoral
shields; gill-rakers 12+5. 2- to 5-pointed on the lower half of arch, the
upper surface of which is a narrow edge, scarcely separating the outer
and inner rows of rakers. Dorsal rays 28 or 29, length of base of fin 12
to 14.3 in length of head and body; anal rays 17 or 18, ventral 21 or 22,
pectoral 43 or 44 ; caudal filament very much elongated in younger speci-
mens. Dorsal scutes 17 or 18, lateral 42 to 47 (usually 42-44), ventral 1 1
to 13 ; spines of dorsal and lateral scutes falling considerably short of their
posterior edge; area on body between dorsal and lateral and between
lateral and ventral series of scutes entirely covered with small, irregu-
larly shaped scale-like plates; belly and breast completely armored, the
plates subrhombic in form, becoming much smaller forward.
This fish is fairly common in the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri
rivers, and in the other larger streams of the Mississippi Valley,
being more abundant southward. Little is known of its habits. It.
, spawns between April and June, probably ascending smaller streams
for that purpose. The stomachs of two specimens studied by us
were found to contain considerable quantities of a greenish
vn.ii larva (Ceratopogon), a small number of nymphs of May-
flies (Hexagenia), a single dragon-fly nymph (Libellula pulchella),
which occurs on bottom mud in comparatively shallow water,
and a few caddis-fly larva- {Phryganeidoe).
i ii ii males and 21 females recently examined by Dr. Evermann (Rep U S.
Fish (o, inn , L901, pp 285-286) the average length tnd weight for females was
25 1 inche md '■ ..' I rb, the largest female being but 29.5 inches long and weighing
4.75 tti. while males averaged 21 I inchesand 1.89 rb, the longest being 27 inchi
These measure-men i jItj My under those usually assignei I in the literature,
and i1 seem i probable that the species rarely reaches a length greater than i
28 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
The flesh of the shovel-nosed sturgeon is now regularly marketed,
being cut into steaks or smoked. At Louisville, where this fish is
abundant and is taken in seines, the eggs are mixed with those of
the paddle-fish and used for caviar. The shovel-nosed sturgeon
fishery of the Mississippi and its tributaries yields now about
700,000 lb annually. The catch in the Mississippi on our border
varies from 50,000 to 100,000 lb. The Illinois River catch was
18,000 Ho in 1S99, but has since rapidly declined, and this fish is
seldom taken now so far north as Havana.
Genus PARASCAPHIRHYNCHUS Forbes & Richardson
(white sturgeon)
Snout broad and shovel-shaped; caudal peduncle long and flattened
and completely armored; lips as in Scaphirhynchus ; spiracles wanting;
pseudobranchi'ae obsolescent; gill-rakers 2- or 3 -pointed; ribs 20 or 21;
air-bladder 8 in length of head and body. Mississippi and Missouri
rivers. One species.
PARASCAPHIRHYNCHUS ALBUS Forbes & Richardson
(white sturgeon *)
Forbes & Richardson, 'OS, Bull. [11. State Lab. Nat. Hist., VII, 37-44.
Body comparatively short; depth 7.5 to 9 in length of head and body;
distance from gill-cavity to front of dorsal fin 2.5 in length; length 3 to
4 ft.f Color very light, the upper parts bluish grayin life, the lower parts
of the sides and "belly shading from very light gray to almost milky white.
Head longer and somewhat, more depressed than in 5. platorhynchus ,
2.9 to 3.2 in length; width of rostrum 2.5 to 2.9 in its length, the snout
narrower and more pointed than in Scaphirhynchus; interorbital space
3.7 to 4.2 in head; eye very small, 8.3 to 10 in distance between orbits;
mouth larger than in Scaphirhynchus, its width 1.4 to 1.6 in the greatest
width of the rostrum; papillae of the four clusters of the lower lip re-
duced to a few flattened scallops at the hinder margin of the lappet; bar-
bels doublj pectinated on the anterior edge, the posterior pectinations
obsolete or wanting, the inner barbels 1.7 to 2.9 in length of outer; gill-
membranes meeting in a full and deep and rather sharp angle, the mem-
* This fish is distinguished as the "white sturgeon' b) the Mi ■ ■: ippi River
fishermen who are acquainted with it. the common shovel nose {Scaphirhynchus
platorhynchus), which is oi a yell >w ish brown color, being known by tnem usually
as the ■ t< h tail," in allusion to its long caudal filament.
■\ Qui pecimen of thi pecies measures 43 \ inches from tip of snout to
base o caudal, its veight being 9 J lb Mr II. 1. Ashlock, oi Uton, says that he
has seen V J ft. in length, with an estimated weight oi IS to 25 lb
PARASCAPHIRHYXCIU'S WHITE STURGEON 29
branes continued backward on each side so as to cover the anterior
fourth of the pectoral shields ; gill-rakers 10 or 11, + 3, 2- or 3 -pointed on
lower half of arch, the two rows of each arch separated by a broad smooth
surface. Dorsal rays 35 to 43, the base of the fin 11.8 to 12.8 in length
of head and body; anal rays 20 to 23, ventral 23 to 26, pectoral 43 to
49; caudal filament scarcely developed. Dorsal scutes 16 to 19, lateral
41 to 47, ventral 10 to 13; spines of dorsal and lateral scutes usually
not far from even with their posterior margin ; area between dorsal and
lateral and between lateral and ventral series of scutes more or less
densely covered with small denticulated ossifications, diminishing in
size and abundance from above downward ; some imperfectly formed
plates along base of dorsal row of shields as far forward as the backward
reach of the pectorals, these plates becoming more numerous and larger
farther back, where they are continuous with those which roof the
caudal peduncle; belly wholly naked to front of ventrals; breast with
a few bony points similar to those on the lower part of the sides.
This species is known to us at present only from the Mississippi
River at Grafton and Alton, Illinois. It is rare in the catches at
those places, only i >ne in three hundred of the shovel-nosed sturgei ins
taken belonging to this species. It is said by Mr. H. L. Ashlock,
who first brought the fish to our notice, to be somewhat commoner
in the lower Missouri. The spawning season is between June 1 and
August 1 . The sexual differences are unknown, all our seven
specimens being males. The fish is said by Mr. Ashlock to prefer
swifter water than the common shovel-nose. The stomachs of the
seven types were nearly empty, and the greatly comminuted matter
which they contained was wholly unidentifiable.
30 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Order RHOMBOGANOIDEA
(the garpikes)
Skeleton chiefly bony; vertebrae separate, simple, with the centra
well ossified and opisthoccelous, i. e., connected by ball and socket joints,
the concavity of each vertebra being behind; fins without spines; ventral
fins abdominal; a cartilaginous mesocoracoid ; opercular skeleton com-
plete; maxillary transversely divided into several pieces; air-bladder
cellular, lung-like, opening into the dorsal side of the oesophagus. Fresh-
water fishes of North America. A single living family.
Family LEPISOSTEID^
(the garpikes)
Elongate, subcvlindrical fishes with beak-like jaws, and with the ex-
ternal bones of the head hard and rugose; body covered with hard, rhom-
bic ganoid plates, imbricated in oblique series; skeleton bony; fins with
fulcra; dorsal posterior, nearly opposite anal; tail heterocercal, in the
young produced as a filament beyond the caudal fin; gills 4, a slit
behind the fourth; no spiracles; an accessory opercular gill (hyoidean
hemibranch) ; pseudobranch exposed, meeting the hemibranch at an
angle on the inner side of the opercle; branchiostegals 3; opercular
skeleton complete; nostrils near end of upper jaw; lateral line devel-
oped ; optic nerves forming a chiasma ; premaxillaries forming most
of border of upper jaw; maxillary transversely divided into several
pieces; both jaws with 2 (or 3) series of conical teeth, the outer smaller;
vomer, palatines, and pharyngeals with small rasp-like denticles; tongue
toothless, emarginate, free at tip; stomach not caeca! ; pyloric appendages
numerous; spiral valve of intestine rudimentary; air-bladder cellular,
lung-like, somewhat functional as a lung, opening into the dorsal side
of the oesophagus; arterial bulb with several pairs of valves.
Garpikes are abundant throughout the .Mississippi, Rio Grande,
Great Lake, and Appalachian regions, as well as farther southward
along tin- Mexican and Central American coasts and in the fresh
waters of Cuba. They are unknown (except as fossils) outside of
the limits of the range given, being, as are Amid (the dogfish) and
Polyodon din- paddle fish), one of tin- characteristic features of the
American fauna. Bu1 one living genus is known. Fossil garpikes
LEPISOSTEUS — GARPIKES 31
of the genus Lepisosteus and of a related genus (Clastes) have been
found in the Eocene of Europe and America.
The gars are voracious fishes, feeding to a considerable extent
on the young of other species. They have no appreciable commer-
cial value, and arc treated as a nuisance and a pest by all interested
in the fisheries.
Genus LEPISOSTEUS Lacepede
(garpikes)
Characters of the genus included in description preceding.
Key to the Species of LEPISOSTEUS found in Illinois.
a. Large teeth in upper jaw in a single row on each side; size moderate, length
S( Mom exceeding four feet.
b. Beak long and slender, its least width about 20 in its length, its length 2.6
to 3.4 in distance from eye to caudal; length caudal peduncle l| to 1J
(or even twice) greatest depth of body osseus.
bb. Beak shorter and broader, its least width about 5$ in its length, its length
3.6 to 6 in distance from eve to caudal; length caudal peduncle normally
not greater than greatest depth of body platostomus.
aa. Large teeth in upper jaw in two rows on each side; size very large, length
6 to 10 feet; beak short and broad, variable, its least width 3 to 5 in its
length tristoechus.
LEPISOSTEUS OSSEUS (Lixx.eus)
(long-nosed gar; billfish)
Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., Ed. 10, 313 (Esox).
G.,VIII, 330 (Lepidosteus); J. & G., "1 (Lepidosteus) ; M. V., 35; J. & E., I, 109;
X.. 51 (Lepidosteus); J., 68 (Lepidosteus); F., 85 (Lepidosteus); F. F., II. 7,
464; L., 8.
Size large, length over 4 feet; depth 10 to 13 in length including beak,
9 to 10 in distance from eye to base of caudal ; length of caudal peduncle
as a rule 1^ to \\ times, sometimes as much as twice, greatest depth of
body.* Color pale olive, silvery below; vertical fins and posterior part
of body with round black spots, more distinct in the young; very young
with a blackish lateral band, typically narrow and not extending on
belly as in L. platostomus. Head (including beak) 2.7 to 3.1 in length;
beak long and narrow, its greatest width about 6, its least width about
20 in its length; length of beak 2.65 to 3.40 in distance from eye to
caudal; eye large, circular, 1.6 to 2.3 in interorbital space. Dorsal rays
'We have found this the most reliable single character for separation oi the
very young oi this :pei ies and the next.
32 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
8 or 9 (usually 8); anal rays 8 (sometimes 9); length of pectoral 8
to 9 in distance from eye to caudal. Scales 8 or 9, 60-63, 6 or 7 ; lateral
line complete.
This voracious, active, and well-protected fish is a notable winner
in the long struggle for existence which its species has maintained,
but it is a wholly worthless and destructive nuisance in its relations
to mankind. It is the enemy of practically all the other fishes in
our waters, and so far as it eats anything but fishes, it subtracts
from the food supply of the more valuable kinds. It has, in fact, all
the vices and none of the virtues of a predaceous fish. On the other
hand, it is preyed upon by nothing that swims, and is so well
adapted to the varied features and vicissitudes of its habitat thai
it is proof against any but the most extraordinary occurrences.
From its long cylindrical shape and its activity when alarmed,
it is not as likely to be held by the fishermen's nets as most other
fishes of its weight, and it consequently survives on our fishing
grounds in very disproportionate numbers, and diminishes their
average productiveness in no small degree.
It is distributed throughout the Mississippi Valley and Great
Lake region and southward into Texas and Mexico. It is abundant
also along the Atlantic slope as far north as New Jersey. It is
scarce in the smaller streams and is generally more abundant
southward. It grows to a length of five or six feet, and is so variable
in form and color that local differences have given rise to a consid-
erable number of scientific synonyms. In Illinois it is abundant
and widely distributed, occurring in all parts of the state, including
Lake Michigan. Our 35 collections were made from 14 localities,
from Cairo to Chicago and the Rock River valley. It was taken
in 9 of our collections from large rivers; in 2 of those from small
rivers; in 4 from creeks; and in IS from lakes, ponds, and sloughs.
The L mg-nosed gar frequents quiet waters, being especially7
abundant in those more or less stagnant. It occurs on both muddy
and sandy bottoms, hut has an apparent liking for logs and piles of
brush. Although never moving together in schools, gars tend to
assemble in large numbers within limited areas. In winter they
En quently become so benumbed as to be almost insensible to their
surroundings. They are of a sleepy habit and often lie motionless
for a long time, returning persistently to the same place when dis-
turbed. They frequently come to the surface, and thrusting their
bills out of the water, open and close their jaws with a snap. This
is the ad of "breaking" so familiar to all fishermen, its purpose
being t' i renew the air in the cellular swim-bladder. In " breaking"
LEPISOSTEUS — GARPIKES 33
the gar turns partly over on one side, emitting a large bubble of air,
after which it swallows and then sinks again below the surface. This
habit is discontinued in cold weather, however, and from October
to April gars do not come to the surface to breathe.
The gar is a voracious feeder and is especially destructive to
minnows and the young of other fishes. The stomachs of speci-
mens examined by Dr. Dean contained practically nothing but
small soft-rayed fishes, less than 3^ inches long. Eleven small
minnows were taken from the stomach of one male 24 inches long,
and 16 from the stomach and pharynx of another 27 inches long.
No perch or sunfish were found. Sixteen minute minnows have
been taken by us from the stomach of a single specimen 2 inches
long, while other young specimens examined, had filled themselves
with water-fleas (Scapholcbcris mucronata). The gar approaches
its prey stealthily, and its attack is instantaneous and usually suc-
cessful. Young gars have been observed to approach and seize
minnows sidewise afterwards struggling for some time to get them
into proper position for swallowing — as is the habit of lizards and
alligators. The abundance* and destructiveness of gars in par-
ticular localities have recently led to serious efforts at extermination,
and pound-nets have been found quite useful for this purpose, f
The long-nosed gar spawns in this latitude between the middle
of May and the middle of June, the time at Havana, Illinois, being
ordinarily from June 1 to 12. It is known to spawn in shoal water,
usually in grass and weeds, but Captain Schulte, of Havana, has
seen gars spawning about the stone piles of railroad bridges under
construction at Havana. Young gars were reared by Dr. Mark, who
found that they could be maintained entirely on the larva- of
mosquitoes. They are extremely interesting, and even beautiful,
little animals, each marked with a broad black lateral band; and
they are especially noticeable for the evanescent lance-shaped upper
lobe to the caudal fin. They may often be seen swimming singly
in shallow water along the margins of streams in June and July.
Their earliest food is apparently Entomostraca, but they begin at a
surprisingly early age their life work of keeping down the fish popu-
lation oi the waters they inhabit. A specimen <>nlv an inch and a
quarter long, examined by us, had taken a minute fish, and another
* It is stated by Dr. Dean thai iMipil.c-, have been known to occur in uch
numbers in South Carolina as to till the shad net:- and interrupt the shad fi her}
for many days.
t By their use, Chautauqua Lake, \. Y.. was practically freed from >'ars in
34 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
two inches long and only an eighth of an inch in depth had filled
itself with no fewer than sixteen very young minnows.
Gars are of practically no commercial value. Rafinesque says
that their flesh may be eaten and describes the method of skinning —
by splitting in a zigzag line between the bony plates. Dr. Dean
has seen gars, with the bill cut off and the skin removed, exposed for
sale in the markets at Washington, D. C. They are, however,
almost universally thrown away by fishermen, and by most their
destruction is rightly sought by all means that offer. Gar skins
have been used to a small extent in the arts, for covering picture
frames, purses, and fancy boxes, the rhombic plates being very
hard* and taking a fine polish. A very few skins are saved for this
purpose each year.
LEPISOSTEUS PLATOSTOMUS Rafinesque
(SHORT-NOSED GAR)
Rafinesque, '20. Ichth. Oh., 72.
G.. VIII, 329 (platystomus); J. & G.. 91 (platystomus) ; M. V., 36 (platystomusi .
I. & E., I, 111); X., SI (platystomusi; ] . 69 (platystomus); F., 85 (platystomusi;
F. F.. II. 7, 464 (platystomusi; L , 8.
Length 2 to 3 feet; depth 8 to 10 in length including beak, 6.7 to 8.2
(usually less than 7.5) in distance from eye to base of caudal; length of
caudal peduncle normally equal to greatest depth of body. Color dark
olive-green above, lighter toward lateral line; sides lustrous olive-buff,
shading to light olive-yellow toward tail; belly white, the scales edged
with fine dark dots; an evident dark spot and usually two or three
fainter ones on caudal peduncle; fins olive-buff, dorsal, caudal, and anal
each with several more or less distinct roundish black spots (more
distinct in young) ; iris crossed by a dusky band which also crosses the
opercle and is continuous with a broad but faint lateral band; color
ation of very young ( 1 to 3 inches) generally much darker than in the
preceding species, the black side stripe broad and ex ion led more or less
completely to belly. Head (including beak) 3 to 3.9 in length; beak
comparatively short and broad, its greatest width about 2\ and its least
width about 5£ in its length; length of beak contained 3.6 to 5.3 times
in distance from eye to caudal; eye 2 to 2.4 in interorbital space.
Dorsal rays 8; anal 8 (occasionally 9); length of pectorals 7 to S in
distance from eye to caudal. Scales 9 or 10, 60-64. 6 or 7; a specimen
(Ac. No. 24416) 3 inches long with lateral pores forming an open groove
on posterior half of body.
The short nosed gar is generally common throughout the .Mis-
sissippi Valley, being most abundant, as is the preceding species, in
* It is said that '< i formerly made from gar skins by Caribbean n iges
would turn a knife, spear, or hatchet. (Rep. I' S. Pish Comm., 1902.)
c
c
3
1-1
o
c
60
C
o
a
o
en
o
5
*&
bo
LEPISOSTEUS GARPIKES 35
the southern part of its range. It is distributed in Illinois about
as L. osseus, occurring in 57 collections, from Rock River, the Illi-
nois, the Mississippi, and the Ohio. It is locally known by Illinois
River fishermen as the "duck-bill gar," though the name "short-
billed gar" is commoner.
The spawning season at Havana in 1898 was May, while in 1899
it continued until August. Females with spent ovaries were taken
as early as May lOby Dr. Kofoidin 1890. The habits of this gar are
not otherwise known to be different from those of the preceding
species.
LEPISOSTEUS TRISTCECHUS (Bloch & Schneider)
(alligator-gar)
Bloch & Schneider. 1801, Syst. Ichth., 395 (Esox).
G.. VIII. 329 (viridis); J & G., 92 (Litholepis) ; M. V., 36; J. & E., I. Ill; N., 51
ladamanteus) . J . 69 (Litholepis spathula); F . 84 (Litholepis); L., 8.
Length 5 to 8 feet ; depth in length 8, in distance from eye to caudal 7 ;
length of caudal peduncle rather less than depth of body. Color greenish,
paler below, adult usually without spots. Head (including beak) 3.7 in
length; beak typicallv somewhat shorter and broader than in L. platos-
tomns, its length about 5.3 in distance from eye to caudal, its least width
about 4i in its length. Dorsal rays 8; anal 8. Lateral line 56; trans-
verse series 22. Description based on a mounted specimen 6 feet 6\
inches in length to base of caudal, owned by Mr. Sherman Reubel,
Grafton, 111. Specimen 7ft. 2 in. long in State Museum at Springfield.
Specimen 5 ft. 6 in. long in University of Illinois Museum.
The home of the alligator-gar is in the streams of the Gulf of
Mexico, from Mexico to Cuba. It ascends the Mississippi above
St. Louis, and has occasionally been taken in the lower Illinois
River. It is said by Dr. Jordan to reach a length of 20 feet.
Little is definitely known of the habits of this species. Many
stories have been told of its gigantic size and ferocious and uncanny
habits, some of them doubtless more or less fanciful. A picturesque
and valuable account of the habits of the alligator-gar by Ceo. P.
Dunbar, a Southern naturalist, may be consulted in the American
Naturalist for May, 1882, pp. 383-385. Its size and strength are such
that the ordinary apparatus of the river fisherman will not hold it
unless it chances to be caught at some unusual disadvantage, and
it is consequently rather rarely seen. lis powers of destruction
must be enormous, and it seems to take, in the fresh waters of the
c< mntry, the place filled by sharks in the high seas. It was formerly
36 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
made into oil, by the people of Arkansas, for use as a lotion to
prevent attack by the buffalo-gnat. Dr. Meek saw numbers of
this species in the markets at Tampico. Mexico, where it was re-
garded as a good food-fish.
s.
w
o
3
O
o
Q
ORDER CYCLOGAXOIDEA 37
Order CYCLOGANOIDEA
Skeleton bony; vertebra amphicoelous, as usual among fishes, the
anterior ones not modified; fins without spines; ventrals abdominal; a
mesoeoracoid; opercular skeleton complete; maxillary bordering mouth,
not transversely segmented; air-bladder cellular, lung-like, opening
into oesophagus. Fresh-water fishes of the United States and Canada.
A single living genus and family.
Family AMIIDjE
(the bowfins)
Oblong, subcylindrical fishes, compressed posteriorly, and with the
head bluntish and its external bones corrugated and very hard, scarcely
covered by skin; body covered with cycloid scales; skeleton bony; fins
without spines or fulcra ; dorsal fin long and low ; tail slightly heterocercal ;
gills 4. a slit behind the fourth; no spiracles; no pseudobranch and
no opercular gill; branchiostegals 10 to 12; opercular skeleton complete;
throat with two peculiar comb-like appendages of uncertain function;
nostrils double, the anterior with a short barbel; lateral line developed;
optic nerves forming a chiasma; jaws equal, the lower U-shaped, with a
bony gular plate between the rami; premaxillary not protractile; jaws
and palatines with strong conical teeth; vomer and pterygoids with
bands of small teeth ; stomach with blind sac; no pyloric caeca; intestine
with a rudimentary spiral valve; air-bladder cellular, bifid in front,
lung-like, connected by a glottis with the pharynx, and capable of
assisting in respiration.
These fishes are remarkable for the simultaneous occurrence of
primitive ganoid characters — the cellular air-bladder, spiral valve,
gular plate, etc. — along with marked features of resemblance to the
modern is ispondylous forms (herring ami their allies) . The species
next described is the sole surviving representative of a once large
family, chiefly represented to-day by numerous fossils. TheAmiidcB
first appeared in the Upper Jurassic of France and Bavaria (genus
Megalurus), and fossilized remains of Amia occur in the Eocene
><\ northern Europe and North America. The latter genus appar-
i ntly became extinct in Europe at the ch ise of the Lower Mil icene.
i .
38 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Genus AMIA Linnaeus
(dogfish ; bowfins)
Characters of the genus included in description preceding.
AMIA CALVA Linn^us
(dogfish; bowfin; grindle)
Linnaeus, 1766, Syst. Nat., Ed. 12, 500.
G., VIII, 325; J. & G., 94; M. V., 37; J. & E., I. 113; N., 51; }., 68; F., S4; F. F.,
II, 7. 463 ;"L.. 8.
Length lj to 2 feet, females larger than males; body oblong, com-
pressed posteriorly, back scarcely elevated; depth 4.6 to 6.2 in length;
caudal peduncle deep and compressed, its depth 1.6 to 1.8 in its length.
Color dark olive, somewhat lustrous above, lighter on sides and below,
the mingling of lighter yellowish with darker olive areas giving the
fish a more or less reticulated appearance; belly cream-colored; dor-
sal fin dark olive-buff, with two narrow longitudinal bands of darker
olive crossing it, the first near base and second near free margin, a light
space intervening between the two dark bands; caudal light olive with
irregular darker vertical bars; at base of upper caudal 'rays in males a
dense black spot* of elliptical outline with a yellowish to bright orange
border; anal, ventral, and pectoral fins a brilliant apple-green, base and
tips often tinged with orange; females in spring color are in general tones
similar to males, but lack the caudal ocellus, the green lower fins, and the
yellowish tints on the fins and sides of belly, their lower fins being dull
olive-buff and the belly white ; young specimens are lighter, bright apple-
green, with dorsal and caudal tipped with a narrow black edging, and
nose, eye, cheek, and opeivle crossed by a narrow dusky stripe. Head
subconic, depressed above, 3.5 to 4.3 in length; width of head 1.6 to
1.8 in its length; interorbital space 3.2 to 3.8 in length of head; eye
small, 8.8 to 10.3 in head, 2.4 to 3. in interorbital; nose bluntly rounded,
3.2 to 4.3 in head; a pair of short nasal barbels, whose length is less than
e3^e, cupped at tips; mouth large, maxillary reaching far back of eye, 2
to 2.2 in head. Dorsal fin with base twice the length of the head, the
rays 47 to 51, height of dorsal less than $ length of head; anal rays
9-10; caudal fin rounded (masked heterocercal) ; ventrals short of anal;
pectorals very short, 1.7 to 1.9 in head. Scales "polygono-cycloid,"
9 or 10, 66-68, 11 or 12; lateral line complete.
This species is abundant and widely distributed throughout the
Greal Lake region and the Mississippi Valley, principally in sluggish
waters. In Illinois it is abundant in sloughs and lakes adjoining the
Mississippi and the Illinois, and is found in the larger and more
sluggish streams of the southern part of the state. It is not so
* A faint caudal ocellus, ap1 to be overlooked, is presenl in females
amia — dogfish; bowfins 39
abundant northward. Eight of our 37 collections came from large
rivers, 14 from lakes, ponds, and sloughs, and but 4 from creeks.
The usual local name of this species is "dogfish" in the Great
Lake region and the upper Mississippi Valley. It is known eastward
and southward oftener as "bowfin," or "grindle," the latter becom-
ing "grinnel" in southern Illinois. It has been found by our
collectors offered for sale by hucksters as " prairie-bass" in southern
Illinois. The name "mudfish" is sometimes used eastward, and
that of mud -jack, locally in Illinois. It is of general distribution in
rivers, lakes, and swamps, but is most abundant in weedy waters.
It seems to prefer rather shallow water, where, according to Dr.
Reighard, it feeds principally at night, retreating to somewhat
deeper water during the day. Dr. Ayres* found it in winter in
Oconomowoc Lake, Wisconsin, in closely huddled schools in gravelly
pockets among water weeds, so close together that two at a time
could be impaled on a fish spear. In the early spring of 1894, when
a rise in the Illinois River loosened and lifted the icy covering of
the stream, a belt of open water between the ice and the shore was
thickly packed, in places, with dogfish, so sluggish with the cold
that thev could be caught with the bare hands. In spring and
summer these fishes are frequently seen to come to the surface to
breathe, the exhalation being indicated by the escape of bubbles of
air.
The teeth of the dogfish are sharp and strong and it is exceedingly
voracious and savage, feeding upon any animals that come within
its reach — chiefly fish, crawfish, and mollusks.
The food of 21 specimens, taken from all parts of the state in
various months from April to September, was entirely animal — about
a 'third of it fishes, among which were recognized minnows and
buffalo-fish. About a fourth consisted of small mollusks, and
nearly 40 per cent, of it of crawfishes. Insects, although commonly
present, occurred in only insignificant ratio. Dr. Dean found scraps
of meat and a lump of raw potato in the stomach of one of these
fishes, but the latter was undigested. Charles Hallock (quoted by
Dr. Goode)t says that an Amia lias been known to bite a two-
pound fish in two at a single snap.
Tlie breeding period! of the dogfish is from April 1 to June 1 or
July 1, varying with the season and the latitude. It Spawned at
Quoted bj Whitman & Eycleshymer.
t Xai I T it Aq An . p. 569.
X April 19 to June 1, estimate of average for four years (Reighard) ; April Maj
(Whitman ,v I
40 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Havana in 1808 between May 1 and 15, and m 1899 until July 31.
Dr. Kofoid took freshly spent females June 14, 1800. Its nests
were found by Dr. Reighard* in quiet bays or inlets, usually well
grown with vegetation, places with stumps, roots, and logs seeming
to be selected as a rule. The male builds the nest, usually at night,
and probably unassisted by the female. For this purpose the
vegetation is rubbed or bitten off and the loose rubbish brushed
away with the tail and fins, leaving a bed of soft rootlets or of sand
or gravel for the eggs. Spawning takes place more frequently at
night than by day, the male guarding the nest after the eggs are
laid. The eggs hatch in 8 to 10 days, according to temperature, ami
the young remain in the nest about 9 days, attaching themselves to
rootlets by the adhesive organ on the snout, or lying on their sides
in the bottom of the nest. After they leave the nest the male
accompanies and defends the young, which move in a compact
school until they reach a length of about 4 inches. The young,
like those of the gar, have at first a lance-shaped temporary caudal
fin, beneath which the permanent caudal develops, at first as an
inferior lobe.
This fish is very little esteemed as food, the flesh being soft and
pasty. It is said to vary in quality, however, according to the
waters from which it is taken. The negroes of the South eat it with
great relish (Goode), and it is often eaten also in southern Indiana
and southern Illinois by the whites. It is thrown away as a rule at
Alton (Ashlock), but is saved by practically all of the Illinois River
fishermen, by whom it is shipped to the cities, both east and west.
Some large shipments from Havana have been made to New
York City markets. The Illinois River furnishes very nearly the
total product marketed in the United States. In 1903 a catch
of 1,097,050 lb, valued at $10,972, was taken from this river and its
tributaries, the Mississippi and minor tributaries furnishing the
same year only 8,200 lb.
This species is as gamy as voracious, and is extremely tenacious
of life, being "one of the hardest lighters that ever took the hook."
Charles Hallock, as quoted by Goode, says that it will take frogs,
minnows, and somel imes even the spoon, while Dr. Dean is authority
I'* >r the statement that trolling for bowfin is becoming a favorite
sport of some eastern anglers. The young, of about 6 inches
length, are said by Hallock to make excellent bail for pickerel and
♦ The following account of breeding habits is mainly taken from Reighard
00 and 'el
amia — dogfish; bowfins 41
pike, living for hours on the hook. They can be kept "in a rain
barrel all summer without change of water."
The hardiness of this fish and its willing endurance < if conditii ms
fatal to most species give it a predominance in our waters, which,
combined with its numbers, activity, voracity, ami wide range of
food, make it, on the whole, a dangerous ami destructive enemy to
our fisheries. The time will doubtless come when thoroughgoing
measures will lie taken to keep down to the lowest practicable limit
the dogfish and the gars — as useless and destructive in our produc-
tive waters as wolves and foxes formerly were in our pastures
and poultry-yards.
42 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Order ISOSPONDYLI
(HERRING-, SHAD-, AND SALMON-LIKE FISHES)
Skeleton bony; anterior vertebrae simple, without Weberian ossicles;
dorsal and anal fins without spines; ventrals abdominal; an adipose fin
present in some families; pectoral arch suspended from the skull; meso-
coracoid arch well developed, as in the Plectospondyli and the ganoids,
forming a bridge between the hypercoracoid and the hypocoracoid;
opercle well developed; maxillary distinct, forming part of the margin of
the upper jaw; air-bladder, if present, with an open duct; gills 4, a slit
behind the fourth, as normally in bony fishes.
A large and widely distributed group, including most of the
marine soft-rayed fishes, excepting deep-sea forms and a limited
number of fresh-water species. Families numerous; 4 represented
in Illinois. Members of some families possess strong ganoid affini-
ties, a gular plate and two transverse series of arterial valves
occurring in albiila. Fossil remains abundant.
Key to Families of ISOSPONDYLI found in Illinois
a. No adipose fin; belly narrow, carinated; silvery fishes.
b. Lateral line present Hiodontidae.
bb. Lateral line wanting.
c. Last rays of dorsal much elongated; mouth small, low Dorosomida.
cc. Dorsal fin normal, its last rays not elongate (elongate in some marine
forms); mouth large, terminal, oblique Clupeidae.
aa. An adipose fin; belly not carinated Salmonidae.
Family HIODONTID.E
(the mooneyes)
Body rather deep and much compressed, covered with silvery cycloid
scales; head naked; belly not serrate; lateral line developed; skeleton
bony; vertebrae about 60, the anterior not modified; ventral tins abdomi-
nal; dorsal fin rather posterior; no adipose tin; caudal forked; meso-
coracoid present; gill-membranes free from isthmus; branchiostegals 8 to
10; pseudobranchiae obsolete; gill-rakers few. short, and thick; adipose
eyelid little developed; mouth terminal, oblique; premaxillary not pro-
tractile; maxillary small, articulated to end of premaxillary and form-
HIODON MOONEYES 43
ing lateral margin of upper jaw; sides of lower jaw fitting within the
upper so that the dentaries shut against the palatines; premaxillaries,
maxillaries, and dentaries, vomer, palatines, sphenoid, pterygoids, and
tongue with small cardiform teeth; stomach horseshoe-shaped, without
blind sac; one pyloric caecum; air-bladder large, with open duct; no
oviducts, the eggs falling into the abdominal cavity before exclusion.
Fresh waters of North America ; a single germs known. The
species are of little value as food.
Genus HIODON Le Sueur
(mooneyes)
Characters of genus included above. Three species; two found in
Illinois.
Key to the Species of HIODON found in Illinois
a. Belly in front of ventrals carinated; dorsal with 9 developed rays, inserted
behind ventrals; eye less than interorbital space alosoides.
aa. Belly in front of ventrals not carinated; dorsal with 11 or 12 developed rays,
inserted in front of ventrals; eye greater than interorbital space
tergisus.
HIODON ALOSOIDES (Rafinesque)
(northern .mooneye)
Rafinesque 1819, J. Phys., 421 (Amphiodon alveoides, misprint).
J. & G., 259 (Hyodoni; M. V . 69; J. & E.. I, 413; F., 74 (Hyodon); L., 20.
Length 12 inches: body greatly compressed,
greatest width often 3 in adults; depth in length
3.3 to 3.7; depth caudal peduncle 1.1 to 1.4 in its
length. Color bluish above; sides and belly silvery
with more or less golden luster forward and bluish
to pinkish farther back. Head 4.5 to 4.9; width
head 1.9 to 2.1 in its length; interorbital space
3.6 to 4 in head; eye 3.6 to 4; nose 4.9 to 5.9, "'&
more noticeably upturned than in the next spe- Fig. 11
cies; mouth large, maxillary reaching past middle
of orbit, 1.9 to 2.1 in head. Dorsal fin with 9 developed rays, inserted
behind front of anal; anal rays 31; ventrals very short, about If in
head; pectorals longer than in the next species, 1.1 to 1.2 in head.
Scales 6, 56-58, 7 or 8; lateral line complete.
This rather large and handsome silver-coated fish is now too
rare in Illinois to have any especial significance in our waters.
Some years ago it was much more abundant than now in the -Mis-
44 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
sissippi and the Ohio, as many as a thousand pounds at a time
having been caught, according to Mr. Ashlock, from the former
river near Alton and the latter at Cairo. This species ranges from
the Ohio through the Great Lake region to the Saskatchewan,
becoming especially abundant in Manitoba and other parts of
British America. Our nine collections came from the Illinois
River at Meredosia and Havana, excepting one, which was from
the Ohio at Cairo. It is found only in our largest streams, and is
commonest in rather swift open water. It is readily caught when
plentiful by minnow bait, and is a very gamy fish, although of
little value as food. It lives mainly on both terrestrial and aquatic
insects, mollusks, and small minnows. It is said by Illinois fisher-
men to be frequently seen pursuing its minnow prey at evening in
the vicinity of their boats.
HIODON TERGISUS Le Sueur
(toothed herring; mooneye)
Le Sueur, ISIS, J. Ac. Nat. Sei. Phila., I, 366.
G., VII. .175 (Hyodon); J. & G., 260 (Hyodonl; M. V.. 69; J. & E., I, 413; X. 44
(Hyodon); J., 54 (Hyodon); F., 74 (Hyodon); F. F., I. 2, 79, II. 7, 440; L., 20.
Length 10 or 12 inches; body somewhat less
compressed than in the last species, greatest width
not over 2i in depth; depth in length 3 to 3.3;
depth caudal peduncle 1.4 in its length. Color pale
olive-buff above with faint steel-blue luster; sides
silvery, lustrous, white at the ventral edge. Head
4 to 4.4 in length; width head 2 to 2.1; inter-
orbital space 3.9 to 4; eye 2.8 to 3.6 in head; nose
Fig. 12 4 to 5.5; mouth slightly smaller than in the last.
maxillary falling short of middle of orbit, 2.1 to 2.5
in head. Dorsal fin with 11 or 12 developed rays, inserted in front of
anal. Scales 5 or 6, 55, 7 ; lateral line complete.
The toothed herring — a name given this species by way of con-
trast with the "thread-herring" or gizzard-shad (Dorosoma) — has
been taken by us only some half dozen times in Illinois, and then
only in the Rock and Illinois rivers. It ranges from the Ohio
River north and west to the Lake of the W Is, the Assiniboin,
and the Saskatchewan. It is very abundant in Lake Erie and the
( )liii i, w 1 1. iv large numbers are sometimes caught with the seine. It
feeds on insects and their larvas, mollusks, and small minnows.
It is a vigorous biter, and gamy on the hook. Dr. Estes says that
3
en
s
w
M
Q
'J
-
H
O
o
H
f
DOROSOMID^i THE GIZZARD-SHAD 45
it will rise to the fly, coming up for it, testing it, and getting away
again almost before the angler can strike. It seems not to be
valued as fond, and is too rare in our waters to have any commer-
cial importance.
Family DOROSOMIDjE
(the gizzard-shad)
Body short and deep and much compressed, covered with thin
cycloid scales; head naked; belly sharp-edged, armed with bony serra-
tures; no lateral line; skeleton bony; vertebra; 49; anterior vertebra; not
modified; ventral fins abdominal; dorsal about midway of body, its last
ray prolonged and filiform; no adipose fin; pectorals and ventrals with an
accessory scale; caudal forked; mesocoracoid present; gill-membranes
free from isthmus; branchiostcgals about 6; gill-rakers slender and ex-
ceedingly numerous; pseudobranchia' large; adipose eyelid present;
mouth rather inferior, oblique; premaxillary non-protractile; maxillary
v it h supplemental bone, narrow and short, forming but a small portion of
the lateral margin of the upper jaw; no teeth; stomach short, muscular,
like the gizzard of a fowl.
Coasts and rivers of warm regions; two genera in American
waters. Thin-bodied, bony fishes, of little value as food.
Genus DOROSOMA Rafinesque
(gizzard-shad)
Characters of genus included above. Lower Mississippi Valley and
streams of Gulf coast as far south as Yucatan. A single species found
in the ^waters of Illinois.
DOROSOMA CEPEDIANUM (Le Sueur)
(gizzard-shad: hickory-shad)
Le Sueur. 1818, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila.. 1. 561 (Megalops).
(, VII, 409 iChatoessus); [. & G., 271 ; M. V., 74; \. & E., 1,416; X. 44 (notatum);
J . 55; F . 73; F. F., I. 2. 79 (var. heterurum), II. 7. 437, II. S, 528, If; L. 20.
Length usually nut over 12 inches"; body deep and considerably com-
I < i . ised, depth 2.6 to 2.9 in length ; greatesl width .U in depth in adults;
udal peduncle short and deep, its depth in its length 1.1 to 1.3. Col< >r
silvery, bluish above, with reddish and brassy reflections; a large dark
! Specimens IS i<> 18 inches, weighing about 3 pounds occasionall) taken from
the Mi ippi at Alton 'II I. Ashlock )
46 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
spot behind opercle in the young; fins more or less dusky. Head deep
posteriorly and tapering forward, 3.7 to 4.3 in length; width of head 1.9 to
2.2 in its length; interorbital greater than eye, 3.6 to 4.3 in head;
eye 3.4 to 4.8 in head; nose shorter than eye, 4.9 to 6.1 in head:
mouth small, more or less inferior, extending little back of front of
eve; maxillary 3.4 to 4.2 in head; lower jaw shorter than upper. Dorsal
fin about midway between muzzle and base of caudal, slightly behind ven-
trals, of 12 rays; last dorsal ray greatly elongated, extending past middle
of anal; anal rays 30 or 31 ; pectorals 1.2 to 1.5 in head; ventrals half way
to front of anal in adults. Scales 56 to 57, transverse series 23; no
lateral line; ventral scutes 19 (before ventrals), 12 or 13 (behind ventrals).
This immensely abundant species, although little esteemed as a
food fish, is one of the most useful in our waters because of the al-
most exhaustless food supply which it offers to all the game fishes of
our larger streams and lowland lakes. Living itself mainly upon
food derived from the muddy bottoms of our very muddy rivers and
lakes, it serves as a means of converting this mere waste of nature
into the flesh of our most highly valued fishes.
For this service it is especially adapted by the posession of a
very effective straining apparatus in its gills, by means of which it
separates the finest particles of silt from objects large enough to
serve it as food, and by the extraordinary development of its diges-
tive surface in a long and convoluted small intestine, thickly beset
with finger-like villi within, and with tubular caeca without, each of
which is closed at its outer end and pours into the intestine through
its inner opening the digestive juices which it is the function of these
organs to secrete. The thick-walled muscular stomach, resembling
the gizzard of a bird — whence its name of gizzard-shad — is another
adaptation to a kind of food not available to most other fishes.
It occurs throughout the Mississippi Valley, in brackish "waters
along the Atlantic and the Gulf as far as Mexico, and in the streams
and lakes of the Mississippi Valley. In Illinois the gizzard-shad
inhabits all our larger rivers, together with the lakes connected with
them, sometimes ascending smaller tributaries during the season of
the spawning migration, and it has also made its way, by means of
canals, into lakes Erie and Michigan. In summer it is a rather
active fish, sometimes darting rapidly about in all directions and
often leaping out of the water. When surrounded by the seine, it is
likely to escape in schools by skipping lightly over the cork line.
In winter it withdraws largely to the deeper waters, where it hiber-
nates in a lieiiuml >< ■■ 1 c< mdition.
We have found gravid females, and males running with milt, in
the central part of the Illinois River in May, and have seen speci-
f*.
<
Q
3
CLUPEID^) — THE HERRINGS 47
mens in February in so sluggish a condition, that they were easily
dipped up with a net.
The young are extremely different from the adult, slender and
minnow-like in shape, and with a row of fine teeth on the upper jaw,
although the mouth of the adult is entirely toothless and smooth.
The internal structure of the young also differs remarkably from
that of the full-grown fish, especially in the much greater simplicity
of the digestive apparatus, the intestine, in specimens not more than
an inch long, passing almost directly back from the stomach to the
vent. The food of the young consists, like that of most of our young
fishes, almost wholly of small crustaceans and insect larvae — the
animal plankton of our waters. That of larger specimens, on the
other, hand, is very uniform in character, comprising quantities of
mud, with which the intestine is commonly packed from end to
end, mixed with many minute plants, and much vegetable debris.
Occasionally in the vicinity of distilleries, this fish feeds, like the
buffalo-fish, on distillery slops, and sometimes one will find univalve
mollusks, aquatic insects, and the like, sparsely represented in the
food. Half-grown specimens often contain larger quantities of the
plankton organisms than are found in the food of the adult.
The flesh is coarse ami not delicate in flavor, but still is not un-
palatable, and is eaten by some. In the Great Lake region this
species is often caught and offered for sale under the name of "lake
shad." It is seldom used in Illinois, however, but is systematically
picked out of the catch and thrown away by the fishermen, who
regard it as a nuisance rather than a benefit, commonly ignoring
its value as food for the species we most prize.
Family CLUPEIDjE
(the herrings)
Body oblong or elongate, more or less compressed, covered with cy-
cloid or pectinated scales; head naked; belly rounded, or compressed and
serrated; lateral line wanting; skeleton osseous; vertebra 40 to 56, an-
terior ones not modified ; ventral fins abdominal ; dorsal median or some-
what posterior; no adipose fin; caudal forked; mesocoracoid present; gill-
membranes free from isthmus; gill-rakers slender; branchiostegals usually
few (6 to IS); pseudobranchise present; adipose eyelid present or want-
ing; mouth terminal, oblique; premaxillaries not protractile; maxil-
laries composed each ol about 3 pieces, forming lateral margin of upper
jaw; teeth usually small or wanting, variously arranged; air-bladder
large, with open duet.
48 FISHES OF ILLIXOIS
Species numerous (about 150 known), abundant and widely
disl filiated in all seas, usually swimming in immense schools.
Many species ascen 1 fresh waters in spring to spawn and a few
are permanent residents in fresh water. Two genera are found in
streams tributary to the Atlantic and the Gulf and in the Mississippi
Valley.
Key to the Genera of CLUPEIDjE found in Illinois
a. Premaxillaries meeting at a large angle, so that the tip of the upper jaw does
not appear to be notched, cheeks longer than deep; teeth feeble... Pomolobus.
aa. Premaxillaries meeting in front at a very acute angle, so that the emarginate
front of the upper jaw receives the slender tip of the lower; fore part of
clucks very deep, deeper than long; jaws toothless Alosa
Genus POMOLOBUS Rafinesque
(alewives)
Body rather elongate, more or less compressed; belly sharp-edged,
strongly serrated before and behind ventrals; mouth terminal, oblique;
jaws about equal, the upper somewhat notched at tip; mandible shutting
within maxillaries; teeth feeble, variously placed; dorsal short, nearly
median, its posterior ray not prolonged in a filament; scales thin, cycloid.
Species numerous, mostly anadromous, inhabiting both northern and
tropical seas ; one species found in fresh waters of the Mississippi Valley.
POMOLOBUS CHRYSOCHLORIS Rafinesque
(golden shad; skipjack; blue herring)
E., 1,425; N.. 44 (misspelled); | ,
Length 15 inches; body elongate, com-'
pressed, greatest width somewhat less
than 2\ in depth in adults; depth 3.6 to
4.3; depth caudal peduncle 1.4 to 1.6 in
its length. Color silvery to greenish with
bluish and golden reflections ; back light
M olive gray with strong bluish luster; sides
light olive-green, shading to silvery white,
with golden luster; belly opaque milk-
pIG [3 white; no dark spot behind opercle,
Head pointed. 3.7 to 4 in length; width
head 2.3 to 2.6 in il length; interorbital space S.8 to 6.3 in head, less
4.5 to 5.9 in head; adipose eyelid present; nose 4.3 to 5.2
in head; mouth large, terminal, opening very high, lower jaw strongly
Rafinesque.
L820, Ichth
. Oh..
39.
J.
& G.
!6l
iClupea);
M V
73
(Clupea) ;
.1 &
55;
F .
73 (Clupea) ;
F. F.
. 11.
7, 43'J;
L.
, 20.
ALOSA —SHAD 49
projecting; maxillary past middle of _ orbit, 2.2 to 2.4 in head; teeth
feeble, a few on premaxillary and sometimes some on lower jaw.
Dorsal fin nearer muzzle than base of caudal, inserted in front of
ventrals, its rays 16; anal rays 18; pectorals 1.7 in head in adults, little
more than h to ventrals: ventrals less than half way to anal in adults;
pectorals with a double accessory scale above and with scaly sheath be-
low base; accessory ventral scale present. Scales 52-54, transverse
series 14 or 15 ; ventral scutes 20 + 13.
The golden shad, or skipjack, is a beautiful, symmetrical fish,
shading from green to silvery, with rich golden reflections. It
ranges along the Gulf coast from Pensacola on the east to Galveston
on the south and west, and up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to
Pittsburg and the larger streams of Kansas. It is not a common
fish in Illinois, and occurs but seven times in our collections, all
from Mississippi, Rock, and Illinois River localities. It appears at
Alton in small numbers in September, two pounds being about the
maximum weight. It is an active fish, frequently leaping from the
water in sport or in pursuit of its prey — whence its name of skipjack.
It is a predaceous species, the young feeding on insects, and the
adults i m other fishes.
Genus ALOSA Cuvier
(shad)
Body quite deep and compressed; head deep, the cheeks deeper than
long; jaws toothless; upper jaw with a sharp, deep notch at tip, the pre-
maxillaries meeting at a very acute angle; dorsal much nearer snout than
base of caudal ; other characters as in Pomolobus, to which Alosa is
closely allied. North Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, ascending rivers in
spring; species 4 or 5, 3 of them found in the Mississippi and its larger
tributaries north about to the latitu le of St. Louis.
ALOSA OHIENSIS Evermann
(onio shad)
Evermann, Rep U. S. Fish Comm . 1901, p. 277.
Length is inches; body very long, slender, and much compressed;
dorsal and ventral outlines very gently and evenly arched; depth 3.6;
caudal peduncle very long, the distance from base of caudal to dorsal
fin equaling distance from that poinl to preopercle. Head I 5 in length;
eyi 5 5; mouth large; maxillary 2.1 in head, broad, reaching posterior
SO FISHES OF ILLINOIS
border of eye; lower jaw slightly projecting; gill-rakers 26 +49=75.
Dorsal rays 18; anal 18.
Ohio River at Louisville, whence the types were obtained by
Dr. Evermann in 1897 and 1898.
Family SALMONIDiE
(the salmon family)
Body oblong or elongate, covered with cycloid scales; head naked;
lateral line present ; skeleton bony ; anterior vertebrae not modified ; ven-
tral fins abdominal ; dorsal fin about median ; adipose fin present ; caudal
forked; mesocoracoid present; gill-membranes free from isthmus; branchi-
ostegals 10 to 20; pseudobranchiae present; gill-rakers various; mouth
terminal; maxillary forming lateral margin of upper jaw; a supplemental
maxillary present; premaxillaries not protractile; teeth various, some-
times wanting; stomach siphonal; pyloric caeca numerous; air-bladder
large, with open duct; ova large, falling into abdominal cavity before ex-
clusion.
Fresh waters and seas of northern regions of Europe, Asia,
and America; many species anadromous; genera, 10; species about
70 ; 5 genera found in fresh waters of the United States and Canada.
Most of the species are of moderate or large size, and are prized
for their food qualities. Among them also are numbered the choic-
est of all fresh-water game fishes. They are the best adapted of all
fishes to the purposes of artificial culture, which in recent years has
aided materially in keeping up their fisheries. The fact that the
eggs can be transported long distances in ice without injury has
made possible the introduction of American and British forms into
some of the temperate regions of the southern hemisphere.
Key to Genera of SALMONIDiE found in Lake Michigan and
Adjacent Waters
a. Mouth not deeply cleft, the mandible articulating with the quadrate bone
under or before the eye; dentition more or less feeble or incomplete; scales
moderate, 60 to 95 in lateral line.
b. Mouth rather small; lower jaw usually included and overhung by the more
or less projecting snout ; premaxillaries broad, with tin- cutting edge nearly
vertical or directed backward; gill rakers on long limb oi first an h usually
fewer than 30 and rather shod Coregonus.
bb. Mouth larger, the lower jaw usually more or less projecting l»-\ I upper;
premaxillaries rather nam iw, u it h the i utting edgi nearl) horizontal and
directed forward; gill-rakers on long limb ol first arch usually more than
35, long and lender Argyrosomus.
COREGON'US WHITEFISHES 51
Mouth deeply cleft, the lower jaw articulating with the quadrate bom be
hind the eyes; strong teeth on jaws, vomer, palatines, and tongue; scales
very small, 175 to 230 in lateral line.
Vomer with a raised crest, extending backward from the head of the bone,
free from its shaft, and armed with strong teeth; hyoid bone with a broad
band of strong teeth; species grayish-spotted, without bright colors. . . .
Cristivomer.
Vomer without raised crest, only the head being toothed; hyoid bone, with
very weak teeth or none; species red-spotted, the lower fins with bright
edgings Salvelinus.
Genius COREGONUS (Artedi) Lixx.eus
(WHITEFISHES)
Body more or less elongate, compressed ; head conic, the snout pro-
jecting; lower jaw usually included; premaxillaries broad, with the cut-
ting edge nearly vertical ; jaws toothless or nearly so ; gill-rakers usually
rather short; dorsal fin about median, of 11 to 14 rays; caudal deeply
forked: scales thin, cycloid; air-bladder very large; pyloric caeca about
100; vertebras 56 to 60. Clear lakes of northern Europe, Asia and
America. Species about 15, of which 3 are found in the Great Lake
region.
Key to Species of COREGONUS found in Lake Michigan
a. Gill-rakers 17 to 20 on lower limb of first arch; maxillary about 4 in head,
about reaching pupil; body considerably compressed, the back arched
in front of dorsal fin clupeiformis.
aa. (iill-rakers 11 or 12 on lower limb of first arch; maxillary 4.8 to 5.5 in head,
not reaching eve; body long, slender, and roundish, not much elevated or
compressed quadrilateralis.
COREGONUS CLUPEIFORMIS (Mitchill)
(common whitefish)
Mitchill. Amer. Month. Mag., II. ISIS, 321 (Salmo).
i & (', . 299; M. V.. 77; ]. & Iv, I, 465; V. 14 ( Argyrosomus> ; I . 54; F. F., I. 6,
95; P., 73; L., 20.
Length 2 feet or more; body oblong, < (impressed, back always more
or less (.]'■ ated, bei oming notably so in the adult ; depth in length 3 to 4.
Color olivaceous above; sides white, not silvery; lower fins sometimes
dusky. Head 5, comparatively small and short; interorbital space 3.4
in head; eye 4 tn 5; nose 3.8 in head; tip of snout on level of lower edge
of pupil; mouth small, maxillary reaching past front of orbit, about
I -ii head; lower jaw included; gill-rakers .5 diameter of ryr, usually
aboul I0 + l7to 19. Dorsal rays 1 1 ; anal 11 Scales 8 74 9; lateral
line continuous.
52 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
This is a northern species, occurring in vast abundance in all the
Great Lakes and in some of their tributary waters, and ranging north
to the Arctic Ocean. It was formerly abundant in southwestern
Lake Michigan within the limits of the State of Illinois, but is now
taken from that part of the lake, if at all, in very small numbers
only. It is still much the most important food species occurring
within our territory, but reckless fishing has reduced it to insignif-
icance as an Illinois fish. The longshore fisherv in this state,
which as late as 1885 produced over eighty thousand pounds per
annum, yielded only some two hundred pounds in 1899. Indeed,
the total catch of the several species of whitefish (Coregonus) in the
Great Lakes, now gives us only five million to eight million pounds
a year as compared with eighteen million pounds in 1885 and
twenty-one million pounds in 1879.
The record weight of a single whitefish is twenty-three pounds
—the weight of a specimen taken at White Fish Point, Lake Supe-
rior. Its mean weight in northern Lake Michigan is four or five
pounds, and fishes weighing as much as fifteen pounds are now very
rare.
This is probably, on the whole, the favorite food-fish of our in-
land waters. In the words of Sir John Richardson, "Though it is a
fat fish, instead of producing satiety it becomes moiv agreeable to
the palate, and I know from experience that, though deprived of
bread and vegetables, one may live wholly upon this fish for months,
or even years, without tiring." It is mainly eaten fresh, but it is
also smoked or salted in considerable quantities.
This species spends most of its time, as a rule, in the deeper and
cooler parts of the lakes which it inhabits, a uning towards the shore
and sometimes entering streams in October and November as the
spawning season approaches. In many lakes there is a migration
movement from deep to shallow water in early summer also. The
whitefish spawns during October, November, anil December, in
depths varying from eight to fifteen fathoms, beginning, it is said,
when tlic water reaches about 40° F. It is most active on its spawn-
ing grounds in the evening and at night, each female depositing
several hundred eggs at a time, and the total number averaging
b "t ten thousand for each pound of her weight.
The young usually appear in March ami April, swimming sep
arately near the surface, and soon seeking deep water to feed ami to
escape their enemies. Their first food consists mainly of the smaller
Entomostrai a of the plankton, the capture of which is facilitated by
the presence, on the lower jaw of the young fish, of four sharp
ARGYROSOMUS — CISCOES S3
strong teeth, the two anterior ones curved backwards and slightly
inwards, and the posterior pair much smaller and directed almost
exactly inwards. These teeth disappear as the fish grows up, the
food changing likewise until, in the adult, it consists mainly of
small mollusks and crustaceans, with larvae of insects and other
animal forms. The gill-rakers of the adult are of a size and
number to enable it to separate from the water organisms as small
as Entomostraca, and where these are abundant they make a large
percentage of the food. The general character of the contents of
the stomach indicates, however, that the fish feeds habitually at
the bottom, as might indeed be inferred from the character of its
mouth. In aquaria it has been forced to feed on small fish in win-
ter, and has learned to pursue and seize its prey much as a trout
would do.
It is caught mainly in gill- and pi amd-nets from April to the end
of December. It is not properly an angler's fish, although where
abundant it may be taken on the hook with a bait of worms or in-
sect larvae. Fortunately for the future of the species, this valuable
and popular food-fish is one of those best adapted to artificial propa-
gation. Females are adult in three or four years, and 75 to 95 per
cent, of their eggs yield the young in the hatchery.
A single other species of the genus Coregonus (C. quadrilateralis,
the round or Menominee whitefish) is taken in Lake Michigan,
though much more rarely than the common whitefish. A suffi-
cient characterization of this species will be found in the key to the
species of Coregonus preceding.
Genus ARGYROSOMUS Agassiz
(CISCOES)
Close to Coregonus, from which it differs chiefly in the larger mouth
and more produced jaws, the premaxillaries being placed nearly horizon-
tally, and the lower jaw projecting decidedly beyond them; gill-rakers
very long and slender; dorsai fin of 9 to 12 rays; caudal forked; scales,
etc., as in Coregonus; vertebra 55. Fresh waters of northern Europe.
Asia, and North America. Species numerous; about 6 known from the
Great Lake region of the United States.
i)
54 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Key to Species of ARGYROSOMUS found in Lake Michigan
a. Body elongate, herring-shaped, depth usually considerably more than 3i
(.Hto4£); scales 73 to 90 in longitudinal series, uniform in shape and size,
the free edges convex.
b. Lower fins pale or merely tipped with dusky; scales punctulate with dark
specks.
c. Eye large, not much, if any, shorter than snout, its length 3i to 4^ in head.
d. Maxillary 34. to 3? in head; lower jaw projecting beyond upper; gill-rakers
long and numerous, usually about 47 on first gill-arch (15 to 19 4-30
to 38) artedi.
dd. Maxillary 2% to 3 in head; lower jaw scarcely projecting or not at all; gill-
rakers usually not more than 39 or 40 on first gill-arch (14 + 25 or 26) . hoyi.
cc. Eve small, shorter than snout, about 5 in head; maxillary very long, 2 J in
head; mandible reaching usually to posterior edge of orbit, half as long
as head prognathus.
bb. Lower fins all blue-black; body stout; mouth large; gill-rakers at least 50 on
the first arch (17 + 33) nigripinnis.
aa. Body short, deep, and compressed, the curve of the back similar to that of
the belly; depth 3 to 3 J, in length; scales 67 to 74, larger forward and close-
lv imbricated, the free margin often concave or notched tullibee.
ARGYROSOMUS ARTEDI (Lb Sueur)
(lake herring; Cisco)
Le Sueur, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., I, ISIS, 231 (Coregonus).
G., VI, 198 and 199 (Coregonus harengus and clupeiformis) ; J. & G., 301 (Coreg-
onus); M. V., 78 (Coregonus); ]. & E., I. 468; N., 44 (clupeiformis); J., 54
(Coregonus); F.. 73 (Coregonus)"; F. F., II. 7, 436 (Coregonus); L., 20.
Length 12 inches; body elongate, compressed, not elevated; depth
4 j in length. Color bluish black or greenish above; sides silvery,
scales with dark specks; fins mostly pale, the lower dusky-tinged.
Head 4^ in length, compressed, somewhat pointed and rather long,
the distance from occiput to tip of snout usually a little less than half the
distance from occiput to dorsal fin; interorbital space 3$ in head; eye 4
to 4i ; nose 4 ; mouth rather large, the maxillary reaching not quite to the
middle of the pupil, Z\ to 31 in head; the mandible 2\ in head, slightly
projecting; gill-rakers very long and slender, IS to 17+28 to 34, the
longest If in eye. Dorsal rays 10; anal 12. Scales 8-75 to 90-7, 10
rows under base of dorsal; lateral line continuous.
Great Lakes and neighboring waters, including Lake Cham-
plain; north to James Bay, but not in Alaska or Arctic America;
abundant in Lake .Michigan.
This is by far the most abundant food-fish of the Great Lakes,
the eateli of 1899 aggregating nearly sixty million pounds, about a
third of it from Lake Michigan. The commonest name of the spe-
cies, it scarcely need be said, is a misnomer, as this is properly a
whitefish and not a herring. It should be generally known by the
CRISTIVOMER — GREAT LAKE TROUT 55
much more distinctive name of cisco, already frequently used for it
but now commonly limited to a variety of the species found in the
smaller lakes of Wisconsin and of Indiana, but not in those of Illi-
nois.
In food and habits it is similar to the common whitefish, al-
though it is notorious for its enormous destruction of the spawn of
the latter, upon whose multiplication, in view of its own greater abun-
1; i nee arid the rapidly decreasing supply of whitefish, it must place a
serious check. Like the whitefish it spends the summer and the
winter in the deeper water of its habitat, moving shorewards in
spring evidently in search of food, and again in fall for the deposit
of its spawn, which takes place chiefly in November. Its eggs arc
laid in shallow water, preferably upon a sandy bottom, although
it sometimes spawns on the mud along the borders of the shallower
waters of the lakes and in the mouths of their tributary streams.
It is caught with gill-nets in shallow water from April to
the last of May, but the larger part of the catch is obtained by
pound-nets. Up to 1899 it seems to have withstood successfully
the enormous drain of our fisheries, the yield of that year being more
than double that of 1885, while the catch of whitefish, on the other
hand, had diminished to less than a third.
In addition to the commi in lake herring, four other species of the
genus Argyrosonnis (A. hoyi, the mooneye cisco; A. prognathus, the
longjaw; A. nigripennis, the bluefin; and .4. tullihec, the tullibee)
are more or less commonly taken in Lake Michigan. None of these
species is as abundant as the lake herring (,4. artedi), however, and
none, unless the bluefin, is taken at all frequently in southern Lake
Michigan, within the limits of this state. For purposes of the
present report all of these species are sufficiently characterized in the
key to the species of Argyrosomus preceding.
Genus CRISTIVOMER Gill & Jordan
(great lake trout)
Body moderately elongate; mouth large; hyoid with a band of
strong teeth; vomer boat-shaped, with a raised crest behind the head
and free from its shaft, this crest being armed with teeth; caudal little
forked; scales very small.
56 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
CRISTIVOMER NAMAYCUSH (Walbaum)
(great lake trout)
Walbaum, 1792, Artedi Piscium, 6S (Salmo).
G., VI, 123 (Salmo); ]. & G., 317 (Salvelinus) ; M V., 80 (Salvelinusi ; |. & E., 1,504;
N., 44 (Salmo); J.. 54; F., 73 (Salvelinus); L., 21.
Length 3 feet; body elongate, depth 4 in length. General coloration
dark grayish green to brownish, sometimes paler, sometimes almost
black; everywhere with rounded paler spots, which are often yellowish
or reddish tinged ; head usually vermieulate above ; dorsal and caudal
reticulate with darker, the anal faintly so. Head 44, long, and its upper
surface flattened; eye 41 in head; interorbital space 3i; nose 3|; mouth
very large, the maxillary extending much beyond eve. nearly half length
of head; teeth very strong. Dorsal rays 11 ; anal 11 ; caudal well forked.
Scales very small, 185 to 210 in longitudinal series; lateral line con-
tinuous, pores about 100.
This magnificent species, one of the three most important fishes
of our Great Lakes is, like the whitefish, a species of northern distri-
bution. It is found throughout the Great Lake region, and in the
lakes of New York, New Hampshire, and Maine, thence to the head-
waters of the Columbia and Fraser rivers and the streams of Van-
couver Island, and northward to the arctic circle. It is common in
the northern part of Lake Michigan, but rarer to the southward.
In our Illinois markets it is known almost wholly by the name of
lake trout, but farther north the names of Mackinaw trout, salmon-
trout, and namaycush are sometimes used. It is extremely van-
able in size, form, and color, particularly under the influence of local
conditions, and hence has received many local names.
Although the usual weight of specimens taken in large -meshed
gill-nets is about eight pounds, and of those captured with lines and
seines not more than two pounds, the species is said by Goode to
a I tain a weight of a hundred and twenty pounds, which is eight
limes the maximum size of the closely allied brook trout. "This
is due, perhaps," he says, "to the greater ease with which, for hun-
dreds of generations, the lake trout have obtained their food.
They are almost always found in the same lakes with one or more
kinds of whitefish, whose slow helpless movements render them an
easy prey, and upon whose tender luscious flesh the lake trout feeds
voraciously." This trout is a fish of highly predaceous habit, living
especially upon lake herring of all sizes, but eating, in an emergency,
almost any animal food which comes in its way.
A lake trout twenty-three inches long has been known to swallow
a burbot of a length of seventeen inches, and whitefish of two or
CRISTIVOMER GREAT LAKE TROUT 57
three pounds weight are not infrequently taken from the stomachs
of large trout. A twenty-pound trout caught off Beaver Island, in
northern Lake Michigan, had thirteen herring in its stomach.
"They are as omnivorous," says Goode, " as codfish, and among the
articles which have been found in their stomachs may be mentioned
an open jack-knife seven inches long, tin cans, rags, raw potatoes,
chicken and ham bones, salt pork, corn-cobs, spoons, silver dollars,
a watch and chain, and, in one instance, a piece of tarred rope two
feet long." Most of this debris was doubtless taken while the fish
were following steamers.
The greater part of the year is spent by this fish in deep water,
but in the spawning season it approaches the shore, depositing its
eggs late in October, usually on rocky bottoms, at depths varying
from seven feet to fifteen fathoms. Mr. Milner found nearly fifteen
thousand eggs in a lake trout of twenty-four pounds weight. The
young appear in late winter or early spring.
Lake trout are taken chiefly in pound- and gill-nets during their
spawning season — that is, in September, October, and November —
but they are also caught in deep water from the time the ice breaks
up until late fall. They may be readily taken with a hook baited
with a piece of fish, but they are not sufficiently "game" to reward
the patient angler with a "first-class fight."
The value of the lake-trout fishery is second only to that of the
whitefish in the Great Lake region. The. product of Lake Michigan
alone in 1899, was five and a half million pounds. The species has
been propagated artificially to a considerable extent, particularly
in Michigan, where the Northville hatchery recently handled over
eleven million eggs in a single year, about 70 per cent, of them suc-
cessfully-.
58 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Order APODES
(the eels)
Body eel-shaped; skeleton bony; vertebrae numerous, the anterior
ones distinct, without Weberian ossicles r ventral fins absent; all fins
without spines; pectoral arch, if present, not connected with, and remote
from, the skull; mesocoracoid absent; opercular bones small and con-
cealed; premaxillaries absent; maxillaries persistent in some forms
{Anguillidm); air-bladder, if present, communicating with oesophagus
by an open duct.
The eels are elongate serpentine fishes, mostly with naked skin,
or with extremely small imbedded scales. Their origin is unknown.
They show some kinship with the Isuspondyli (shad- and herring-
like forms), from which they may have sprung by degradation,
though this is by no means certain. The forms without paired fins
are mostly marine. There are several families, of which one is
represented in American fresh waters.
Family ANGUILLIDjE
(the true eels)
Body serpentine, or eel-shaped, covered with very fine scales which
are deeply imbedded in the skin; head naked; lateral line present; skele-
ton osseous; vertebrae numerous, the anterior ones not modified; ventral
fins absent; no spines in fins; dorsal and anal continuous with caudal
around tail, which is isocercal (i. e., with the caudal vertebrae decreasing
in size in a straight line backwards, as in the Anacanlhini) ; mesocoracoid
absent; gill-openings much restricted, about as wide as the base of the
pectorals; operculum small, concealed beneath skin; mouth terminal;
jaws about equal; premaxillaries absent; maxillaries lateral, separated on
median line by the coalesced ethmoid and vomer; maxillary, mandible,
and vomer with cardiform teeth; air-bladder with open duct; young
passing through a larval stage, the ribbon-shaped larva being known as
Leptocephalus (a name first used to designate these forms as a distinct
genus of fishes).
Preshand brackish waters of most parts of the world, but not
found on Pacific coast of North America or in islands of the Pacific.
A single genus known.
ANGUILLA EELS 59
Genus ANGUILLA Shaw
(eels)
Characters included in description of the family. Species not numer-
ous and those known not very well distinguished from each other, A.
anguilla of Europe, A. chrysypa of the eastern United States, and .1.
japonica of east Asia being very closely allied.
ANGUILLA CHRYSYPA Rafinesqtje
(AMERICAN EEL; FRESH-WATER EEL)
Rafinesquc, 1817, Amer. Month. Mag. & Crit. Rev., 120.
G., VIII, 31 (bostoniensis); J. & G., 361 (rostrata) ; M. V., 90 (anguilla); I & E .
I, 348; .V. 51 (vulgaris var. rostratai; J . 68 (rostrata); F., 71 (rostrata)"; L , 20.
Length 3 to 4 feet, weight 5 to 8 lb ; body serpentine, subcylindrical
anteriorly, compressed behind; depth in length 12 to 17. Color vari-
able, usually nearly plain greenish brown, often more or less tinged
with yellowish; belly paler, greenish gray. Head 7 or 8 in length, 2 to
2.5 in trunk (distance from gill-openings to front of anal) ; interorbita]
space 5 to 7 in head; eye 2 to 2.8; a single pair of short nasal barbels;
mouth wide, maxillary past orbit, lips thin, and lower jaw projecting;
gill-membranes very broadly joined across isthmus, the gill-openings
confined to the sides of the neck below top of pectoral basis; jaws with
bands of cardiform teeth; vomer toothed. Dorsal fin inserted about
head's length in front of anal, its distance from snout about 3 in length;
dorso-caudal with about 60 rays to tip of tail; pectorals very short, 3 in
head; no ventrals. Scales minute*, oblong, slender, and deeply im-
bedded, the oblique rows taking a zigzag direction; lateral line devel-
oped, nearly straight.
Atlantic and Gulf coasts and West Indies, ascending rivers ; not
in the Pacific; found throughout the Mississippi Valley; in all the
larger streams of Illinois. Taken regularly in small numbers from
the Illinois River at Havana from deep water.
The eel reaches a length of 3 to 4 feet and a weight of 4 to 6 lb.
A majority of those taken are between 7\ and 3 feet long. A
specimen 34 inches long recently caught at Havana weighed 3|
pounds.
Eels prefer deep water with mud bottom. They are often found
in tlie mouths of shallow sloughs at night, and in such places may
be taken along with bullheads on trot-lines. They are powerful
and rapid swimmers, and can travel rapidly over the ground, like
* In .■! en 2 J feet long ISO scales were i ounted on one square inch of surface
of side of body, half way between tip of tail and vent.
60 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
snakes. They have been known to come up out of the water into
damp meadows, where they are sometimes found hiding under
stones near springs.
They are among the most voracious of all carnivorous fishes, but
are chiefly scavengers in their feeding habits, eating all manner of
refuse, preferring, however, dead fish or other animal matter. They
sometimes devour fishes caught in gill-nets, and on the Atlantic
coast frequently mutilate shad, caught in the net, to get at their
roe. It is said by Jordan and Evermann that it frequently happens
that the greater part of a gill-net catch may consist, when it is re-
moved, simply of the heads and backbones of fishes, the remainder
having been devoured by myriads of eels. They are nocturnal
feeders, "poking their noses into every imaginable hole in their
search for food." An eel in our aquarium at Ottawa, sought its
food only at night, and hid by day under a stone on the bottom of
the tank. ,
The flesh of the eel is highly esteemed by many, and it always
1 irings a good price. In the Great Lake region and in the East eels
are often salted and smoked. They are also put up in tins with
jellies or a spiced sauce of vinegar. Their skins are used in England
for binding books and making whips. Eels are caught in traps and
eel-pots and on set-lines, and sometimes also with seines.
The mode of reproduction and the development of their young
were unsolved riddles from the time of Aristotle to near the end of
the nineteenth century, but all essential facts in the life history
of the species are now well understood. The principal difficulty
arose from the fact that the eel, although a fresh-water fish
during the greater part of its life, migrates to the sea to propagate,
spawning in salt water, usually on muddy banks off the mouths of
rivers. The young develop within two or three months, but they
are so unlike the adults that they were not recognized as belonging
even to the same genus. Spawning occurs in fall, and at the be-
ginning i if the second spring the young find their way to the mouths
of rivers, which they ascend in considerable numbers, remaining in
fresh water until full grown, when they return to the sea. During
this migration, eels, like salmon and shad, do nut take any food.
Their sexual organs do not mature until they have been some weeks
in salt water. After spawning both sexes die, neither males nor
females ever returning to fresh water the second time. The eel is
remarkably prolific, a single female 32 inches long having been
estimated to produce 10,700,000 eggs.
ORDER EVENTOGNATHI — THE CARP-LIKE FISHES 61
Order EVENTOGNATHI
(THE CARP-LIKE FISHES)
Skeleton osseous; anterior vertebrae modified, with Weberian appa-
ratus; fins without spines in typical forms; ventral fins abdominal;
pectoral arch suspended from the skull ; a mesocoracoid present; opercular
bones all present; branchiostegals few, usually 3 or 4; air-bladder with
open duct; jaws without teeth. Species exceedingly numerous, in all of
the streams and lakes of the northern hemisphere.
Key to Families of EVENTOGNATHI found ix Illinois
a. Dorsal fins of more than 25 rays, fir shorter and the lips thickened and
covered with plicate or papillose skin; pharyngeal teeth numerous md
comb-like Catostomidse.
aa. Dorsal fin of not more than 10 rays; lips usually thin, never plicate or papil-
lose; pharyngeal teeth fewer than S on a side, in 1 to 3 rows. . . Cyprinidae.
Family CATOSTOMIDjE
(the suckers)
Body oblong or elongate, usually mure or less compressed, covered
with large or small cycloid scales; head naked; lateral line usually
present; belly not serrated ; skeleton osseous; anterior 4 vertebrae modi-
!i- 1 and provided with Weberian apparatus or ossicida auditus; fins
without spines; ventrals abdominal; no adipose fin; tail more or less
forked; a mesocoracoid arch present; gill-membranes more or less
united to the isthmus, restricting tin gill-openings to the sides; pseudo-
branchiae present ; branchiostegals 3 ; margin of upper jaw formed in
the middle by the small premaxillaries, and on the sides by the maxil-
laries; jaws toothless; lower pharyngeal bones falciform, armed with
a single row of numerous comb-like teeth; mouth usually protractile
and with fleshy lips (sucker-like); alimentary canal long; stomach
simpli . ii" pyloric caeca; air-bladder large, divided into 2 or 3 parts by
tran: i i e constrictions, not surrounded by a bony capsule, communi-
cating with the oesophagus by a slender open duct.
One of the most striking characteristics of the fish fauna of
Illinois, and indeed of the whole Mississippi Valley, is the promi-
nence of the sucker family, which includes, within the limits of this
state, civli i genera and fifteen recognized species, several of them
among the most abundant and mosl generally distributed of our
larger fishes. •
62 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
The family is found in the fresh waters of North America at
large, in which about 15 genera and 60 species occur; and there
are 2 species also in eastern Asia. They range in length from 6
inches to 3 feet. The suckers have usually been regarded by Euro-
pean writers as a subfamily of Cyprinidcs, from which they differ
chiefly in the structure of the mouth and the lower pharyngeal
bones. They are generally of sluggish habit and, as a rule, prefer
water of good depth and little current, but some of them may be
found in almost every stream and pond within their range. Their
spring migration is familiar to all fishermen, and to many who do
not fish, all of our species running up the smaller streams in May or
June to deposit their eggs. The males of most species develop
black or red pigment on the body and fins in spring, and in many
kinds peculiar wart dike tubercles, called pearl organs, appear at
this season on the head, fins, and caudal peduncle.
The suckers are, on the whole, an unusually homogeneous group
as represented in Illinois, not only agreeing in the character of their
feeding structures which gives them their common name, but un-
usually similar also in their movements, habits, modes of life, and
places of most frequent resort. They feed, without exception, on
the bottom of the waters they inhabit, and commonly on substan-
tially the same kinds of food, differing somewhat in respect to the
places in which they seek it. The buffalo-fishes, for example, are
from 2\ to 3 times as abundant in our collections from the bot-
tom-land lakes as they would be if they had been equally dis-
tributed throughout all waters. In other words, the frequency
coefficient of one of the two buffaloes is 2.26 for lowland lakes and
that of the other is 2.93. On the other hand, the common sucker,
the chub-sucker, and the striped sucker show a decided preference
for the smaller streams, their coefficients of frequency in creeks
being 4.27, 3.41, and 3.17 for the three species respectively. The
most marked departure from the average habit of the family is
made by the hogsucker, or stone-roller (Catostomus nigricans),
which especially frequents swift water on rocky stretches of the
larger streams, filling there the place which the darters occupy in
creeks and brooks.
Notwithstanding these divergencies in local distribution, the
family as a whole forms a rather definite ecological group, as is
shown especially by the frequency with which representatives of the
several species are found in company in the same situations and
appear together, consequently, in our collections. The average
frequency of this joint occurrence of the species of suckers and
CATOSTOMIDjE THE SUCKERS 63
buffaloes in collections is decidedly greater, according to our ex-
perience, than the corresponding average for the darters or the
sunfish, being represented, 'for suckers, by the general coefficient
of 2.45, for darters by 2.02, and for sunfish — that is, the Centrarchida
exclusive of the black bass — by 1.87.
When full grown, the majority of the species are safe from any
enemies of their kind which the water contains, but their survival
to adult age is dependent on their fortune in escaping from a host
of predaceous and voracious fishes against which they have no
defense, and to whose depredations their haunts and habits freely
expose them. In the food of 1,221 Illinois fishes, representing 87
species, studied by the senior author during the dozen years pre-
ceding 1888, suckers and buffalo-fish were found most frequently in
the food of the pike, but occurred also in that of dogfish, bullheads,
sheepsheads, and sunfish. The sucker family would evidently
suffer much more severely, however, if it were not for the presence
in the waters they inhabit of the gizzard-shad, more abundant, ami
probably more accessible to pike and other predaceous fishes, than
are either suckers or young buffaloes. It is an interesting illustration
of the way in which companion species having little or nothing to
do with each other directly may nevertheless greatly influence
each others' welfare, that while 20 pike out of 37 had eaten
gizzard-shad, which made, in fact, nearly half the food of the entire
number, only 3 per cent, of their food came from the sucker family,
and this had been eaten only by three of the pike.
Examining the other side of the food relation, we find that the
food of this family itself, as illustrated by a careful study of the
stomach contents of 109 specimens, belonging to five genera and
eleven species, consisted mainly of the smaller mollusks living in the
mud and larva; of aquatic insects, the two being about equal in
ratio and together making more than three fourths of the entire
food. Vegetation contributed less than 10 per cent, to the mass
examined, and no element of this class was especially prominent.
The structures of alimentation vary noticeably in definite
directions as one passes along the series from the most cylindrical
suckers to the thin and deep-bodied buffalo and carp. In the
former the pharyngeal bones are heavy, and the lower teeth are
thick and strong, usually with a well-developed grinding surface,
while the gill-rakers are short, thick, and few, and the intestine is
comparatively short and large. As the body deepens, the pharyn-
geal bones become longer, the pharyngeal teeth smaller and more
numerous, with diminished grinding surface; the gill-rakers
64 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
longer and more numerous, making a more effective straining
apparatus, and the intestines become longer and smaller. Cor-
responding to these differences of structure, mollusks form a larger
percentage of the food of the cylindrical suckers, and Entomostraca
and vegetable food a very much greater part of that of the deep-
b( idied species. All the species commonly swallow much mud, since
they collect most of their food from the bottom by suction, to which
their protractile mouths and fleshy lips are peculiarly adapted.
As food fishes they do not hold a high place, the flesh being
rather coarse, dry, and either flavorless or strong, and always pro-
vi kingly full of small bones. The buffalo and sucker fishery is
nevertheless an important one in the Mississippi Valley and the
Great Lake region. (See under Ictiobus.) Of the 15 species found
in the waters of the Illinois alone, about one third have a greater or
less commercial value.
Key to the Genera of CATOSTOMIDjE found in Illinois
a. Dorsal fin elongate, with 25 to 40 developed rays.
b. Posterior fontanelle almost obliterated by the union of the parietals; head
small and slender, its length 6 to 7 times in body; lips with several series
of tubercle-like papiike Cycleptus.
bb. Posterior fontanelle well developed, extending forward between f rentals a
distance equal to more than i of their length; head 3J to 5 times in body;
lips plicate, striate, or smooth
c. X" anterior fontanelle, the frontals being closely joined with the ethmoid;
cheek somewhat shallow and foreshortened, distance from eye to lower
posterior angle of preopercle about § of that to upper corner of gill-cleft;
subopercle broadest at its middle, subsemicircular Ictiobus.
cc. Anterior fontanelle well developed, separating anterior edges of frontals and
notching ethmoid; cheek relatively deep and long, eye about equidistant
between upper corner of gill-cleft and infra-posterior angle of preopercle;
subopercle broadest below its middle, subtriangular Carpiodes.
aa. Dorsal fin short, with 10 to 18 developed rays.
d. Lateral line more or less incomplete or wholly wanting; scales large and uni-
formly distributed, .30 to 50 in lateral line
e. Lateral line entirely wanting at all ages Erimyzon.
ee. Lateral line more or less developed in adults Minytrema.
dd. Lateral line plete and continuous.
f. Scales small and crowded anteriorly, the number in tin- lateral line 55 to 1 1 o
p1 in ( ', mgricanus, for which see below ff) Catostomus.
ff. Scales large and nearly equal all over the body, 4(> to 55 in the lateral line.
g. Air-bladder in two part , cales 48 to 55 in lateral line
Catostomus (Hypentelium) nigricans,
gg. Air bladder in three parts; si all il irger, 40 to 50 in lateral line
h. Upper lip protractile, lower entire or incised only part way to anterior mar-
gin.
i. Pharyngeal teeth compressed; mouth wholly inferior Moxostoma.
ii. Lower pharynge il teeth much enlarged, subcylindrical and truncate; mouth
s ewhal oblique, lips verj thick Placopharynx.
hh Upper lip not protrai tile; 1' >\\ er lip in two separate 1 ibes Lagochila.
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CYCLEPTUS 65
Genus CYCLEPTUS Rafinesque
Body elongate, little compressed, caudal peduncle very long; head
very small, short and slender; mouth small, inferior; lips tuberculate.
The skeleton is remarkable for deficiencies of ossification and other
features which may indicate affinity with a primitive catostomoid
stock. Forward portion of chondrocranium strongly developed, the
trabeculae fusing anteriorly into a broad and thick ethmoid plate, which
is continuous in front with the bulbular cartilages of the end of the
vomer, and above with the broad girdledike legmen cranii; bones of
skull somewhat heavy, their exposed surfaces more or less rough; pre-
frontals, meso- and ento-pterygoids very spongy, and other bones
subject in varying degress to incompleteness of ossification; sutures
very distinct, never close and strongly joined, with cartilage between
the edges of the articulating elements in many instances ; configuration
of roofing bones of brain case and orbits much as in Ictiobus; nasal
foramen closed externally by a sieve-like plate; a small supraorbital
bone intervening between lateral wings of prefrontal and frontal;
posterior fontanelle represented by a small opening at intercalation of
supraoccipital and frontals; anterior fontanelle present, notching
ethmoid and extending a short distance backward between frontals;
sub- and inter-operculum and branchiostegals rather small; pharyngeal
bones narrow and spongy, the teeth from 2 5 to 35 in number, the lower
ones somewhat compressed but strong, the remaining teeth weak,
diminishing rapidly in size upward; vertebrae 49 in number, rather
heavy and poorly sculptured; ribs 13, short and weak; floating pairs
14, very slender and thread-like, their parapophyses (vertebrae 17 to 30)
short and stout and similar in form and size, with distal extremities
expanded and their free margins crenate; air-bladder in two parts, the
posterior yen' long and slender and much tapered behind, furnished
interiorly with a spiral band of supporting cartilage ; dorsal rays about
50, the 'first rays elongated, about half the length of the fin; scales
elongate, with a broad membranous posterior border; lateral line com-
plete, a peculiar and conspicuous memliranous area about the posterior
terminus of each tube. Mississippi Valley; one species known.
CYCLEPTUS ELONGATUS (Le Sueur)
(MISSOURI sucker; BLACK-HORSE)
Le Sueur. 1817, J A( Nat Sci. Phila., I. 103 (Catostomus).
G., VII. 23 (Sclerognathus); J. & G., 121; M. V., 46; |. & E., I, 168; N., 50; 1 ,64;
1; , 81 ; L., 12.
Body elongate, little compressed and the back little elevated, depth
1 io 5 in length. Size large; length 2h feet. Color dark, bluish black
aboul head; fins dusky to black; spring males almost black, the head
covered with small tubercles. Head very small and slender, conic, its
length 5.8 to 6.4, width 8.2 to 8.8, depth S.i to 8.5 in length oi bodj ,
siumt fleshy, tapering to the bluntly pointed muzzle, which extends
66 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
considerably beyond the decidedly inferior mouth; distance from eye
to muzzle 2 to 2.2 in head; mouth small, its width from 5.8 to 6 in head;
lips rather thick, protractile almost directly downward, each furnished
with 5 or 6 rows of strongly developed tubercle-like papillas; lower lip
incised behind; eye very small, located a little back of center of head, 6
to 8.3 in its length; interorbital space convex, about 2 in head. Dorsal
rays 31 to 32, the first two developed rays elevated to about i the
length of base of fin, the succeeding rays rapidlv shortened to about the
eighth, the remaining rays all low and of about equal height; position
of dorsal well forward, the distance from insertion of fin to muzzle 2.2
to 2.4 in length of body; caudal deeply forked, the lobes about equal.
Scales 9 or 10, 55-58, 8-10, much longer than broad, much crowded on
nape, breast, and belly, and at base of dorsal fin; lateral line complete.
.This peculiar species, the only one of its genus, is confined to
the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers. It is reported abundant at
Pittsburg, but is not common in the Mississippi above the latitude
of Quincy. It is frequently taken in spring at Cairo and at Grafton,
on the Mississippi, and in the lower part of Rock River, but it dis-
appears from the product of the fisheries, except for an occasional
specimen, about the last of June, as soon as the spring run is over.
It is also caught in spring in considerable quantities in the Illinois
River, but much less abundantly now than in former years. To
Illinois and Mississippi River fishermen in this state it is commonly
known as the Missouri sucker, or occasionally as the black sucker.
The name "black-horse" we have not found in current use.
It reaches a length of 2 or 2\ feet, and Ashlock reports specimens
taken at Alton of a weight of 16 pounds. As a food fish it is the
best of the suckers. It is caught on set-lines as well as in fyke-nets
and with seines. Its habits are but little known, but it apparently
lives in the deeper water of the river channels, except during the
spawning migration. Eggs are deposited in May and June.
Genus ICTIOBUS Rafinesque
Body robust, compressed, both dorsal and ventral outlines curved;
head rather large; mouth terminal or slightly inferior; lips thin, plain
or more or less strongly plicate, the upper protractile, the lower lobed
at corners of mouth, plicate. The generallv heavier bones, with
more or less roughened surfaces, ami the different configuration of
certain cranial elements (see key to genera of Catostomidcs) in Ictiobus
furnish the most reliable means of distinction between this genus and
( arpiodes. Frontals joined closely with ethmoid, obliterating anterior
fontanelle, po terior fontanelle large, somewhat narrowed forward,
its posterior margin formed by the supraoccipital; a supraorbital
bone present; suboperculum symmetrically rounded, subsemicircular,
ICTIOBUS 67
broadest at its middle; cheek shorter and not so deep as in Carpiodes,
the lower posterior border of the preopercle a gentle curve, the eve
evidently closer to the angle of the preopercle than to the upper corner
of the gill-cleft; pharyngeal bones broad, but thin and weak, the teeth
short and compressed; vertebrae 36; air-bladder in two parts; dorsal fin
long, with from 25 to 30 rays, the anterior rays produced, about A the
length of base of fin; scales roundish; lateral line complete; color rather
dark, never silvery; sexual differences slight.
Mississippi and Ohio rivers and their larger tributaries; three
species known, all of them common to our larger streams. These
fishes are the largest in size of the Catostomidce, not infrequently
reaching a length of 3 feet and a weight of 50 pounds. The name
"buffalo-fish" refers to the bull-like hump at the nape in old indi-
viduals. The relationships of these fishes with the carp are remote.
The view, not uncommon among fishermen, that carp and buffalo
interbreed is not supported by any facts in our knowledge, and is
probably based solely on the superficial* resemblance of the buffalo
and the carp in the form of the body and of the dorsal fin.
The species are gregarious and nocturnal, coming out at night
on bars not frequented by them by day, and where they may be
readily reached by the seine. Fishermen report that they move
into lakes in cold weather, spending the winter as much as possible
in weedy water. They are said to dig holes in the bottom, like the
German carp. This genus includes closely related species of identi-
cal general distribution in Illinois, but differing noticeably in respect
to the structures of food selection, and likewise to some extent in
situations preferred, one of the more abundant species especially
{bubalus) habitually occurring in deeper water than the other. In
the red-mouth buffalo (cyprindla) the pharyngeal jaws are lighter
than in bubalus, their teeth have a smaller grinding surface, and
the gill-rakers are longer and more numerous.
The feeding habits of the buffaloes, like those of all the fishes
inhabiting the muddy waters of central Illinois, are difficult of
observation, but several fishermen and other river men have re-
ported to us that these fishes have the habit of whirling around in
shallow water, or plowing steadily along with their heads buried in
the mud, their bodies in an oblique position, and their tails occa-
sionally showing above the surface. These operations have nothing
to do with the act of spawning, and probably indicate a search for
small mollusks and insect larva? living in the mud. Buffaloes
e oi the conspicuous maxillary barbels in the carp, entirely want
ing in the buffalo, and the heav; :erra ted dorsal spine oi the carp all fini of the
bufl ilo being spineless are sufficient marks of distinction.
68 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
breed in the spring, depositing their eggs in great numbers near the
edges of sloughs. Fishermen on the Illinois say that their set-nets
ime coated with eggs when spawning is in progress. All species
spawn early, ordinarily in April. Mosher'(Bull. U. S. Fish Comm..
1885, p. 190) has described their spawning behavior. They proceed
shoreward in shallow water to deposit their eggs, each female
forming the center of a bunch of 3 to 8 males. The oviposition is
attended with a tremendous splashing, which on a still evening may
be heard a mile. The people call it tumbling ; in fact it is a sight
which once seen will never be forgotten.
Buffaloes form a large part of the fish catch in the Mississippi
Valley, 11,491,000 ft> having been taken from the Mississippi and
its tributaries in 1903. The annual product of the Illinois River
and its tributary streams, although decreasing considerably during
the past twenty years, is now about 3,000,000 lb. The flesh of the
buffalo, while perhaps superior to that of the carp, is not much more
esteemed, and brings a low price.
Key to the Species of ICTIOBUS found in Illinois
a. Mouth large, oblique, upper lip about on level with lower margin of orbit ,
angle of mandible with horizontal more than 40°; maxillary as long as
snout; lips thin and nearly smooth cyprinella.
aa. Mouth smaller, little oblique, level of upper lip about midway between chin
and lower margin of orbit, angle of mandible with horizontal slight, less
than 20°; maxillary not more than J length of snout ; lips more or less
coarsely striate.
b. Back scarcely elevated, depth 3 to 3 J in length urus.
bb. Back elevated and compressed, depth 2 J to 2} in length bubalus.
ICTIOBUS CYPRINELLA (Cuvier & Valenciennes)
(red-mouth buffalo; big-mouth buffalo)
Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1844,' XVII. 477 (Sclerognathus).
G., VII, 24 (Sclerognathus); J. & G., 114 (bubalus); M. V., 44; J. & E., I. 163; N.,
49 (bubalus); J., 65 (bubalus); F., 82; F. F., I. 2,81 (bubalus), II. 7,451 (cypri-
nellus); L., 11.
Body elliptical, robust, dorsal outline but little more curved than ven-
tral; body compressed somewhat more above than below median axis,
imt nowhere keeled, being rather broadly rounded at belly and nape;
i atesl depth from 2.8 to 3.3 in length, usually :?. Size large, reaching
a length of 2\ feet and a weight of 40 lb. General coloration a dull
brownish olh e, never silvery, fins dusky. In breeding dress top of head
slate with a tinge of greenish, cheeks and opercles olive-green; upper
pari of body, except in front of dorsal, of a coppery tint; region of
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s
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ICTIOBL'S
69
^'^SBfcu;
median axis a pale green; ventral region white dulled with bluish; pre-
dorsal region and upper part of caudal peduncle slate; dorsal and caudal
fins drab-gray; anal dusky olive; ventrals lighter; pectorals dull white
under olive. Head large and heavy, its length from 3.3 to 3.7, depth
3.9 to 4.2, width 4.8 to 5.2 in
length of body; snout blunt and ,_.,.
broadly rounded; interorbital _^~r"-" ■"'''■■-Vy
space convex, 2 to 2.4 in head;
snout separated from frontal
region of head by a slight trans-
verse depression in front of
orbits, giving it a turned-up
appearance; mouth large and
wide, terminal, protractile for-
ward, very oblique, upper edge
of mandible about reaching level
of median axis, upper lip almost
on a level with lower margin
of orbit; mandibles strong and
broad, forming a wide protrud-
ing angle at their union with
the quadrate; lips thinner and
smoother than in other species
of Ictiobus, upper very thin and nearly smooth, lower thicker and some-
what lobed at corners, rather faintly and finely striate; eye 5.6 to 7 in
head, situated well forward; opercle strongly striated and very broad.
Dorsal rays 24 to 28, longest ray a little more than half the base of fin;
caudal not deeplv forked; anal short, inserted under last rays of dorsal;
ventrals falling about as short of vent as pectorals do of ventrals. Scales
large, uniform in size and evenly distributed, rather loosely imbricated,
their number 7 or 8, 3 7 to 40, 6 or 7 ; lateral line complete, rather flexuose
posteriorly and somewhat abruptly elevated in front of dorsal fin.
Sexual differences slight, the males averaging a little smaller in size
and darker in color than the females; spring males without tubercles.
Distributed throughout the Mississippi Valley, in rivers, lakes,
ponds, and larger creeks; also in the Red River of the North to
Winnipeg. It does not occur east of the Alleghanies, nor in the
Great Lakes.
This is a very abundant fish in our larger streams and in the
lakes of the river bottoms, being one of the three species most
commonly shipped from the Illinois and the Mississippi under the
name of "buffalo-fish." It is taken abundantly in the latter river
at Cairo, Grafton, and Quincy, and is one of the important com-
mercial species of the Illinois, from which it is caught in 1.
numbers as far north as Henry. It is much less abundant now,
however, than some years ago. It is the common "buffalo-fish"
ol the fishermen, and generally receives no more distinctive name.
70 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
It grows to a large size, sometimes reaching a weight of 50 pounds.
Although its flesh is of poor quality, it is used everywhere as food.
Its structures of food prehension and appropriation — the
mouth, the gill-rakers, and the pharyngeal jaws and teeth — are
so constructed as to enable it to collect its food readily from a
muddy bottom, to strain away the greater part of the mud, retain-
ing objects large enough to serve as food, and to crush and masti-
cate hard or shell-covered objects, unfit for digestion entire. Its
pharyngeal jaws are not so strong as those of biibalus, the thickness
being about a fourth the depth. The teeth are some seventy-five
in number on each jaw, minute above, gradually but not greatly
thickened below, the ten lowest occupying nearly a fifth of the
length of the arch. The gills are compactly disposed in a rather
small branchial chamber, the upper ends of the arches being de-
curved and the lower elevated so that each gill forms about three
fourths of a circle. There are seventy-five gill-rakers in the an-
terior row, the longer of which are fully equal in length to the cor-
responding gill-filaments, and eight or ten of the lower rakers are
fused in the form of thick oblique ridges.
About a third of the food of seventeen specimens examined, con-
sisted of alga\ seeds of aquatic plants, and distillery slops, the last
obtained off the Peoria city front where the wastes from distilleries
were emptied into the stream. Of the remaining two thirds, nearly
half consisted of Entomostraca, and more than half i if aquatic insects,
very largely Chircmomus larva; and larva; of day-flies.
The species breeds in early spring, ordinarily between the 10th
and 20th of April (Capt. Schulte). In 1898 the red-mouth spawned
1 iet ween the 15th and the 30th of that month.
ICTIOBUS URUS (Agassiz)
(mongrel buffalo; round buffalo)
;iz, 1854, Anu-r. J. Sci. Arts (Silliman's Journal), XVII, 355 (Carpiodes).
J. & G. (Bubalichthys), 116; M. V., 44; J. & E., I, 164; \\, 50 (Bubalichthys niger);
J., 65 (Bubalichthys); 1'., 82; F. V , I 2, 81 (Bubalichthys nigen, II. 7, 452; L.,
11.
Body robust, elliptical, the dorsal and ventral outlines nearly equally
curved, the genera! form being much as in cyprinella except thai the body
is somewhat more elongate and the back more broadly rounded in front
of dorsal; depth 3 to 3.4 in length. Size large, about as in last species.
Color usually darker than in cyprinella, a dark slaty gray, shading to
almost black when taken from clear water; all fins dark. Head thick
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ICTIOBUS
71
and heavy, its length 3.7 to 4, depth 4 to 4.S, width 4.9 to 5.6 in length
of body; snout very blunt and broadly rounded, its profile continuous
with that of frontal region; interorbital space 2 to 2.3 in head; mouth
moderate, considerablv smaller than in last species, and but slightly
larger than in next species, sub-
terminal, protractile forward and
downward, as a rule but little
oblique, the edge of the mandible
falling considerably below medi-
an axis, level of upper lip about
midway between chin and lower
margin of orbit ; angle formed by
articulation of mandible with
quadrate evident, but less prom-
inent than in cyprinella ; lips
rather thin, but less so than in
last species, theupper faintly , the
lower rather coarsely, striated;
eve 5.1 to 6.6 in head, situated
well upward and forward; oper-
cles not so broad as in the last.
Dorsal rays 29 or 30, the longest considerably less than \ base of fin;
other fins about as in the preceding species, the caudal not quite so
deeply forked. Scales 7 or 8, 36-40, 6 to 8; lateral line complete, less
flexuose posteriorly and not so abruptly elevated in front of dorsal as in
i yprinella.
Spring males without tubercles.
The mongrel buffalo appears to vary somewhat more than either
/. cyprinella or bubalus, but we have met with no cases which appear
to show intergradation with either. This species seems to be al-
ways distinguishable from the former by its much smaller and less
oblique mouth, the upper lip falling far below the level of the lower
margin of the orbit, and by the coarsely striate lower lips; from the
latter by the more elongate and less compressed body, and by the
broad rounding of the frontal region and of the back in front of the
dorsal fin.
Distributed throughout the Mississippi Valley practically as the
red-mouth is, but less abundantly.
This is a large species, sometimes exceeding 50 pounds in weight,
though commonly less than 20. It resembles the red-mouth in
habits and value.
The same may be said with respect to its food, our 17 specimens,
well distributed as to time and place of capture, having taken ratios
of animal and vegetable food almost identical with those of cypri-
nella— 67 per cent, and 33 per cent, respectively. There was a
larger ratio of mollusks and of insects — the latter 42 per cent. — but
72
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
the principal species of each were the same as in cyprinella. The
Crustacea (13 per cent.) were almost all Entomostraca, a young craw-
fish taken by one of the buffaloes being the only exception. This
species had likewise eaten distillery slops and various forms of
aquatic plants, including duckweeds and unicellular alga?.
This buffalo spawned at Havana in 1898 between the 15th and
the 30th of April, but ripe females were caught the following year as
late as May 29.
ICTIOBUS BUBALUS (Rafinesque)
(small-mouth buffalo; razor-backed buffalo;
quillback buffalo)
Rafinesque, ISIS, J. Phys., 421 (Amblodon).
G., VII, 22 ( Sclerognathus urus); [• & G., 116 (Bubalichthys altus); M. V., 44; J.
& E .. I. L64; N . 4". (cyanellus); J., 66 (Bubalichthys cyanellus,); F., 82; F. F.,
Body compressed, back
much elevated ; ventral line not
much decurved ; back in front of
dorsal fin compressed into a
keel; depth from 2.5 to 2.9 in
length of body. Size somewhat
smaller than in the two preceding
species. General coloration
much as in cyprinella, but be-
coming paler in adults, sometimes
exceedingly so, old specimens
usually a muddy whitish, with
but faint traces of blue and
coppery about head and ante-
rior half of body; young speci-
mens usually quite dark, the
head dark bluish gray below; all
tins more or less dusky. Head smaller, more compressed, and more
pointed than in the foregoing species, the occipital region high and
sharply arched transversely, length of head 3.6 to 4.1, depth 4.4 to 5,
width 5.1 to 5.8 in body; interorbital space 2.1 to 2.6 in head; snout
pointed; mouth small, inferior, protractile downward and forward,
in size and form sometimes scarcely distinguishable from that of the
last species; lips rather coarsely and brokenly plicate; mandibles nearly
horizontal, scarcely forming an evident angle at the articulation with
the quadrate; eye 4.4 to 6.2 in head, rather larger than in either of the
prei eding species; opercle about as in last. 1 torsal rays 2 7 to 30, the long
es1 a little less than half base of fin; caudal somewhat more deeply i< nisei I
than in cyprinella or urus. Scales 7 or 8, 37-39. 5 to 7 ; lateral line com-
plete, gently flexu i
I Head and snoul of males fine' tuberculate in spring.
Fig 16.
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-
ICTIOBUS 73
Distributed throughout the Mississippi Valley much as the
other buffalo are, but tending more generally to deep water, accord-
ing to the reports of fishermen.
It is common in the Mississippi and the Illinois rivers, and in the
principal streams of the state at large. It is not so frequently taken
in shallow water as the other species, and it is said to have a stronger
preference for flowing streams. Nevertheless, it must be said that
more than two thirds of the specimens in our collections came from
lakes and sloughs, the greater part of the remainder being from
rivers of the larger size.
This buffalo does not average as large as the preceding species,
its maximum weight in the Mississippi being, according to Mr. Ash-
lock, of Alton, less than 40 lb.
About a fifth of the food of the specimens examined, consists 1 of
vegetation, mainly duckweed, but with an occasional admixture of
terrestrial rubbish. The animal food was divided, with approxi-
mate equality, between mollusks, insects, and Entomostraca, the
latter taken chiefly in spring when they are present in the greatest
abundance. The food of the young of this buffalo consists largely
of the minuter forms of the plankton, including especially Protozoa,
rotifers, and unicellular algae.
The gill-rakers of this species are less numerous than those of
cyprinella and scarcely so long, and seem to form a less efficient
straining apparatus. The pharyngeal jaws are heavier, triangular
in section, and about as thick as high. Seventeen specimens of
this species, collected from the Illinois and the Mississippi in vari-
ous months from April to October, contained aquatic vegetation
amounting to about a third of the total food, the principal element
being a small duckweed (Wolfjia) especially abundant where a part
of the fishes were taken, and amounting in some cases to 95 per
cent, of the contents of the stomach. A larger duckweed, frag-
ments of hornwort (Ceratophyllum), diatoms, and other unicellular
algas had also been eaten. Animal food (80 per cent.) was fairly
equally divided between mollusks, insects, and Crustacea, the first
(30 per cent.) being mainly a thin-shelled bivalve (Sphceriitui) com-
mon in the mud. Several specimens had eaten nothing but tins
mollusk. Chironomus larva: and luitomostraca were the principal
other elements, each making practically a fifth of the entire foi "1.
74 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Genus CARPIODES Rafinesque
(carp-suckers)
Body more or less thin and compressed, becoming deeper and more
arched above with age; ventral line almost straight or but slightly
curved downward; head small, short, somewhat compressed; lips thin
and slightly striate; bones of skull with generally smoother surfaces
and not so heavv as in Ictiobus; a well-developed anterior fontanelle at
intercalation of frontals and ethmoid; a supraorbital bone present; pos-
terior fontanelle narrowest behind, its posterior margin formed by the
converging parietals; suboperculum very broad, subtriangular, its
greatest breadth below middle; cheek deep and long, the lower posterior
border of the preopercle somewhat angled, the center of orbit equi-
distant between its infraposterior angle and the upper corner of the
gill-cleft; pharyngeal bones broad but very thin, the teeth very much
compressed, weaker than in Ictiobus; vertebrae 35 or 36; air-bladder
in two parts; dorsal fin long, rays 23 to 30, the anterior rays some-
times produced into a long filament that may reach almost to the caudal ;
scales large; lateral line complete; color light, usually more or less
silvery; snout tuberculate in spring males of some species (difjormis
and velifer).
Four species of these fishes are known in Illinois, mostly of small
size, seldom over 1 2 inches long, and of little or no commercial value.
The name of carp was applied to them by the early settlers of Vir-
ginia, although they bear only a general resemblance to the Euro-
pean species of that name. Since the latter was introduced into our
waters the native species have been called "American carp."
Since they belong to a different family from the foreign species, to
which the name was originally given, the common name of carp-
sucker, already considerably used, is much to be preferred.
In Illinois they are distributed throughout the greater rivers of
the state and their larger tributaries, and occur also in Lake Michi-
gan and the smaller lakes of northern Illinois. They are extremely
common in the lakes and ponds of the river bottoms.
The carp-suckers are rather filthy feeders, swallowing a greater
quantity of mud than the nearly related buffalo-fish. The struc-
tures of food prehension carry to its extreme a development of the
gill-rakers and a correlative degradation of the pharyngeal jaws and
teeth. The pharyngeal bones are very thin and brittle, each with
ab iut 200 teeth, minute above and gradually enlarging downwards,
but not thickening or lengthening greatly on the lower part of the
arch. The intestine is very slender, and about four times as long as
ili, head and body taken together. The gills are remarkably com-
pacted, the upper and lower ends nearly meeting when the mouth
CARPIODES — CARP-SUCKERS 13
is closed, and the longest of the anterior series are a little longer
than the corresponding filaments.
Nineteen specimens, representing 13 localities from extreme
northern to extreme southern Illinois, and various dates from April
to October, indicate that our native carp differ from their near
allies, the buffalo-fishes, in the smaller amount of vegetation eaten,
in the greater quantity of mud mingled with the food, and in a de-
ficiency of the larger insect larva?. The vegetable food of these
specimens was only 8 per cent., mostly the small duckweed, Wolffia.
Mollusks made about a fourth of the food, all the thin-shelled bivalve
Sphcerium. Insects averaged about a third, the greater part larva?
of Chironomus. Entomosiraca made nearly a fourth, and included
a considerable list and variety < if our more abundant species.
Key to the Species of CARPIODES found ix Illixois
a. Snout short, 31 to A\ in head; nostrils well forward, the distance from an-
terior nostril to end of snout considerably less than diameter of eye; tip of
lower jaw little in advance of nostrils.
b. Body robust, subfusiform, depth 2} to 3 in length; snout obtusely pointed;
eve moderate, -U to 5 in head; anterior rays of dorsal scarcely elevated,
osseous at base; large species, reaching over 5 lb in weight carpio.
bb. Body thin and compressed, the back much elevated in adults, depth 2\ to
2'i in length; snout very blunt, squarish at tip; eye large, 3| to 41 in head ;
anterior rays of dorsal much lengthened, sometimes equaling length of
base of fin; small species, not over 12 inches in length difformis.
aa. Snout longer, 3 to 3£ in head; nostrils situated well back, the distance from
anterior nostril to end of snout usually greater than diameter of eye; tip
of lower jaw far in advance of nostrils.
c. Body robust, subfusiform, depth 2§ to 31 in length; anterior rays of dorsal
scarcely elevated, about 1 length of base of fin; halves of lower tip meeting
at a wide angle; large species, reaching a weight of 5 Fb thompsoni.
cc. Body compressed, the back more or less arched, depth 21 to 3 in length;
anterior rays of dorsal much elevated, nearly or more than equaling
length of base of fin; halves of lower lip meeting at a sharp angle; species
of small size, not exceeding 12 inches velifer.
76
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Fir. 17
CARPIODES CARPIO (Rafinesque)
(COMMON RIVER CARP)
Rafinesque, 1820, Ichth. Oh.. 56 (Catostomus).
J. & G., 118; M.V., 4 5 (Ictiobusi; J. & E., I, 166; X . 4'Mlchthyobus carpio and ( ?)
bison i ; J., 65 (carpio and (?) bison); F., 81 (Ictiobus cyprinus. part); L.. 11.
Body elongate, subelliptical, somewhat compressed, but more fusi-
form than in the next species, the back not greatly arched and the
ventral line nearly straight; depth 2.9 to 3.3 in length. Size large,
frequently taken weighing 3 or 4 lb and said sometimes to reach a
weight of 7 or 8 lb. Color smoky to olivaceous over silvery, lighter
below. Head short, deep and heavy, its length 4 to 4.4, depth 4.9 to
5.4, width 6 to 6.8 in length of body; snout short, somewhat pointed,
3.3 to 4.1 in head; the nostrils well forward, but not quite so much so
as in the next species, the distance from the anterior nostril to end of
snout | to f of diameter of eye; mouth wide and short, wholly inferior,
the tip of lower lip very slightly in advance of nostrils; lips thin, the
halves of lower meeting at a very wide angle or open curve; inter-
orbital space 2.2 to 2.6 in head; eye moderate, 4.4 to 5.1 in head.
Dorsal rays 23 to 27, the first rays notably osseous at base, little
elongated, about h length of base of fin. Scales large, 6, 35-37, 6,
usuallv 3 5 or 36 in longitudinal series; lateral line complete, almost
straight; scales (as in difjonnis) somewhat thinner and less closely
imbricated than in thompsoni and velijer.
Occurs throughout the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, ranging
southwest to central Texas. It seldom ascends the smaller streams,
and our o illecti ms have come mainly from the Illinois at Meredosia
and Havana, and from the Mississippi at Grafton. We have not
found it anywhere abundant. It is said by Mississippi River fish
ermerj sometimes to reach a weight of 101b. It is sold for food, but
CARPIODES — CARP-SUCKERS / /
is flavorless and soft. It breeds in spring, but the time of spawning
is not indicated by our notes.
This fish is closely related to C. difformis, from which it may lie
distinguished by the more pointed snout, smaller eye, and more ro-
bust, subfusiform body. It and the next species agree in the short-
ness of the snout, 3 \ to 4^ in head, and in the anterior position of
the nostrils, and both are by these marks readily distinguishable,
except in the case of very young specimens, from thompsoui and
velifer, in which species the snout is notably longer, 3 to 3i in
head, and the nostrils are situated far back from the end of the
snout, the distance from the anterior nostril to the end of the
muzzle being greater than the diameter of the eve.
Fig. IS
CARPIODES DIFFORMIS Cope
(blunt-nosed river carp)
Cope, 1870. P. Amer. Phil. Soc, 480.
J. & G., 120; M V , 45 (Ictiobusi; J. & E . I, 166; N., 49 (Ichthyobus) ; J., 65 (dif-
formis and (?) cutisanserinus) , F , xi (Ictiobus cyprinus, part); L . l"2.
Body short, compressed, the back much arched, ventral surface
broad and nearly straight; depth 2.4 to 2.7 in length. Size small, sel-
dom over 12 inches in length. Color silvery, obscured above bv smoky
olive, much as in the preceding species. Head small, short and deep,
its length 3.9 to 4.3. depth 4.5 to 4.9, width 5.7 to 6.4 in length of body,
snout short, very blunt, the muzzle squarish, distance from eye to tip
3.9 to 4.5 in head, usually greater than 4; nostrils near tip of snout,
distance from anterior nostril to end <>i snoul being \ to jj diameter -1
78 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
orbit; mouth wholly inferior, not quite so wide as in the last species, the
lips somewhat thicker, weakly piicate, the halves of lower meeting at
a rather sharp angle; tip of lower lip scarcely in advance of nostrils;
interorbital space 2.2 to 2.5 in head; eye larger than in other species
of Carpiodes, 3.9 to 4.6 in head, usually but little more than 4. Dorsal
rays 24 to 25, the first ravs rather osseous at base, but not so robust as
in carpio, and as a rule much elongated, sometimes exceeding in length
the base of the fin. Scales large, 6-7, 35-37, 6, usually 35 or 36. rather
loosely imbricated; lateral line complete, nearly straight.
Males with snout tuberculate in spring.
Ohio Valley and westward ; generally common. Common in our
collections, seeming to prefer the shallow waters of the smaller
streams, where the young are often found in large numbers; adults
taken sparingly in the Illinois and Rock rivers.
Represented in 102 of our collections, more than half of which
are from creeks. We have found it less frequent in the larger than
in the smaller rivers, and still less so in lakes and ponds. The size
is small and the species is of little value as food. It is abundantly
distributed throughout central Illinois, but has occurred less com-
monly in our southern Illinois collections, and is absent from the
most of those made in the extreme northern part of the state.
It apparently avoids in great measure the lower Illinoisan glacia-
tion, having been taken but five times by us within that area.
CARPIODES VELIFER (Rafinesque)
(quillback; silver carp)
Rafinesque, 1820, Ichth. Oh., 56 (Catostomus).
J. & G., 118 (tumidus). 119 (cyprinus); M. V . 45 (Ictiobusi; J. & E., I, 167; N., 49
(Ichthyobus); J., 65; F., 81 (Ictiobus cyprinus, part); L., 12.
Body ovate, compressed, back much arched in adults; ventral line
almost straight ; depth 2.7 to 3 in length. Size small, seldom exceeding
12 inches. Color light olive above, sides silvery, fins pale. Head
moderate, its length 3.6 to 4, depth 4.3 to 5. 2. width 6 to 6.7 in length of
body; snout long, bluntly pointed, as in last species, 2.9 to 3.5 in head,
usually less than 3.2; nostrils well back, distance from anterior opening
to end of snout greater than diameter of eye; mouth rather narrow,
slightly oblique, tip of lower lip far in advance of nostrils; lips weakly
plicate^ rather thick, the lower halves Hireling in a sharp angle; inter-
orbital space 2.3 to 2.5 in head; eye small, 4.cS to 5.5 in head. Dorsal
ravs 27 to 30, usually 27, the anterior rays slender and elongate, some-
times longer than base of fin. Scales 7. 39 40, 6; lateral line complete,
usually somewhal flexuose.
CARPIODES — CARP-SUCKERS
79
"^sss^
Fig. 1"
This species, unlike the others of its genus, is most abundant in
northern Illinois and least so in the southern part of the state. It
is almost wholly wanting from our southern Illinois collections made
within the area of the lower Illinoisan glaciation. Like the preceding
species, however, it is found chiefly in the smaller rivers and creeks,
nearly twice as frequently in the latter as in the rivers of larger
size. It ascends small streams freely at the time of the spring
floods. In 1898 it spawned at Havana about April 15. The snout
• if the male is tuberculate in the spawning season.
CARPIODES THOMPSONI Agassiz
(lake carp)
iz, 1855, Amer. J. Sci. Arts, XIX, 76.
J. & G , 119;M V., 45 (Ictiobus); J & E., I. 167; X., 4') (Ichthyobus) ; J ., 65 (thomp-
soni and ( ' I selene i; F., 81 (Ictiobus cyprinus, pari I.
Body elongate, subfusiform, the back little arched and the ventral
line nearly straight, in general form and proportions very close to C.
carpio, depth 2.8 to 3.2 in length. Larger than difformis and velifer,
known to reach a weight of 3 to S ft), and said by lake fishermen to
-row much larger. Color no1 different from that of carpio. Head
moderate, its length 3.7 to 4, depth 4.5 to 5.1, width 5.7 to 6.4 in length
of body; snout long, bluntly pointed, 3 to 3.4 in head; nostrils situated
well back from end of snout, distance from anterior opening to tip of
muzzle greater than diameter of eye; mouth narrower and longer than
in the two preceding species, subterminal and somewhat oblique, the tip
80 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
of the lower lip far in advance of the nostrils ; lips evidently plicate, not
very thin, the halves of the lower one meeting at a rather wide angle;
interorbital space 2.4 to 2.7 in head; eye small, 5 to 6.4, usually more
than 5.S. Dorsal rays 25 to 30, usually nearer 30, anterior rays slender,
little elevated, scarcely more than half the length of base of fin. Scales
somewhat smaller and more closely imbricated than in the two pre-
ceding species, 7, 38 to 40, 6, usually 39 in longitudinal series; lateral
line complete, nearly straight.
Fig. 20
This species can be separated with readiness from both the pre-
ceding bv its longer nose, more oblique mouth, and more posterior
nostrils; it is easily distinguished from the next when adult by its
larger size and by the differences in general proportions, and by the
shortness of the first dorsal rays. The young of these two species
can not be separated with any certainty.
This carp-sucker belongs to the fauna of the Great Lake region
and is but rarely taken in the inland waters of Illinois, our adult
specimens numbering a very few from the Illinois river at Ottawa.
Henry, Havana, and Meredosia. It is too rare in our waters to be
commercially important. Its special habits are unknown.
Genus ERIMYZON Jordan
(chub-suckers)
Body oblong, more or less compressed; mouth subinferior; upper
lip protrai tile; lower lip plicate, infolded, forming an acute angle in
front; no anterior fontanelle; posterior fontanelle well developed; no
supraorbital hour; suborbital hours well developed, not much narrower
than the fleshy portion of the cheeks below; pharyngeal bones weak.
3^.
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ERIMYZON — CHUB-SUCKERS 81
the teeth small and slender, rapidly diminishing in length upward;
vertebrae 34; ribs 13; dorsal rays 11 or 12; scales large; lateral line
wanting at all ages; air-bladder with two chambers. Fresh waters of
the United States; one species, widely distributed.
ERIMYZON SUCETTA OBLONGUS (Mitchill)
(chub-sucker; sweet sucker)
Mitchill, 1815, T. Lit. & Phil. Soc. N. Y., 1 (Cyprinus oblongus).
G.. VII, 21 (Moxostoma oblongum); J. & G., 133; M. V., 46; J. & E.. I. 186; N., 4S
(Erimyzon oblongus); J., 64; F., 80; F. F., II. 7, 447; L.. 12.
Bodv oblong, compressed, the depth increasing with age; predorsal
region often more or less elevated and profile angled at nape in old
specimens; depth 3.1 to 3.9 in length. Size small, length about 10
inches. Coloration varying considerably with age; in adults a nearly
uniform brownish olive, intermixed with pinkish anteriorly, and every-
where with more or less of a coppery luster; paler below; fins dusky,
ventrals and anal most so. In young specimens the sides are marked
by four distinct bands of color: a dark band extending from occiput
backward on each side of dorsal fin to middle of caudal peduncle, cover-
ing 4 upper rows of scales; below this a band of light color, extending
from just above upper corner of gill-cleft to upper part of base of caudal ;
next, and most prominent, a narrow band of purplish black, extending
from center of base of caudal forward along sides and through eye to
end of snout ; and beneath this dark lateral band the sides pale to the
whitish or silvery belly. Adults are found which retain to a greater
or less extent the markings of the young, specimens from 6 to 8 inches
in length sometimes showing more or less plainly the dark lateral stripe,
as well as the apportionment of color in bands above and below; the
black lateral band may break up into indistinct bars with age, various
stages between the barred condition and a uniform dusky coloration
being found. Head short, compressed, considerably tapered, its length
3.5 to 4.1, width 5.1 to 6.5, depth 4.6 to 5.6 in length of body; inter-
orbital space weakly convex, 2.2 to 2.6 in head; snout (usually) 2.5 to
3.2 in head; mouth subterminal, rather small, mandibles more or less
obliquely set, tip of upper lip in old specimens sometimes not far below-
level of lower rim of orbit; lower lip strongly plicate, its halves meeting
in a rather acute angle; eye large, 3.8 to 5.8 in head. Dorsal fin a little
higher than long, its developed rays 9 to 12. Scales large, 36 to 45 in
longitudinal series, transverse rows 13 to 15; scales more or less en iwded
anteriorly and somewhat irregularly arranged on posterior half of body;
lateral line as a rule entirely wanting at all ages; specimens occasionally
found with one or two imperfectlv developed pores.
Head of spring males with three large tubercles on each side of
snout two in longitudinal series in front of eye, one lower down, near
corner of mouth.
$2 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
This species, with its two varieties, extends throughout the
Great Lake region; northeast to the St. Lawrence and the Connecti-
cut rivers, and to the St. Johns River, in Xew Brunswick; southeast
to Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida; southward to the Gulf,
southwest to the Rio Grande, and northward to the Dakotas. The
northern representatives of the species belong to the variety
oblongus and the southern to sucetta.
In this state it is widely distributed in large and small streams,
and in the small lakes of McHenry county, in northeastern Illinois;
but it is much the most abundant in the eastern part of the state in
the drainage of the Wabash and the Ohio rivers, and in the head-
waters of the Sangamon and of the Kaskaskia adjacent to these.
A line drawn through the middle of the state from north to south
but swerving slightly to the west below central Illinois, has 101 of
our localities for this species to the east of it and but 8 to the west.
It is essentially a creek species, occurring proportionally five times as
frequently in our collections from creeks as from rivers, large or
small, and eight times as frequently as from lakes and ponds.
The chub-sucker is a bottom feeder, and has the habit of sup-
porting itself on the bottom, like the darter, by means of its paired
fins. In ordinary seasons it spawns in central Illinois in April and
May. Ripe males were taken at Havana April 1(1, 1809, and fe-
males with ripe ovaries from March 20 to April 15. This fish bites
readily at a small hook, but its flesh is bony and without flavor, and
owing to its small size the species has no commercial value.
Genus MINYTREMA Jordan
(spotted suckers)
Body elongate, compressed; mouth inferior; upper lip freely pro-
tractile; lower lip plicate, forming an angle posteriorly; posterior
fontanelle large; supraorbital bone present; suborbital bones well
developed; pharyngeal bones as in Erimyzon, but the teeth somewhat
coarser; vertebra? 39; thoracic ribs 17; dorsal rays about 12; scales
rather large, nearlv equal all over the body; lateral line interrupted in
adults, more or less imperfect in half-grown specimens and entirely
obsolete in the young; air-bladder with two chambers. Fresh waters
of the United States; one species known.
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MIXYTREMA SPOTTED SUCKERS 83
MINYTREMA MELANOPS (Rafinesque)
(spotted sucker; striped sucker)
Rafinesque, 1820, Ichth. Oh., 5 7 (Catostomus i.
G , VII, 19 (Catostomus fasciatus); J. & G.. 136; M. V., 47; J. & E., I, 1S7; N., 4S
(Erimyzoni; J., 64; F., SO; F. F., II. 7, 444; L., 12.
Body oblong, little compressed, adults becoming deeper, depth 3.9
to 4.5 in length. Size rather large, reaching a length of 18 inches. Head
olivaceous above, lighter olive to silvery on cheeks and opercles, with
some coppery; 'sides coppery above, greenish gray to silvery below;
each scale along sides with a quadrate spot of very dark greenish at
base, the spots forming rows lengthwise of body; belly greenish to
silvery, with suggestions of coppery luster; fins scarcely dusky, the
membranes light greenish. Head 3.9 to 4.6 in length of body, its width
5.9 to 6.8, depth 5.3 to 6, rather flattened above but not depressed;
snout 2.3 to 2.7 in head, bluntly pointed; upper lip with faint plicae,
lower evidently plicate, its halves meeting at a rather sharp angle ; inter-
orbital space 2.2 to 2.5 in head; eye small, 4.4 to 6.9 in head, placed
high, about midway of length of head. Dorsal rays 11 to 12, not
including rudiments, the fin higher than long, its position about mid-
way, usually a very little forward. Scales large, 6 or 7, 42-46, 5 to 7,
regularly imbricated, not crowded forward; lateral line incomplete in
adults, in young specimens imperfect or wanting.
Head of old males covered with small tubercles in spring.
This species is found in the Great Lake region, the upper Mis-
sissippi Valley as far north as the Yellowstone, southward and
southwest ward to the Gulf and to Texas, and on the Atlantic slope
from New Jersey to North Carolina. In Illinois it has been taken in
all our stream systems, including the Lake Michigan drainage, but
most abundantly in the Wabash and the Kaskaskia basins. In pro-
1 >< >rti< in to the number of collections made, it has been found in cen-
tral Illinois twice as frequently as in northern, and in southern
Illinois twice as frequently as in central. It is mainly a species of
creeks and the smaller rivers — twice as abundant in the former
as in the latter — and is comparativelv rare in lakes and ponds. It
grows to a length of 18 inches, but is not abundant enough in
Illinois to have any noticeable value. From the little that is
known of its food we may surmise that it lives largely on mollusks
and insect larvae.
Genus CATOSTOMUS Le Sueur
(FIXE-SCALED SUCKERS)
Head more or less elongate; mouth inferior, the upper lip thick,
protractile, papillose; lower lip greatly developed, incised behind so as
84 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
to form two lobes; posterior fontanelle large; supraorbital bone wanting,
as in Erimyzon and Moxostoma; suborbital bones narrow; pharyngeal
teeth shortish; vertebrae (commersonii) 44; ribs 17; dorsal rays 9 to 14;
scales usually small, 50 to 115 in the lateral series; lateral line well
developed; air-bladder with two chambers. Species numerous; fresh
waters of the United States and Canada, east and west of the Rockies;
one species (C. rostratits tilesius) found in Siberia; two species found in
Illinois. Breeding males of most species with a rosy lateral band, with
median fins higher than in female, and with anal swollen and tuberculate.
Key to the Species of CATOSTOMUS found in Illinois
a. Head transversely convex above, the orbital rim not elevated; scales in
lateral line 60 or more, crowded and smaller anteriorly.
b. Scales in lateral line 05-115 catostomus.
bb. Scales in lateral line 6S-S0 commersonii.
aa. Head broad, depressed, transversely concave between the orbits; scales
nearly equal all over the body, not crowded anteriorly, 4S to 55 in the
lateral line ' nigricans.
CATOSTOMUS CATOSTOMUS (Forster)
(LONG-NOSED SUCKER; NORTHERN SUCKER; RED SUCKER)
Forster, 1773, Phil. Trans., 155 (Cyprinus).
Body elongate, subterete, the depth A\ to 4J in length. Head quite
long and slender, 4\ to 4§ in length, depressed and flattened above,
broad at base, but tapering into a long snout, which considerably over-
hangs the large mouth. Lips thick, coarsely tuberculate. the upper lip
narrow, with 2 or 3, rarely 4, rows of tubercles; lower lip deeply incised,
the lobes shorter than in C. griseus, and the mouth narrower. Lower
jaw with a short cartilaginous sheath. Eye rather small, behind the
middle of the head. Scales very small, much crowded forward, 95 to
114 in the lateral line, and about 29 (26 to 31) in a cross-row from dor-
sal to ventrals. Dorsal rays 10 to 11. Males in spring with the head
and anal fin profusely tuberculate, the tubercles on the head small; the
sides at that season with a broad rosy band. Size large. Lengtli 2\
feet. Great Lakes, upper Missouri river, upper Columbia, and north-
westward to Alaska; very abundant northward, but not coming south
of lat. 40°.— Jordan and Evermann (Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 47, 1.,
p. 176).
Found in lower Lake Michigan at Miller, Indiana, and doubt-
less occurring in the lake within the limits <>f Illinois.
y.
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CATOSTOMUS — FINE-SCALED SUCKERS 85
CATOSTOMUS COMMERSONII (Lacepede)
(common sucker; fine-scaled sucker)
Lacepede, 1803, Hist. Nat. Poiss., V, 502 (Cyprinus).
G.. VII. 15 (teres); J. & G., 129; M. V.. 46 (teres); J. & E.. I, 178; N., 4S (teres);
J., 64; F., 81 (teres); F F., II. 7, 444 (teres); L., 12.
Body elongate, subterete, rather heavy forward, depth 4.3 to 5.3 in
length, usually 4.5 to 5. Length 18 inches. Color olivaceous on back
and sides, with more or less golden luster; belly whitish; vertical fins
with some dusky on rays, membranes paler, those of ventrals and pec-
torals orange, becoming deeper in spring males, which also have a faint
rosy latera. band. Young brownish with blackish blotches and mottlings
which are more or less confluent, sometimes forming an indistinct lateral
band. He .d rather stout, subconical, flattish above, its length 4 to 4.8,
width 5. 5 to 7, depth 5.5 to 6.6 in body; interorbital space nearly flat,
2.1 to 2.6 in head; snout blunt, decurved, squarish at tip; mouth
inferior, rather large, the lips strongly papillose, the upper rather thick,
with 3 or 4 rows of papillae; eye moderate, 4.5 to 6.2 in head, more than
5 in adults. Dorsal tin with 11 to 13, usuallv 12, rays, its height scarcely,
if at all, exceeding the length of the fin's base. Scales 10-11, 63-80,
9-11, crowded anteriorly and below; lateral line complete in adults,
pores wanting on some scales in young.
The fine-scaled sucker occurs in streams and ponds from the
Great Lakes to New Brunswick and Laborador, in the Hudson
River, on the Atlantic slope from New Jersey to South Carolina, and
northward to Great Bear Lake and Hudson's Bay. It is abundant
throughout the central part of the eastern United States from
Massachusetts to Kansas, and is common in the northern third of
Illinois, especially in the smaller rivers and larger creeks. It occurs
but rarely in the Illinois River as far south as Peoria, and has not
been taken by us south of Alton except in the streams of extreme
southern Illinois below the Illinoisan glaciation. It is with us
essentially a species of creeks and small rivers, nearly four times as
common, according to our data, in the former as in the latter. It
has been taken but four times in our 293 collections from rivers of
the larger size, and but twice from 591 collections made from lakes,
ponds, and sloughs. It is common, however, in Lake Michigan.
Our collection data show that it is much more likely to be abundant
on bottoms with more or less rock and sand than on a completely
muddy bottom, and that it has also a decided preference for clear,
swift waters. The species reaches a length i if 22 inches and a weight
i if 5 lb.
The food of this sucker has not been carefully studied, but the
strong, thick pharyngeal jaws, nearly twice as wade as high, and the
86 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
relatively small number of pharyngeal teeth, the lower of which are
very much thickened, with expanded crowns, constitute a crushing
and grinding apparatus which strongly suggests a prevailing
molluscan diet. The gill-rakers are less effective than those of the
red-horse, indicating a smaller ratio of crustacean food.
The species spawns in April or May, preferring for the purpose
riffles or swift-flowing water to quiet pools.
Though bony, these fishes have a sweet, firm, and flaky flesh, and
furnish a food of considerable importance in many parts of the
country. They are frequently salted for winter use, and are some-
times sold in our local markets under the name of "family whitefish."
They are taken with seines, traps, and gill-nets, bite readily at the
hook baited with worms or bits of crawfish, and are sometimes
caught by boys in spring with snares fastened to poles.
CATOSTOMUS NIGRICANS Le Sueur
(hogsucker; hogmolly; stone-roller)
Le Sueur, 1817, J. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 102.
G., VII, 17; J. & G., 130; M. V., 46; J. & E., I, 181; N., 48 (Hypentelium) ; J.. 64;
F., SI; F. F., II. 7. 445 (Hypentelium); L., 12.
Body moderately elongate, subcylindrieal, heavy forward, much
tapered posteriorly, depth 4.6 to 5.1 in length. Size rather large, reach-
ing a length of 2 feet. Color olivaceous, with 1 >rassy luster on sides ; belly
satiny white; back and sides in younger specimens with 4 rather broad
and distinct oblique bars of dark color, one half way between occiput
and dorsal, one just behind fin, and one half way between back of dorsal
and base of caudal, these bars becoming faint or obsolete in adults; lower
fins reddish, with some dusky shading, appearing as faint mottlings on
pectorals and ventrals. Head very large, the frontal region broad and
foreshortened, length of head 3.6 to 4.5, width 4.7 to 5.S. depth 5.9 to 6.6
in body; interorbital space transversely concave, 1.9 to 2.5 in head;
snout long and strongly decurved, 1.8 to 2.2 in head; mouth wholly
inferior, the lips very thick and strongly papillose, the upper almost as
thick as the lower, with 8 to 10 series of papillae; lower lip less incised
behind than in Catostomus proper; eve moderate, 4.8 to 6 in head, over
5 in adults. Dorsal fin with 10 or 11 rays, rather low, the longest ray
scarcely equaling the length of the base of the fin ; pectorals very long,
reaching § to f of distance to ventrals. Scales rather large, 7, 46-51, 6,
somewhat smaller on breast and belly, but not crowded forward on sides
or in predorsal region ; lateral line complete, almost straight.
This peculiar sucker is distributed throughout the Grc;il Lake
region and along the Atlantic slope as far as the Carolinas, west-
ward to Minnesota and Kansas, north to the Lake of the Woods, and
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CATOSTOMUS FINE-SCALED SUCKERS 8/
south to Arkansas. It is especially abundant in swift and rapid
streams, and is rarely found in muddy water. Its avoidance of
muddy situations is illustrated especially by its distribution in Illi-
nois, not a single collection of this species having been made by us
from the persistently turbid waters of the lower Illinoisan gla-
ciation. It is rare in the southern third of the state, and was taken
by us but once from any locality of extreme southern Illinois. It
has occurred in our collections most abundantly in the headwaters
and smaller tributaries of the Illinois, the Kaskaskia, the Embarras,
and the Big Vermilion, in the northern and eastern parts of the
state.
The most striking peculiarities of this fish are related to its
haunts and feeding habits. The large bony head and the unusually
developed pectoral fins, together with the full lips and the papillose
mouth, are all related to the fact that it seeks its food in the more
rapid parts of streams, pushing about the stones upon the bottom
and sucking up the ooze and slime thus exposed, together with the
insect larvae upon which it mainly depends for food. The slender
body, the large pectoral fins, and the comparatively high coloration
of this species give it the aspect of a darter among the suckers, and
its active habit and the peculiar character of its food resources is
another point of affinity with that interesting group. It has also,
like the darters, the habit of resting quietly on the bottom, sup-
ported by its paired fins, where its coarsely mottled colors serve well
to conceal it among the surrounding stones.
Proportionately to the number of collections made by us, this
species was about three times as abundant in central Illinois as in
southern, and three and a half times so in northern Illinois as in cen-
tral. It was much commonest in the smaller rivers and about half
as abundant in creeks, although not win illy wanting in either the
larger rivers or in the glaciated lakes of northeastern Illinois. It
was not taken by us at all off really muddy bottoms.
Widely different as are the food and feeding habits of this species
and those of the common sucker, its nearest ally in our waters,
their alimentary structures are not remarkably unlike. The
pharyngeals of the present species are somewhat lighter, the
pharyngeal teeth more slender and more prominently hooked, and
the gill-rakers somewhat stouter, thus affording a better apparatus
for the retention of the relatively large insect larva' upon which this
species chiefly feeds. It is, in short, a molluscan feeder which has
become especially adapted to the search for insect larvae occurring
00 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
in rapid water under stones. It feeds, so far as our observations go,
almost wholly upon aquatic larva?, mainly those of day-flies, more
than half of the food of the specimens examined consisting of a
single form (Ccenis) abundant under stones.
A few aquatic larvae of a gnat (Chironomus), and some other
insect remains, with an insignificant ratio of small bivalve mollusks,
were the other elements of its food.
It ascends the swifter brooks in spring, no doubt for spawning,
although its habits of reproduction are not known. It is sometimes
used for food, but has virtually no economic value.
Genus MOXOSTOMA Rafinesquk
(red-horse)
Body more or less elongate, usually more or less compressed; mouth
inferior; lips with transverse plicae, the folds rarely so broken up as to
form papillae; posterior fontanelle always well open; supraorbital bone
wanting; suborbitals very narrow; pharyngeal bones weak, the teeth
rather coarser than in Erimyzon and Catostomus; vertebrae {aureolum,
breviceps) 39 to 41 ; ribs 15 to 17; dorsal rays 1 1 to 17, usually about 13;
scales large, usually about 44 in the median lateral series; lateral line
well developed; air-bladder with 3 chambers. Males in spring with lower
fins reddened (whence the common name), and with anal rays swollen
and tuberculate.
United States, east of the Rocky Mountains; species numerous;
3 species found in Illinois.
The gill-rakers of the red-horse are largely modified into trans-
verse leaf-like plates with notched edges projecting in triangular
outline only a little beyond the margin of the thick, strong arch.
Those of tlie anterior gill are more elongate, but stout and triangu-
lar, and about three fourths as long as the gill-filaments, the whole
branchial apparatus being thus coarse and strong, 1 utter adapted
to hold hard and somewhat bulky objects than to strain from the
water small and delicate ones. The pharyngeal jaws are moderately
heavy, with strong teeth, and the intestine is small and about one
and a fourth times the length of the head and body. Quite in cor-
respondence with these features of the feeding apparatus, the main
food of tlie red-horse consists of water-snails of various species, and
small bivalve mollusks belonging to the genus Spharium. About a
third of the food of specimens examined by us consisted of insects,
practically all aquatic larvae. The vegetable mailer present in the
food of specimens taken from the Illinois River at Peoria was mainly
MOXOSTOMA — RED-HORSE 89
distillery slops entering the streams from the adjacent distilleries.
The latter element was insignificant, however, in total amount, in-
sects and mollusks making fully 95 per cent, of the stomach contents
studied, mollusks being nearly twice as abundant as insects. In con-
sequence of the manner in which the food is collected from the bot-
tom, considerable quantities of mud are, of course, swallowed with it.
These fishes are caught mainly with seines and pound-nets, but
they also bite readily at the hook.
Key to Species of MOXOSTOMA found in Illinois
a. Folds of lower lip more or less broken up into papillae.
b. Head short. 4+ to 5i in body; lower lip truncate behind, mouth small;
developed dorsal rays 12 or 13 breviceps.
bb. Head longer. 3J to 4J in body; halves of lower lip meeting in a sharp angle,
mouth large; developed dorsal rays 14 to 16 anisurum.
aa. Lips strongly plicate.
c. Head 4 to 4 ! in body; halves of lower lip meeting in a rather wide angle,
mouth large; developed dorsal rays 12 to 14 aureolum.
MOXOSTOMA ANISURUM (Rafinesque)
(WHITE-NOSED SUCKER)
Rafinesque, 1820. Ichth. Oh., 54 (Catostomus).
G , VII, 2n (Catostomus carpio); J. & G . 139 (carpiol; M. V., 47; J & E., I, 190;
X.. 49 (Teretulus carpio i; J., 63 (Myxostoma carpio); F., 80 (carpio).
Bodv stout, heavy forward, deep and compressed, the back elevated,
rather humped in front of dorsal in old specimens; depth 3.3 to 4.1 in
length. Size large, reaching a weight of 5 to 10 lb. Color pale, silvery,
darker above, nose and chin whitish; dorsal and caudal with some dusky,
lower fins white or light reddish. Head broad
and short, squarish in cross-section in region of
orbit, its length 3.5 to 4.3, width 5.2 to 6.5, depth
4.6 to 5.5 in head; interorbital space flat, 2.2 to
2.6 in head; snout rather long, 2.1 to 2.6 in head;
its tip squarish, little decurved, the profile nearly
straight to its tip when the mouth, is closed;
mouth rather large, the upper lip thin, plicate
papillose, the lower thicker, its folds broken into Fir,. 21
evident papillae, the halves meeting at a sharp Lips of Moxostoma
angle; eve rather large, slightly back of middle of anisurum
4 to 6.4 in its length. Dorsal fin long, its
rays about IS (14 to 17), the longest about jj length of base of fin, the
free margin straight ; lower fins long, pecti irals reaching \ of distance from
pei toral to ventral basis; upper lobe of caudal a little longer than lower.
Scales 6, 42 45. 6; lateral line complete, somewhat flexuose, bul nearly
straight.
90
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Found in the Great Lake region and the Ohio Valley, including
Pennsylvania and New York; also ranging down the St. Lawrence
and into the streams of the Atlantic coast as far south as North
Carolina. Northward its range extends to Lake Winnipeg and the
Assiniboin River.
This is the so-called white-nosed sucker of the Great Lakes. It
is distributed throughout Illinois, but in rather moderate numbers,
and mainly in the larger streams — the Illinois, the Rock, the Mis-
sissippi, the Ohio, and the Wabash. The species reaches a large size,
varying in length from one to two feet, and it is a somewhat accept-
able, though not abundant, food fish. At some points on Lake
Michigan it contributes a considerable percentage to the catch of
suckers, although the fine-scaled sucker and the short-nosed red-
horse commonly outnumber it.
MOXOSTOMA AUREOLUM (Lb Sueur)
(common red-horse)
Le Sueur. 1817, J. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., I, 95 (Catostomus).
G., VII, 18 (Catostomus duquesni); J. & G., 140 (macrolepidotum, part;); M. V., 47
(macrolepidotum duquesnei and (?) aureolum); J. & E , I. 1<>2; N\, 49 (Teret-
ulus duquesnii and macrolepidotum); I , 63 (Myxostoma macrolepidotum var.
duquesnii); F,, SO (macrolepidotum); F. F.. II. 7, 442 (macrolepidotum).
Bodv elongate, heavier forward, considerably compressed, the back
little elevated; depth 4 to 4.4 in length. Size rather large, attaining a
weight of 5 or 6 lb. Color of back and sides an almost uniform oli-
vaceous, very htttle darker above, taking on a faint silvery tinge lower
down ; faint tints of salmon or yellowish along
sides in front of dorsal ; belly smoky white ; dorsal
quite dusky, without pale edge; caudal grayish
olive; lower fins with seme orange near base,
the broad cuter margins faintly dusky. Head
moderate, 3.9 to 4.S in length, its width 5.7 to
6.8, depth 5.2 to 5.9. not strongly tapered, rather
flattened above, the cheeks nearly vertical; in-
terorbital space nearly flat, 2.2 to 2.6 in head;
snout 2.3 to 2.8 in head, its tip squarish, little
decurved; mouth large, both upper and lower
lips thick, strongly and coarsely plicate, halves
of lower lip meeting at a rather wide angle; eye
large, 4 to 5 in head. Dorsal rays 12-14, the
tin a little higher than long, last ray more than half the length of longest
.-tilt t rior ra] , free margin of dorsal straight ; lower fins rather longi r than
in the m d spe [i ■- , longest in the males, pectorals reaching -| to | ol dis-
tam e from pei toral to ventral ha sis; upper lobe of caudal a little longer
than lower. Scales 6, 41 18,5 7; lateral line complete, faintly fiexuose.
Lips oi Moxi istoma
aureolum
MOXOSTOMA RED-HORSE 91
This species, much the most abundant of the Illinois red-horse,
occurs outside our limits from the St. Lawrence and the Hudson
rivers through the Great Lakes to the Missouri River, north to
Winnipeg and the Assiniboin, and southward to Arkansas and
Georgia. In this state it is much the commonest in the northern and
eastern two thirds of our area, showing a tendency, like the pre-
ceding species, to avoid the turbid waters of southern Illinois, al-
though present in the clearer waters south of the lower Illinoisan
glaciation. It occurs in 148 of our collections, most abundantly, in
proportion to the number made, in the Rock River and the north-
west basins, and in the Kaskaskia and Wabash systems. It has
been taken by us, however, in all the other stream systems except
that of the Big Muddy. It is much the commonest in creeks and the
smaller rivers, the numbers found in the larger rivers being only half
the normal ratio for the species, and those in lakes and sloughs a
fourth that ratio. Its preference for swiftly flowing streams and its
avoidance of a mud bottom are also conspicuously shown by our
data of ecological distribution.
This red-horse is not tenacious of life, but dies quickly in the
aquarium if the water is in the least impure. It also readily suc-
cumbs to impure conditions of its native waters such as are likely to
occur in midsummer, sometimes perishing in vast numbers and
stranding along the banks when violent summer rains, following
long periods of drought, overload the streams with mud and de-
composing vegetation.
It spawns in April and May, ascending the smaller streams for the
purpose. Females taken from the Illinois River at Meredosia May
5, 1899, were already spent.
MOXOSTOMA BREVICEPS (Cope)
(short-headed RED-HORSE I
Cope 1870, P. Am. Phil. Soc, 478 (Ptychostomus).
J. & G., 141 (anisurum and (?) aureolum); M. V. , 48 (crassilabre) ; J. & E., I, 196;
N., 49 (Teretulus aureolum I ; J . , 63 (Myxostoma aureolum); P., 80 (aureolum);
F. F., II. 7. 444 (aureolum); L., 12 (macrolepidotumi
Body subfusiform, moderately compressed, rather deep under front
of dorsal, in form much like a Coregonus; depth 3.8 to 4.4 in length.
Size moderate, our largest specimens about 15 inches in length. Color
pale yellowish olive, with a faint coppery tint on sides in predorsal region ;
rest of sides and caudal peduncle verj lighl pea-green, grading to whitish
or 'lull silver) lower down and on belly; dorsal verj pale olive, scarcely
dusky;caudal light reddish outward, olive near base; lower fins salmon
92 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
with paler, greenish margins. Head extremely short, subconieal, tapering
both above and below to the tip of the pointed snout ; length of head 4.6 to
5.4 in body, usually more than 5 in adults, width 6.6 to 7.6, depth 5.7 to
6.7 ; interorbital space 1.9 to 2.4 in head, noticeably convex; chin convex;
cheeks shallow, not vertically continuous to a flat
chin as in aureolum and anisurum, a cross-section
of the head in the orbital region not being squarish
as in those species; snout 2.3 to 2.9 in head, not at
all decurved ; mouth small, upper lip rather coarsely
plicate, the folds shallow and not continued back
to the inside of the lip; lower lip truncate behind,
the two halves scarcely separated at the shallow
incision, the coarse but shallow plicae evident in
PiG' 23 front, but breaking up into irregular papillae pos-
Lips of Moxostoma teriorly ; eye small in comparison with length of
body, but contained 4 to 5 times in the very short
head. Dorsal rays 12 or 13, the fin notably higher
in front than behind, the last ray being less than half the length of
the longest anterior ray, which is usually considerably longer than the
base of the fin ; free margin of dorsal concave ; pectorals longer than the
short head, but relatively shorter than in the two preceding species,
scarcely reaching § of the distance from pectoral to ventral basis;
upper lobe of caudal falcate, usually, though not always, longer than
1' iwer. Scales 6, 43-45, 5 or 6 ; lateral line complete, nearlv straight.
This species occurs in the Ohio Valley and the Great Lake region,
being especially abundant in Lake Erie. In the Mississippi Valley
it ranges up the Missouri to Cheyenne Falls. It is especially a
northern Illinois fish, only one of our collections made in the south-
ern part of the state containing it, and this falling outside the area
of tlie lower Illinoisan glaciation. It is about equally common in
central and northern Illinois, and has been more uniformly distrib-
uted, according to our observations, than the other species of its
genus, occurring in about equal frequency, relatively to the number
of collections made, in the larger rivers and in creeks and lakes, but
about twice as abundantly in the smaller rivers. It shows also con-
siderably less marked preference than the preceding species for
clear and swiftly flowing waters.
Genus PLACOPHARYNX Cope
(pavement-toothed red-horse)
Suckers like Moxostoma in all respects, except that the ]>liarvne,ral
bones are much more developed and the teeth reduced in number, ihose
on the lower half of the bone very large, 6 to in in number, nearly cylin-
drical in form, but little compressed and with a broad and more or less
w
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S#
3
PLACOPHARYXX PAVEMENT-TOOTHED RED-HORSE 93
flattened grinding surface; mouth larger and more oblique, and lips
thicker than in most species of Moxostoma. Fresh waters of south-
eastern United States; one species known.
PLACOPHARYNX DUQUESNEI (Le Sueur)
Le Sueur, 1817, J. Ac. Xat. Sci. 1'hila., I. 105 (Catostomus).
J. & G., 14.3 (carinatus); M. V., 48 (carinatus); J. & E.. I, 198; N., 49 (carinatus);
J., 63 (carinatus); F., 80 (carinatus); F. F., II. 7, 441 (carinatus); L., 13.
Body elongate, heavier forward, the form much as in Moxostoma
aureolum, but the back less elevated and the body somewhat less com-
pressed; depth 3.8 to 4.5 in length. Length IS to 30 inches. "Color dark
olive-green, the sides brassv, not silvery; lower fins and caudal orange-red "
(Jordan & Evermann). Head broad, flattish above, but less so than in
M . aureolum, cheeks vertical, chin flat; length of head 4.2 to 4.5. width
6.2 to 6.7, depth 5.3 to 6 in body; interorbital space slightly convex, 2.1 to
2.3 in head; snout blunt, squarish at tip, scarcely decurved, 2.3 to 2.4 in
head; mouth very large, the lower jaw oblique when the mouth is closed;
lips very thick and coarsely plicate, the folds broken in places into very tine
papillae in old specimens; lower lip very large, protruding when mouth is
closed, its halves meeting behind in an almost straight line; eye large, 4.3
to 5 in head. Dorsal fin with 12 or 13 rays, higher than long, its free
margin weakly concave, last ray half length of longest anterior ray; pec-
torals short, reaching but about | of distance from pectoral to ventral
basis; ventrals short, their tips 5 or 6 scales from vent. Scales 6, 43-47. 6
or 7 ; lateral line complete, almost straight.
This fish has not ordinarily been separated readily from speci-
mens of Moxostoma without removal and examination of the char-
acteristic pharyngeal bones, but, as it seems to us, its very large
mouth and subtruncate lower lip, and its shorter lower fins should
enable one to distinguish it with ease from both Moxostoma ani-
surum and .1/. aureolum — the only species found in its range, so far
as is known, that resemble it at all closely.
Its branchial apparatus is not notably different from that i >f
Moxostoma, the gill-rakers being short and few, and effective only on
the upper part of the arch, the lower arm being, like that of Moxos-
toma, covered by a rigid pad. The species is very remarkably dis-
tinguished, however, by its heavy pharyngeal jaws and its thick
and strong pharyngeal teeth with conspicuous grinding surface.
These number about 30 on each pharyngeal, the upper ones minute
and useless rudiments, and the lower 10 very large, occupying about
two thirds the length of the arch — the lower 6, in fact, about
half of it. It is probable that this apparatus is related to i
preference for mollusks as food, but the number of specimens avail-
able for our examination has been too small to test this supposition.
94 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
In two examples taken from the Illinois River at Havana in October,
the food was about a third mollusks and two thirds insects, the
latter largely larvae of May-flies and of large water -beetles {Hydro-
ph ill nice).
Michigan to Tennessee, Georgia , and Arkansas ; especially abun-
dant in the Ozark region and in the French Broad River basin.
Rare in Illinois: one specimen from the Wabash; two specimens
from the Illinois ; and two or three others from localities unknown.
Genus LAGOCHILA Jordan & Brayton
(rabbit-mouth sucker)
Suckers in all respects like Moxostoma except for the singular struc-
ture of the mouth ; upper lip not protractile, greatly prolonged and closely
plicate; lower lip much reduced, divided into two distinct lobes, which are
weakly papillose, the split between the lobes extending backward to the
edge of the dentary bones; lower lip entirely separated from upper at
angles by a deep fissure, which is mostly covered by the skin of the
cheeks. Ozark region, Wabash, Clinch, Scioto, Cumberland, Chicka-
mauga, and White (Arkansas) rivers. One species known, L. lacera
Jordan & Brayton, not at present known from Illinois, although not un-
looked for in collections from the Wabash basin. (For description see
Jordan & Evermann, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 47, I., p. 199.)
Family CYPRINID.E
(the minnows and the carp)
Form varied, elongate and subfusiform, more or less compressed, or
sometimes thin and deep; head naked; body scaly, except in a few forms
not occurring in the United States; scales cycloid; skeleton osseous; an-
terior vertebrae modified and provided with Weberian apparatus; fins'
typically without spines; ventrals abdominal; no adipose fin; a nies-
ocoracoid arch present; gill-membranes broadly joined to isthmus;
pseudobranchiae usually present; branchiostegals 3 ; margin of upper jaw
formed by premaxillaries alone; jaws toothless; lower pharyngeal bones
well developed, falciform, and nearly parallel with the gill-arches, each
armed with 1 to 3 series of teeth, 4 to 7 in the main row, and a less number
in the others, if more rows are present; stomach without appendages,
being a simple enlargement of the intestine; intestinal canal short or long,
usually less than twice length of body in species partly or wholly car-
nivorous (see key), but often very much longer in herbivorous and li-
mophagous forms; air-bladder typically present and with open duct,
commonly divided into 2 more or less distinct chambers.
CYPRIXID/E THE MINNOWS AND THE CARP 95
The minnow family, much the largest and most complex of the
fish families of the state, has become variously differentiated in
respect to habits, ecological relations, and some of its more impor-
tant structures, in a way to adjust the group with considerable ex-
actness to the various features of its environment. In respect to
territorial distribution, we may distinguish among the minnows a
group distributed mainly through the Mississippi drainage, another
mainly through the Ohio drainage, and a third which is generally
distributed throughout the state We may also distinguish a
group of species which does not enter or remain in the persistently
turbid waters of the southern Illinois region covered by the fine-
grained drift of the lower Illinoisan glaciation ; another group which
is common in the lowland lakes, and a much larger group which is
rarely found in lakes of any kind; a group of minnows which prefer
large rivers, and another which is most abundant in the smaller
streams ; one more than normally common over a mud bottom, and
another evidently most at home over a bottom of rock and sand ;
one which prefers a swift current, and another which seeks quiet
waters.
The various species of the family show also considerable differ-
ences of preference in respect to the kinds of food which they choose
from the general supply offered to them. They are mainly carniv-
orous, on the whole, in this country, although we have found fishes
and mollusks only rarely in the food of our native species. Insects
and crustaceans, including Entomostraca, are their principal de-
pendence, except for a few which eat largely of vegetation and a few
others which feed almost wholly on the highly organic mud of the
bottoms of our ponds and streams. The special structures of ali-
mentation correspond in their variations, in the several divisions of
the family, to these differences of their food.
Fishes so small as most of our minm iws, are, as a rule, in no need
of a specially developed set of gill-rakers, since the gill-arches them-
selves are so small and the spaces between them so narrow that
any object large enough to be useful for food is little likely to be
carried out through the gills with the respiratory current. In two
of our species, however (Abramis crysoleucas and Notropis hetero-
don), the gill-rakers are considerably developed, and in these species
Entomostraca appear more largely in the food than in any other
minnows. Even Protozoa and unicellular alga? have been found
common in the stomachs of A', heterodon.
The intestine varies greatly in length, being longest in the mud
eating minnows and shortest in those dependent wholly or mainly
96 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
on animal food. In Campostoma, a typical mud-eater, it is five to
nine and a half times the length of the head and body, and is wound
spirally about the air-bladder, while in the more strictly insectivo-
rous genera it is only two thirds to five sixths as long as the head and
body taken together. The mud-eating forms also differ from the
others in the fact that the pharyngeal teeth have a large grinding
surface at the free end, and are without the terminal hook-like proc-
esses with which those species are provided which feed mainly on
insects.
Although the cyprinoids are mostly of small size, the European
carp and a few native species, some of which are abundant on the
Pacific slope in America, attain a considerable weight.
There are some two hundred genera in the world and about a
t In >usand species. In Illinois there are fourteen genera and thirty-
six species known, seventeen of the latter belonging to the single
genus Notropis. All our native species are small and commercially
insignificant except as they are used for bait and serve as a valuable
food resource for other fishes. The top of the head in spring males,
and often also the fins and sides — particularly the sides of the caudal
peduncle — are covered with small tubercles called pearl organs, and
the fins and lower parts of the body are, in the breeding season,
often highly colored with bright pigments, either red, satiny-white,
yellow to orange, or black. The young of the deeper-bodied species
are much more slender than the adults and have much larger eyes.
They may also show color markings not found in adults of the same
species, such as a caudal spot or a black lateral stripe.
Taken as a group the minm iws are. < >n the win >le, fishes espeeiallv
of the creeks and smaller rivers, and they show, in these situations,
a decided preference for a mi ire or less rapid current and for a clean
bottom rather than one of mud. There are notable exceptions, as
already said, but the general fact is well shown by our data of fre-
quency of occurrence in the various ecological situations, drawn
from the 24 Illinois species of which we have collections numerous
enough to make them available for this study. Of these 24 species,
6 are more than usually abundant in the Larger rivers, 20 are extraor
dinarily so in rivers of the second class and 19 in creeks, 5 are more
numerous than the average in lowland lakes, and only 1 is un-
usually so in upland lakes of glacial origin.
Only two of these 24 species were most abundant in the larger
rivers, and 6 in the smaller rivers. Fourteen species were found
most frequently in creeks, 1 was most abundant in lakes, another in
the bottom-lands, and another in clear upland lakes. If we may
CYPRINIDjE THE MINNOWS AND THE CARP 97
take our miscellaneous collections to have been fairly distributed as
to varieties of situation and to proportionate extent of each
variety, we may further infer from our data that minnows will
generally be found over a relatively hard and clean bottom about
twi i and a half times as abundantly as over a bottom of mud.
In the general scheme of aquatic life, the native members of this
family, taken together as a group, play a multiple role. They
operate, to some extent, as a check on the increase of the aquatic
insects, from which they draw a large part of their food supply ; they
make indirectly available, as food for their own most destructive
enemies, these aquatic insects, many terrestrial insects also, which
fall into the water and are greedily devoured by them, and the mere
mud and slime and confervoid alga? gathered up from the bottom of
the waters they inhabit ; and they rival the young of all larger fishes,
their own worst enemies included, by living continuously, to a
great degree, on the Entomostraca and insect life which these fishes
must have, a1 one period of their lives, in order to get their growth.
They also offer a considerable means of subsistence to certain
aquatic birds, such as kingfishers, and members of the heron family ;
and, through their contributions to the support of the best food
fishes, they form an important link in the chain of agencies by
which our waters are made productive in the interest of man.
Among the enemies of Cyprinidce disclosed by our study of 1,221
Illinois fishes, already referred to, are practically all our most pre-
daceous fishes, including the dogfish, both our common species of
gar. the wall-eyed pike, both our species of pickerel, both species of
Mack bass, the yellow perch, the mud-cat, the bullheads, the crap-
pies, the green sunfish, and, finally, one of their own family, the
horned dace. That this list might be considerably enlarged by
more extensive studies of the food of fishes is beyond a doubt, and
it is safe to say that no fish-eating fish would, if hungry for fish, re-
fuse a minnow of any kind unless it seemed too small to be worth the
trouble < if capturing.
From the stand] mint of the predaceous species, minnows are
young fishes which never grow up, and thus keep up the supply
of edible fishes of a size to make them available to the smaller
carnivorous kinds when the young of the larger species have grown
too large to be captured or eaten. They thus not only furnish the
necessary food to the smaller aquatic Camivora, but they ease the
way of growth to the largesl kinds, all of which pass through a
period when they need fish food, but are not yet large enough to
capture the prey upon which they chiefly depend when they are
98 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
themselves adult. Moreover, by their great numbers, by their vari-
ous adaptations and correspondingly general ecological distribution,
and by their permanently small size, the minnows must distract in
great measure the attention of carnivorous fishes from the young of
the larger species, upon which, without them, the adults of these
larger species would fall with the full force of their voracious appe-
tites. By offering themselves, no doubt as unconscious, but suffi-
cient substitutes, they thus help to preserve — for their own future
destruction, however.be it noticed — the young of many species which
would otherwise be forced to feed on each other's progeny. It is
not too much to say, consequently, that the number of game fishes
which any waters can maintain is largely conditioned upon its per-
manent stock of minnows.
Owing to their abundance in all situations, the number and
variety of their species and genera, and the ease with which they
may be collected and preserved, minnows are an admirable group
for a study of local distribution and ecological relationship, and the
data of our collections applicable to such a study have been assem-
bled, for convenient inspection and comparison, in the following
tables and lists.
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100
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
TABLE II
Minnows and the Environment
Relations to Current
species and frequency coefficients
Swift-water minnows
Still-water minnows
Species
Coefficients
Species
Cliola vigilax
Campostoma anomalum
Hybopsis kentuckiensis.
Plienacobius mirabilis. .
Notropis whipplii
N. atherinoides
X. blennius
46
70
38
32
.30
.19
.18
Abramis crysoleucas. . . .
Notropis umbratilis. ....
H ybognathus nuchalis . . .
Pimephales promelas. . . .
Notropis cornutus
Semotilus atromaculatus
Pimephales notatus
Coefficients
i
79
1
76
1
38
1
37
1
27
1
20
1
09
TABLE III
Relations to Bottom
species and frequency coefficients
Campostoma anomalum
Ericvmba buccata ......
Hybopsis kentuckiensis.
Notropis cornutus
Cliola vigilax
Notropis blennius
N. whipplii
Plienacobius mirabilis. . .
Notropis atherinoides. . .
Semotilus atromaculatus
Notropis umbratilis. . . .
Coeffi
cients
3
26
3
20
i
24
i
20
2
04
2
00
1
60
1
36
1
22
1
11
1
01
Abramis crysoleucas . .
Pimephales" promelas . .
Notropis lutrensis.
Hybognathus nuchalis
Hybopsis amblops. . . .
Pimephales notatus. .
79
.08
1 69
68
50
1.09
TABLE IV
Principal Cyprinid.* of Large Rivers
Spo "':-■
Cliola vigilax. .
Notropis heterodon
N. hudsonius
X. lutrensis
\ jejunus. . . ■•
N. atherinoides
Hybopsis storerianus
No. of
collections
194
93
1 17
163
51
206
28
Frequency
coefficients
1 04
98
so
i I
l 63
21
28
CYPRIXID.* THE MINXOWS AND THE CARP
101
TABLE V
Principal Cyprinid^e of Interior Lakes
No. of
collections
Frequency coefficients
Species
Lowland
lakes
Upland
lakes
80
303
.30
93
147
1 .97
1 36
3.29
1 .44
1.76
.59
17
2.68
.60
TABLE VI
Geographical Groups, Illinois Minnows
PREFERRING THE OHIO
DRAINAGE
Notropis illecebrosus
Ericymba buccata
Hybopsis amblops
EVIDENTLY AVOIDING LOWER ILLINOISAN
GLACIATION
Campostoma anomalum
Notropis blennius
X. cornutus
Ericymba buccata
Hybopsis kentuckiensis
PREFERRING THE MISSISSIPPI
DRAINAGE
Chi"' >s< imus erythrogaster
Hybognathus nubila
I'imephales promelas
Notropis gilberti
N. hudsonius
N. lutrensis
FREELY ENTERING LOWER ILLINOISAN
GLACIATION
Hybognathus nuchalis
Pimephales notatus
Abramis crysoleucas
Cliola vigilax
Notropis whipplii
N. atherinoides
X. rubrifrons
Hybopsis amblops
The first table, relating to the twenty-four most abundant
species, shows the relative frequencies of occurrence of each species
in our collections from each class of situations indicated bv the
headings of the columns. The figures of these columns, called
coefficients of frequency, when larger than 1 indicate a greater than
average frequency in the situation named, and, when smaller than
1, a lesser frequency. That is to say, if all the species of minnows
had been equally and uniformly distributed through all classes of
situations, the coefficients of this table would all have been 1.
Referring, for example, to Campostoma anomalum, in the first hue
i >f the table, it will be seen that 1 95 i if i >ur c< dlectii <ns o mtained this
species. The number of collections from larger rivers containing
tins minnow, as shown by the figures in the second column of the
table, were. 21 of the number which would have contained it if it
102 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
had been uniformly distributed. From the entry in the third col-
umn it will be seen that in small rivers the abundance of Cam-
postoma anomalum was a little more than 2\ times as great as if
the species had been uniformly distributed; and from the fourth
column, that in creeks it was a little more than 3\ times as abun-
dant. The number of its occurrences in lowland lakes was but .05
of the normal average, and in upland lakes the species has not been
taken by us at all.
The seventh and tenth columns of these figures give the num-
bers of collections for each species concerning which data were
recorded available for computing their relative frequencies in rapid
and quiet waters, and on clean and soft bottoms. From the figures
in the last six columns of the table we learn, concerning Campos-
toma, that 65 collections give us a coefficient of 1 . 7 for a rapid cur-
rent as compared with .59 for quiet water, equal frequency in the
two situations being, as before, represented by 1 . The strong pref-
erence of the species for a clean bottom over one of mud is shown
by the last two numbers, applying to 105 collections, the two
coefficients being respectively 3.26 for a clean bottom and .31 for
one of mud.
In Tables II. to V., relating to minnows and the environment,
the species most characteristic of each situation are brought to-
gether in lists arranged in the order of the size of their coefficients of
frequency. The remaining lists refer to peculiarities of territorial
distribution within the state.
The following keys and descriptions of Cyprinidce have been
designed for use with a minimum of attention to obscure charac-
ters and to those difficult of access. However, it will be necessary
in all cases for beginners in ichthyology to ascertain by dissection
whether their specimen belongs to the long- or the short-intestined
class of minnows (see key to genera of Cyprinidcs). It is possible,
however, to dispense entirely with the use of dental characters in
the indentification of minnows, and our keys have been construct-
ed with that fact in view; although, for the purpose of complete-
ness and for the aid of those who may wish to carry their studies
further than the simplest artificial key will take them, we have in
every case included a reference to the number and form of the
pharyngeal teeth.*
*In Illinois Cyprinidce the mam row ■ oi teeth on each pharyngeal bone con-
tains l or 5 teeth; inside of tins main row is a so-called "lesser row," which
may contain 1 or 2 teeth, or be unrepresented altogether, in the latter case being
• l, ignated "0" in the formula. For example, "teeth 2, I I. 2" means 4 teeth in
cyprinid.e the minnows and the carp 103
Key to the Genera of Native CYPRINIDjE found in Illinois
(Not including the European carp, Cyprians carpio Linnaeus, which, with the
goldfish, Carassiits auratus Linnaeus, is sufficiently distinguished from all native
American Cyprinidcc by the presence of a serrated spine in dorsal and anal fins.)
a. Intestine more than twice length of body; peritoneum usually hlack, brown,
or very dark gray; species generally mud-eaters
b. Intestine spirally wound around air-bladder; teeth 4-4 or 1, 4-4, 0
Campostoma.
bb. Intestine not wound around air-bladder
c. Scales very small, 65 to 90 in longitudinal series; teeth 5-5, or 4-5
Chrosomus.
cc. Scales larger, about 35 to 50 in lateral line; teeth 4-4.
d. Scales before dorsal 12 to 16 in number, not crowded; first (rudimentary)
ray of dorsal fin slender, bony, and closely attached to second
Hybognathus.
dd. Scales before dorsal small and considerably crowded, 22 to 2 5 in number;
first (rudimentary) dorsal ray more or less club-shaped, inclosed in thick
skin, and separated from second ray by a distinct membrane . . Pimephales.
aa. Intestine less than twice the length of body; peritoneum usually pale;
species generally carnivorous, or partly so.
e. Maxillary without barbel*.
f. Mouth extremely small and upturned, the angle with vertical formed by its
cleft less than 40°.
g. Peritoneum pale; teeth 4-5 or 5-5 Opsopceodus.
gg. Peritoneum black; teeth 4-4. Notropis (anogenus only; for main division
of genus see k, below).
ff. Mouth horizontal or more or less oblique, the angle with vertical formed by
its cleft usually much more than 40°.
h. Abdomen behind ventral fins with a sharp keel-like edge over which the
scales do not pass; body much compressed; anal fin long, its rays 12 to
14; teeth 5-5 Abramis.
hh. Abdomen behind ventrals never sharply keeled, but rounded and fully
scaled; form various, elongate or fusiform, or more or less compressed.
i. First (rudimentary i ray of dorsal club-like, covered with thick skin, and
separated from second ray by a distinct membrane; teeth 4-4. . Cliola.
ii. First (rudimentary) ray of dorsal slender and bony and closely attached to
second.
j. Lips normal, nowhere conspicuously thickened; the mouth subterminal,
more or less oblique.
k. Lower portion of head rounded, not swollen, and without externally visible
mucus channels; teeth in the main row normally 4-4, the lesser row (■(ten
wanting ■ Notropis.
each main (outer) row, and 2 in each lesser (inner) row; "teeth 4-4" means that
there is but a single row on each pharyngeal bone; while "1, 4-4. 0" would indi-
cate that the lesser row is represented on one side but not on the other The
teeth may be removed for study in the smaller species by the use of a needle or
small hook, or fine forceps, which should be inserted through the gill-opening at
the hack of the opercular cavity and directly under the shoulder girdle. A con-
venient mode of removal consists in grasping the shoulder of the pharyngeal arch
with the forceps and pulling forwards, after first taking care to cut loose the
attachments of the upper and lower limbs. The whole operation may be per-
formed without removing the opercle, which may be merely lifted up to allow
room for insertion of the fori ep
* Care should be exen ised hi re, as a barbel may be present but concealed
104 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
kk. Lower portion of head with an appearance of being swollen, the suborbitals,
interopercles, and dentaries with greatly distended mucus cavities, ap-
pearing externally as transverse vitreous streaks; teeth 4-4 or 1, 4-4,1.
Ericymba.
jj. Lower lip with two lateral fleshy lobes, separated at the middle by the more
or less horny and knob-like chin; scales rather small, 40 to 60 in lateral line;
teeth 4-4 Phenacobius.
ee. Maxillary with a barbel* at or near its extremity (sometimes quite small and
difficult to make out, especially in preserved specimens).
1. Barbel on upper side of maxillary and distinctly in front of its posterior tip;
mouth exceptionally large, maxillary 2 . 4 to 2.8 in head; scales 50 to 60;
teeth 4 or 5 in main row, 1, 2, or 0 in lesser row Semotilus.
11. Barbel terminal on the maxillary, situated in the axil formed at meeting of
upper and lower lip-grooves; maxillary more than 2.8 in head.
m. Premaxillaries not protractile; scales small, 60 to 70; dorsal fin posterior;
teeth 2, 4-4, 2 Rhinichthys.
mm. Premaxillaries protractile.
n. Scales 35 to 45 in lateral line; teeth 4-4, or 1, 4-4, 1 or 0 Hybopsis.
nn. Scales small, 50 to 60 in lateral line; head much depressed and flattened
above; teeth usually 2, 4-4. 2 Platygobio.
Genus CYPRINUS (Artedi) Linn.eus
(the carp)
Mouth with four long barbels; teeth molar, broad and truncate, 1,1,
3-3, 1,1; dorsal fin very long, with a stout spine which is serrated be-
hind; anal fin with a serrated spine. Native to fresh waters of Asia; in-
troduced into ponds and streams of both Europe and America, where
they are now abundant.
CYPRINUS CARPIO Linn.eus
(GERMAN CARP)
Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., Ed. X, 320.
G . VII, 25; J. & ('... 254; M. V., 50; J. & E., I. 201; L., 13.
Length 2 feet or over; body robust, compressed; back considerably
elevated ; general form resembling that of the buffalo-fishes (Ictiobus) ;
depth in length 2.75 to 3.4 (as a rule less than 3) ; depth caudal peduncle
1.2 to 1.4 in its length. Color olivaceous, upper parts dusky to bluish;
lower part of sides and belly more or less yellowish. Head conical,
tapering rapidly from above to the tip of the pointed snout, 3 to
4 in length; width of head 1.4 to 1.6 in its length; interorbital space
nearly flat, 2.3 to 2.7 in head; eve 5.5 to 6.8 in head; nose bluntly
pointed, 2.6 to 3.3 in head; mouth rather small, anterior, oblique, the
maxillarv nut reaching past anterior nostril, 3.3 to 3.9 (usually about 3.5)
in head; two pairs of maxillary barbels, the upper shorter, the lower longer
than eye; teeth broad and truncate with molar surfaces, in three rows,
Read 1 ami II for exact indication o) location of barbel.
CYPRIXUS THE CARP 105
1 . 1 or 2, 3-3, 1 or 2, 1 ; intestine longer than body; peritoneum gray, often
more or less specked. Dorsal and anal fins each with a large strong pos-
teriorly serrated spine ; dorsal rays 17 to 2 1 , the base of the fin longer than
the head, the spine and first three rays higher than the posterior part of
the fin, as in the buffaloes, insertion of dorsal slightly in front of ventrals;
anal rays 5 or 6; pectorals reaching nearly to front of ventrals, 1.3 to 1.5
in head; ventrals scarcely § to vent. Scales 5 or 6, 3 5 to 37, 5 or 6;
lateral line continuous, usually somewhat flexuose.
The above description is based on specimens of scale-carp only ;
the mirror and leather varieties, differing from the scaled forms
chiefly in the squamation, are comparatively rare in the waters of
this state.
The carp, which is native in China, was introduced into Europe
as early as 1227 (Hessel), and was first brought to England at the
beginning of the sixteenth century. The first successful introduc-
tion of carp into the United States was made in 1877, when R.
Hessel, for the U. S. Fish Commission, brought 345 carp to this
country. Of these, 227 were of the mirror and leather varieties, and
118 were scale-carp. All were put into ponds at Washington, D. C,
and multiplied rapidly, more than 1 2,000 y< >ung being distributed in
1879 to more than 300 persons in 25 states and territories. From
that time distribution rapidly increased until a few years before its
final discontinuance in 1897.
The introduction of carp into the waters of Illinois began with
the first distribution (1879), and in 1880 scaled carp to the number
of 800 were received from the U. S. Fish Commission. In 1881 and
1882 a total of 2,500 more car]) were received and distributed by the
Illinois Fish Commission, the distribution being mostly made in
lots of only ten to a single person. In 1885 the first carp were
planted in public waters, a total of 30,900 being set free in the Illi-
nois, Fox, Sangamon, Des Plaines, Kaskaskia, Little Wabash, Big
-Muddy, and a few other streams. In 1886 the first large carp was
caught in the Illinois River, a specimen 30 inches long being taken
at Meredosia — probably escaped from some pond which had re-
ceived a consignment from one of the early distributions. In 1887
about 16,000 more carp were planted in the public waters of the
state. Betwreen 1888 and 1890 reports of the capture of car]) of
considerable size increased in number, particularly from points
ali >ng the Illinois River, and by 1892 this fish had multiplied to such
an extent in the waters about Havana that more than 3,000 lb were
taken from Clear Lake in a single haul. A year earlier Bowies had
begun to ship carp from Meredi isia. Hv 1 898 the multiplication ami
106 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
utilization of carp had increased to such an extent in this state that
Captain John A. Schulte, of Havana, wrote: "From the informa-
tion I can get as an official of the Illinois Fishermen's Association
from all points along the Illinois River, the carp have brought more
money than the catch of all the other fish combined. Long live the
carp!" Carp are now found very generally distributed over the
state, being most common, however, in the Illinois River and in
our other larger and more sluggish streams and lakes and bayous
connecting with them. They are not yet very abundant in south-
ern Illinois. The carp catch of the Illinois River alone now reaches
six to eight million pounds a year, valued at more than $200,000.
Three races of carp are distinguishable : (1) the regularly-scaled
form, which is nearest to the native type of the domesticated races;
(2) the mirror-carp, which has the body partly bare, with but two or
three irregular rows of large scales along the back ; and (3) the leather-
carp, which is scaleless, with a thick, soft, velvety skin. Many
local German races of carp, of no interest here, have been described.
Although the first importation of carp by the U.S. Fish Commission
contained a greater proportion of the mirror and leather races than
of the scaled carp, the former did not thrive except under domesti-
cation, and to-day there are few mirror or leather carp living in a
wild state in American waters.*
Carp prefer moderately warm water, not too deep, and with
plenty of aquatic vegetation. They will live in almost any situa-
tion, thriving in waters of all degrees of turbidity and contami-
nation. They are very hardy under extremes of temperature, and
are easily resuscitated after freezing. Carp shipped from Havana,
111., to New York City by freight arrive alive provided the gills are
kept moist by melting ice. Although of lazy habit, resting much
of the time on the bottom, they arc wary, and are particularly
quick to find a way out of a net, or to jump over it. They are
omnivorous feeders, taking principally vegetable matter, but insect
larvae, crustaceans and mollusks, and other small aquatic animals
as well. They often pull up the roots of tender aquatic plants while
feeding. Cole (1905) found them feeding at all times of day. They
apparently seek deeper water in winter, where they remain semi-
torpid, taking little or no food.
* CoU- (1905) found thai over 91 per rent of 5,000 carp counted at Lake Erie
were scaled carp In hall a carload of ear], looked over as they were unloaded from
skill's al Havana in August, 190S, 1 was unable to detect a single specimen of the
mirror or leather varieties. — R. E. R.
CVPRIXUS THE CARP 107
Carp spawn in the northern United States in May and June.
The eggs are small and exceedingly numerous, 400,000 to 500,000
being a common number in a 4- or 5 -lb female. They spawn most
frequently during the early hours of the morning. One large fe-
male is ordinarily accompanied by four or five males. Five or six
hundred eggs are emitted at a time, the oviposition being accom-
panied by much splashing on the part of both sexes. The eggs are
scattered about, according to Cole, adhering to roots and stems
and other objects. In moderately warm weather the young hatch,
in this latitude, in about twelve days. The young carp reach a
length of 4 to 6 inches by the end of the first summer, and attain a
weight of about 1 lb in twelve months. By the end of the second
summer a weight of about 3 lb may be reached, this depending upon
their nourishment. They first spawn in the spring of their third
year. Carp in our waters do not ordinarily reach more than 5 to
10 lb weight, although occasional specimens have been taken weigh-
ing as much as 30 lb. In Europe d< tul tie the latter weight is said to
have been reached in one or two instances.
The carp lends itself more readily perhaps than any other fish
to the requirements of artificial culture. The rearing of carp is
a very ancient practice, a treatise on the subject by a Chinese
dating from the third century. In this country it has practically
been discontinued since the species has multiplied on such a vast
scale in our natural waters. However, the adaptability of the carp
to confinement is still taken advantage of in certain localities,
especially in the Great Lake region, in the use of retention ponds, in
which large numbers of the summer catch are held over to get the
advantage of the winter market.
Carp bite readily on such baits as worms, liver, paste, and bread
crumbs, and in fact will take nearly any except live bait, and they
are not lacking in game qualities when hooked. They have long
been valued by English anglers, but are not much thought of by the
American sportsman of the newer school.
The carp does not hold a very high place as an edible fish. As
a cheap flesh food it compares favorably in price with any of the
products of either fresh or salt water. Various efforts have been
made to devise means of preparing carp in a way both simple and
acceptable to palates accustomed to better fish. The Germans,
in order to get rid of the muddy flavor, have in some instances
adopted the plan of placing the carp in fresh running water for a
short time before cooking. Such a measure is not generally practi-
108 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
cable in this country, where the resources of cultural establishments
are lacking, and the sole recourse is to parboiling and spicing and
other subterfuges of the cuisine. Experiments recently made in
this country in smoking and salting carp have not been very suc-
cessful. Carp caviar is known to have been used in former cen-
turies by the Jews of Italy, but its red color is objectionable to the
American purchaser. Owing to the low price which carp bring in
springtime — often not more than a third of a cent per pound —
many of these fish in the Great Lake region are used for fertilizing,
although the more progressive firms are more and more holding the
spring and summer catches for the better winter price — two to two
and a half cents cents per pound.
Among fishermen and anglers in America the carp has both its
partisans and its enemies. However, it is coming more and more
to be believed that its good qualities more than overbalance the
other side of the account, the most serious of the charges against it
appearing to rest on uncertain or gratuitously assumed premises.
These charges have been, in brief , that carp roil the water and spoil
the breeding and feeding grounds of other fish ; that they eat the
spawn of other fish and prevent the nesting of such species as bass
and sunfishes ; that they spoil the feeding grounds of water-birds by
eating and rooting up the wild rice and other aquatic plants; and,
that they are of no value either as a food or a game fish. With re-
gard to the first charge it appears doubtful if the damage is serious
in waters already as muddy as those of the Illinois and Mississippi
rivers. Carp do not naturally seek out clear and cold waters to
defile them, and they would probably in no case be serious com-
petitors of such fish as trout and small-mouthed bass.
The second charge, if true, is a much more serious one; but few
direct observations bearing on this point have been made. The
common form of the argument, that "carp eat spawn, as shown by the
simultaneous rapid increase of carp and decrease of fine fish," is not
supported by the statistics of the fisheries of the Illinois River.
These show, on the contrary, that during the five years between
1894 and 1899, when the carp catch increased from ^ to 8 J- million
pounds, the black bass, instead of decreasing, increased from 70,000
to 102.0001b. The decrease in black bass between 1899 and 1903
to 45,000 lb was accompanied by a corresponding decrease in carp
to 6,000,000 lb. It is shown also that catfish gradually increased
fn.ni 700,000 to 990,000 lb between 1894 and 1903; that crappie
increased from 138.000 to 210,000 lb; that sunfish increased from
CYPRINUS — THE CARP 109
175,000 to 507,000 ft between 1894 and 1899, falling off some-
what in 1903; and that suckers, although falling off from 155,000
to 67,000 ft between 1894 and 1899, rose again to 199,000 ft in
1903. The sole important commercial species that have fallen
off steadily since 1894 are buffalo and drum, the first declining from
3 1 million pounds to about half that amount in 1903; and drum
from 348,000 to less than 100,000 ft in the year last mentioned.
If these records show anything at all it would seem to be that the
competition of the carp as spawn-eater and water-soiler has not
seriously affected many of our Illinois River species. It is by no
means improbable that causes entirely apart from depredations and
competition of carp may have had a large influence in producing
the recent decrease of buffalo and drum. Among such causes may
be mentioned increased contamination of waters from municipal and
industrial sources; the obliteration, by drainage and diking, of back-
waters used as spawning grounds ; and the increased rapidity of run-
off from the prairie and upland, as a result of tiling and the cutting
of the forests, affecting the extent and duration of the spawning
havens afforded by both swampy areas and small streams. To
these causes is to be assigned the decrease and approximate disap-
pearance of such minor species as pickerel and lake sturgeon, which
were never very abundant in the rivers in question, and which began
to fall off in numbers long before the carp entered the field.
It is not denied that carp will eat fish spawn ; but it has not yet
1 ieen shown that they seek out spawn for the purpose of consum-
ing it. Black bass, crappie, and sunfish are doubtless able to de-
fend their nests against carp in any case. Certainly the devouring
of spawn lias not affected the multiplication, as shown by the out-
put, of any of these three species, or of suckers or catfishes. That
even a favorable effect of the multiplication of the carp is not im-
possible is evident when it is remembered that the myriads of young
carp offer an almost inexhaustible supply of food to the growing bass.
crappies, and sunfish. The drum and buffalo, which have de-
creased, are in their food habits more directly in competition with
the carp — being chiefly bottom feeders, utilizing mollusks, crusta-
ceans, and insect larvae.
Of the third charge little can he said. While it is admit-
ted by all competent to judge that car]) do uproot vegetation in
large quantities, no means are at hand for comparing the effed of
this destruction on the decrease of water-birds with the effects of the
operations of the hunters themselves. Since 1900 the problem has
110 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
been complicated in the case of the Illinois River by the effect of the
increased flow from Lake Michigan, which has diminished vegeta-
tion in many areas.
Genus CAMPOSTOMA Agassiz
(stone-rollers)
Bodv elongate, little compressed; jaws with thick lips; premaxillaries
protractile; no barbel; teeth 4-4 or 1, 4-4, 0, with oblique grinding surface
and a slight hook on one or two teeth ; intestine 6 to 9 times length of bodv,
wound in many coils about the air-bladder, which is suspended in the ab-
dominal cavity, this condition being unique in Campostoma among all
known fishes ; peritoneum black ; dorsal rays 8 ; anal rays 7 or 8 ; scales 46
to 75 ; lateral line present. Size moderate, not. over 6 or 8 inches. Four
species known.
CAMPOSTOMA ANOMALUM (Rafinesque)
(stone-roller; dough-belly; greased chub)
Rafinesque. 1820. Ichth. Oh., 52 (RutilusV
G.. VII. 183 (dubium): J. & G., 149, 150 (prolixum); M. V., 52; J. & E., I, 205; N„
44; J., 55; F., 70; F. F., I. 6, 77; L., 14.
Distinguishable from all other Illinois Cyprinidce by the peculiar dis-
position of the very long intestine, which is wound many times in a
transverse spiral about the air-bladder in the species of this genus, in
which alone of all fishes this arrangement is known to occur. Length
6 inches; body stoutish, sub fusiform, only moderately compressed;
depth 3.9 to 4.8 in length, usually more than 4.3 in adults; caudal
peduncle as a rule somewhat longer than head, its depth 2 to 2.5 in its
length; old males heavy forward, the predorsal region swollen and
the back more or less elevated. Color brownish olive, the upper parts
with brassv luster; sides and caudal peduncle irregularly blotched or
mottled with blackish ; belly satiny whitish ; a dusky vertical bar behind
opercle; males with a dark cross-bar through middle of dorsal and anal
and a vertical bar at base of caudal, especially conspicuous in spring,
when the rest of each fin is fiery red and the snout and sometimes almost
the entire body covered with tubercles; females sometimes with a faint
dusky cross-bar on dorsal, the anal and caudal plain; young with more or
less pinkish to purplish on body. Head subconic, little compressed, 4 to
4.6 in length, its width in its length 1.7 to 2; interorbital space very little
onvex, 2.5 to 3.3 in head, usually less than 3; eve small, circular, 4.2 to
5.2 in head, situated forward of middle of head and nearer its upper than
under surface; nose 2.3 to _».s. the muzzle moderately decurved, over-
hanging the rather large and horizontal mouth; maxillary 3.3 to 4.6 in
t reaching scarcely back of vertical from posterior nostril; lower jaw
wholly included; upper lip quite flesh)-; breadth of isthmus 1.3 to 1.5
a
j
o
z
o
H
CAMPOSTOMA STOXE-ROLLERS 111
times diameter of orbit. Teeth 4-4 or 1, 4-4. 0, with oblique grinding
surface without terminal hooks, or with only a slight one on one or two
teeth; intestine 5 to 9.5 times length of head and body; peritoneum black.
Dorsal fin with 8 rays, set slightly behind ventrals and nearly midway
between muzzle and base of caudal; longest dorsal ray 1.2 to 1.6 in head;
anal ravs 7 ; pectorals about § to ventrals. 1.2 to 1.4 in head, ventrals fall-
ing quite short of vent in males, reaching or almost reaching it in females.
Scales rather small, 6-8, 46-53, 6-8, more or less crowded forward, the
crowding scarcely noticeable in females but very evident and often con-
spicuous in old males; scales on breast very small, about 15 transverse
series between pectorals ; scales before dorsal 1 5 to 2 6 ; lateral line complete.
This is a species of wide distribution occurring in the Great Lake
region, along the south Atlantic slope to the Gulf, and in the valley
of the Mississippi from Wyoming to Indiana, Ohio, and Texas.
It is a fish of the creeks and the smaller rivers, its ratios of pref-
erence, according to our collections, being 3\ for the former and
2\ for the latter. It has been taken only occasionally by us from
rivers of a large size, and but rarely from lakes and ponds. Indeed,
the notable preference of the species for rocky or sandy streams as
shown by its frequency coefficient of 3.26, and for swift water over
still water (coefficients respectively, 1.70 and .59) would tend to
exclude it from stagnant or muddy waters of any description. In
accordance with these preferences, it has not once occurred in our
collections from the streams of the lower Illinoisan glaciation, none
of our 166 Illinois localities for this species falling within that dis-
trict. Nine of them are from the hill region of extreme southern
Illinois, and one is from the Wabash in Wabash county, but the
southernmost points for the remaining 156 localities are in Mont-
gomery county in the western part of the state, and in Coles county
in the eastern part.
This species is distinguished from all our other minnows by the
great length of the intestine, which is wound spirally about the air-
bladder. There are about twenty gill-rakers to each gill, but they
are so short as to constitute a very inefficient straining apparatus.
The pharyngeal teeth have well-developed grinding surfaces, anil
are practically without terminal hook. Intestines of specimens
examined with reference to the food of the species were invariably
found filled from end to end with a slime-like matter consisting
almost wholly of fine mud from which, with proper treatment, frag-
ments of organic matter could be readily separated. This was
nearly all of vegetable origin, chiefly filamentous algae, with diatoms,
and minute fragments of various kinds of plant tissue. Sometimes
the intestine was filled with almost pure mud.
112 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Dr. Jordan says of this species that " it spawns early in spring,
and it ascends in great numbers all the running streams even the
very smallest. Later it retires to the deeper places in the creeks,
where it may be readily recognized by its quick motions and dusky
colors. Most of the specimens seen are comparatively small, but
occasionally an old male may be noticed in the spring with its entire
body rough and gray with tubercles, and with its vertical fins gaily
variegated with black and orange. Such individuals appear to have
exhausted their vitality and die quickly in confinement, and are
often found dead. Young individuals are active and hardy in the
aquarium, where they feed on confervse and diatoms."
This minnow is unusually tenacious of life, being among the hardi-
est of the aquarium fishes and extremely persistent on the hook.
It is regarded by anglers as one of the best of live baits for black-
bass fishing. Males in breeding dress and females apparently near
spawning have been found by us from November 1 5 to December 1 5
in fall, and from May 1 to June 15 in spring. Breeding males often
have the head and almost the entire body tuberculate. According
to Dr. Reighard, an excavation is made by the male in sand or
gravel in advance of spawning.
Genus CHROSOMUS Rafinesque
Body moderately elongate; not much compressed; no barbel; jaws
normal; premaxillaries protractile; teeth 5-5 or 4-5, moderatelv hooked,
with well-marked grinding surface; alimentary canal twice length of body :
peritoneum black; dorsal rays 7 or 8; anal rays 8; scales small, 67 to 85 in
lateral series; lateral line imperfect or wanting; size small, not over 3
inches. Three species; New England to the Dakotas, chiefly northward.
CHROSOMUS ERYTHROGASTER Rafinesque
(RED-BELLIED DACE)
Rafinesque. 1820, [chth. Oh., 47 (Luxilus), 48.
G., VII, 247 (Leuciscus); J. & G., 153; M. V., S3; ]. & E., I. 209; V, 47; ]., 61 ; I\.
79; F. P., I. 6, 80; L., 14.
The minute scales. 77 to 91 . in the lateral line, and the two longitudi-
nal stripes of dark color upon the sides, will readily distinguish the pres-
ent species from all other species of Cyprinida found within our range.
Length 2 to 3 inches; body oblong, moderately compressed, tapering
about equally each way from middle of body; depth 4.4 to 4.9 in length ;
depth of caudal peduncle 2.1 to 2.4 in its length. Color above brownish
olive, with a broad vertebral streak of dusky and dark spots forming an in-
distinct row on upper part of each side; sides marked with two black stripes
ill
c
-
J
W
u
<
a
a
w
j
w
m
Q
W
1
CHROSOMUS 113
(faint in females), the upper and narrower one extending from upper
corner of gill-cleft nearly straight backward to base of caudal, sometimes
breaking up into spots or oblique bars on caudal peduncle ; the lower
stripe broader, extending from snout through eye and along lower portion
of sides to end of caudal peduncle, followed by a black spot at base of
caudal ravs; the interspace between lateral bands a bright silver}- or
satiny cream, tinged with brassy to crimson in males; belly white, over-
laid with silvery; females much more obscurely marked than males
which in spring coloration have the belly, breast, and chin bright scarlet,
and the fins a bright lemon-yellow, the dorsal with a large blotch of bright
scarlet at its base and the bi idy everywhere minutely tuberculate. Head
rather pointed, 4 to 4.2 in length, its width 1.8 to 2; interorbital space
nearlv flat, 2.6 to 3 in head; eye 3.3 to 3.8; nose 2.9 to 3.5, short, pointed,
longer than the small eye; mouth moderate, terminal, oblique, the tip of
upper lip nearly at level of middle of pupil; maxillary 3.2 to 4 in head
(usually greater than 3.4), reaching but slightly past anterior n< istril-open-
ing; jaws about equal; isthmus less than width of eye. Teeth 4-4, 4-5, or
5-5, long, slender, and compressed, with a long and narrow masticatory
groove, and with tips slightly hooked; intestine 2.4 to 3.5 times length of
head and bodv; peritoneum black. Dorsal fin with ravs usually 7, in
occasional instances 6, placed behind ventrals and about equidistant be-
tween snout and base of caudal; longest dorsal ray 1.1 to 1.3 in head;
anal rays 7 or 8, usually 8; pectorals 1.2 to 1.5 in head; ventrals reaching
vent. Scales very small, 17-20, 77-91. 9-12 (not usually over S5 in Illi-
nois specimens), of uniform size everywhere, the exposed surfaces scarcely
deeper than long; lateral line incomplete, there being usually no pores
present on posterior half of bodv ; scales before dorsal 35 or 40.
This beautiful species, one of the most showy in our waters,
i >ccurs rarely in our collections from the northern half of the state
and from extreme southern Illinois. None of our twenty-two
localities of its occurrence falls within the lower glaciation, and all
but three of them are in northern Illinois. We have not taken the
species from Lake Michigan or from any part of the lake drainage.
Outside the state it has been reported from Maine and New Bruns-
wick to North Carolina, from Michigan, and from the Ohio Valley
generally to the streams of Kansas tributary to the Missouri, and to
northern Alabama. It is commonlyfound only in small clear streams,
and has not once been taken by us from any of the larger rivers.
Its food is evidently obtained by nibbling or sucking the surface
slime from stones and other objects on the bottom. It consists, in
all the cases examined by us, mainly of mud containing algas with
an occasional trace of Entomostraca.
The breeding season falls in May and June, at which time the
colors of the male reach their most gorgeous development. While
not especially hardy, this species lives well in the aquarium, where
ii is indeed a most beautiful object.
114 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Genus HYBOGNATHUS Agassiz
Body elongate, somewhat compressed; jaws normal, sharp-edged, the
lower in some species with a slight hard protuberance in front ; premaxil-
laries protractile; no barbel; teeth 4-4, with oblique grinding surface and
little if any hook; alimentary canal 3 to 10 times length of bodv; peri-
toneum black ; dorsal rays 8 ; anal rays 7 to 9 ; scales large, usually 32 to 41
in lateral series; lateral line complete. Size moderate, 2^ to 6 inches.
Described species numerous, though most are imperfectly known, and
doubtless many synonyms. Central and southwestern United States into
northern Mexico; two species found in Illinois.
Key to the Species of HYBOGNATHUS found in Illinois
a. Silvery species, with a prominent hard protuberance at tip of inside of lower
jaw and with teeth long and scarcely hooked; length 6 inches. . nuchalis.
aa. Olivaceous, with dark lateral band continued through eye to end of snout;
no symphysial protuberance; teeth short and distinctly hooked; length
2i inches nubila.
HYBOGNATHUS NUCHALIS Agassiz
(silvery minnow)
Agassiz, 1855, Am. Jour. Sci. Arts (Silliman's Journal), XIX. 224.
G., VII, LSI; }. & G.. 156; M. V., 53; J. & E., I, 213; N., 45 (also-argyritis), [., 56
(also argyritis); F., 7.9; F. F., I. 6, 7<); L., 14.
A large silvery minnow, with large and loosely imbricated scales,
spindle-shaped body and pointed head, the lower jaw thin and hard and
furnished with a small hard lump just inside the mouth in fron.1
Length 6 inches, body subfusiform, not much compressed, deepest at
front of dorsal and tapering about equally backward to base of caudal and
forward to the pointed snout; depth 3.9 to 4.5 in length; caudal peduncle
rather stout, shorter than head, its depth 1.7 to 2.3 (usually less tlian 2) in
its length. Color olivaceous green above, translucent in life; sides clear
silvery, with bright reflections; fins unspotted; scales not distinctly dark-
edged, their entire surface being about equally specked. Head small,
slender, subconical, its length 4 to 4.6, its width 1.8 to 2.1 in its length; in-
terorbital space gently convex, 2.5 to 2.9 in head; eye small, circular, 3.8
to 4.5 in head; nose 2.9 to 3.5 in head, pointed and considerably longer
than the small eye; mouth small, terminal, oblique, tip of upper lip m it tar
below level of middle of pupil; maxillary 3.6 to 4.3 in head, its Length but
little greater than diameter of eye; back of maxillary falling far short of
oil lit, scarcely exceeding as a rule the vertical from anterior nostril-open-
ing; lower jaw with a hard sharp edge and a noticeable protuberance just
inside the mouth at the symphysis of the mandibles; jaws about equal;
isthmus less than pupil. Teeth 4-4, narrow, with little grinding surfai e
and very little hook; intestine extremely variable in length, from 3.7 to 8
times length of head and body, being as a rule over 5 ; peritoneum dusky.
HYBOC, NATHUS
115
Dorsal fin with usually 8 rays, occasionally 7, set slightly in front of ven-
trals, usually a little nearer muzzle than base of caudal; longest dorsal ray
1 to 1.2 in head; anal ravs 8 (rarely 7) ; pectorals 1.1 to 1.4 in head; ven-
trals falling far short of vent in adults. Scales 5. 37-39, 4, large and
rounded, the exposed surfaces little deeper than long; lateral line com-
plete, and nearly straight except for a slight downward curve in front of
ventrals; scales "before dorsal 13 to 16.
This species is generally distributed throughout the state,
occurring in all our stream systems, including those of the Michigan
drainage, but most abundantly in those of southern Illinois. It is
essentially a river species — one of the few Illinois minnows occurring
in larger ratio in rivers than in creeks. It is most abundant in
rivers of the second class (coefficient, 2.18), and next in creeks (1.91),
but we have also found it not very infrequent in the lakes and
ponds of the river bottoms ( .43).
In general distribution it ranges from Delaware to Georgia am!
Alabama, and from thence southwest to the Rio Grande, north to
the tributaries of the Missouri in the Dakotas, and to the Red River
of the North. In this state it is often found in deep and muddy
waters, and less frequently than most minnows in swift and gravelly
streams. It is one of the five Illinois species found most generally
over a mud bottom, its frequency coefficient being 1.68. It has
the long intestine, the simple pharyngeal teeth with a well-developed
grinding surface, and the few and short gill-rakers characteristic of
the mud-eating minnows, and its food corresponds to these struc-
tural peculiarities. According to our observations the intestine is
always filled with fine mud, containing only filamentous algas,
diatoms, and other vegetable forms likely to be found on a mud
bottom. It is frequently seen in large schools of from fifty to one
hundred in deep and quiet water, always lying nearer the bottom
than the top, or moving slowly along the bottom as it feeds. The
chisel-shaped lower jaw tipped with cartilage is probably used for
scraping up the mud and ooze.
The sexual differences of this species are not striking, althi iugh
the spring males have the nuchal region somewhat swollen, and the
top and sides of the head beset with very minute tubercles. Fe-
males greatly distended with eggs have been taken by us early in
June. This minnow is not hardy, and is consequently an undesir-
able live bait. It is said by Dr. Bean to be much used fc >r f< m id.
116 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
HYBOGNATHUS NUBILA (Forbes)
Forbes, 1878, Bull. 111. State Lab. Nat. Hist., I. 2, 56 (Alburnops).
J. & G., 167 (Cliola); M. V., 53; J. & E., I, 215; P., 70; L., 14.
Length 2 to 2i inches; form much as in the last, the body subfusi-
form, moderately compressed, and evenly tapered in both directions
from the rather deep middle-body region; depth 4 to 4.5 in length;
caudal peduncle as long as head or a little longer; readily distinguished
from H. nuchalis by the smaller size, absence of a symphysial pro-
tuberance, and by the prominent dark lateral band, which passes around
snout. Color usually rather dusky; sides dull silvery, belly yellow; a
dark band along the lateral line and the row of scales above, extending
from a faint caudal spot forward through the eye and around the snout,
tipping the chin; black vertebral line before the dorsal; dorsal scales
thickly specked with black, those of belly plain; none of the scales
distinctly dark-edged; fins plain. Head 3.5 to 4.8 in length, slender,
conic, depressed above, being nearly quadrate in transverse section
behind orbits; interorbital space nearly flat, 2.8 to 3.5; eve large, high,
nearly circular, 2 . 8 to 3 . 1 in head; nose scarcely longer than eye, 3 . 5 to
4.5; mouth larger than in the last species, terminal, oblique, the maxil-
lary 3.5 to 4 in head, extending back of posterior nostril, and almost in
front of orbit; jaws about equal, the lower lacking the hard sharp edge
and the symphysial protuberance found in the last species; isthmus
less than pupil. Teeth 4-4, only slightly hooked, with long though
narrow grinding surfaces; intestine 2.8 to 3.5 times the length of head
and body; peritoneum black. Dorsal fin with 8 rays, over ventrals
and farther from muzzle than base of caudal; anal rays 8; pectorals
reaching § to ventrals; ventrals short of vent in females, exceeding it in
males. Scales 5 or 6, 36-38, 3 or 4. of uniform size and distribution on
all parts of body; lateral line complete, very slightly decurved ante-
riorly; scales before dorsal 13 or 14.
.Males in breeding dress with head somewhat sparselv studded with
small but hard and sharp tubercles; smaller tubercles sprinkled over
scales of predorsal region. Tuberculate males and females distended
with eggs taken from the Kishwaukee at Belvidere on May 12.
This species, which was described by the senior author from
specimens collected from Rock River, at Oregon, 111., has since been
taken only rarely in this state, principally in the extreme north-
western part. Our later collections number 2 from Jo Daviess and
Stephenson counties, 2 from the Kishwaukee at Belvidere, 1 from
Sand creek, Warsaw, and 1 from the Ohio at Cairo. It seems to be
essentially a western species, occurring abundantly in the tributaries
of the Missouri River in Missouri, and in the streams of the Ozark
region in northern Arkansas. It is also reported from the North-
west as far as Wyoming.
PIMEPHALES FATHEADS 117
Genus PIMEPHALES Rafinesque
(FATHEADS)
Body robust or elongate, little compressed; head short and rounded;
mouth small, inferior; upper jaw protractile; no barbel; teeth 4-4, with
oblique grinding surface, usually but one of the teeth hooked; intestinal
canal more than twice length of body; peritoneum black; dorsal rays 7
or 8; anal rays 7; the first (rudimentary) dorsal ray in males evidently
separated by membrane from the second, and not adnate to it as usually
in minnows; scales rather small, 43 to 47 in lateral series; lateral line
complete or imperfect. Size small, 2\ to 4 inches. Two species, gen-
erally distributed throughout the United States east of the Rockies.
Key to the Species of PIMEPHALES found in Illinois
a. Bodv short and stout, depth 3 to 4 in length; lateral line more or less in-
complete promelas.
aa. Body moderately elongate, depth 4 to 5 in length; lateral line complete. . . .
notatus.
PIMEPHALES PROMELAS Rafinesque
(black-head minnow; fathead)
Rafinesque, 1S20, Ichth. Oh., S3,
G., VII, 181; I. & G., 158; M. V., 55; I. & E., I, 217; \\, 45; J., 55; F., 79; F. F.,
I. 6, 7«; L.. 14.
Length 2 A inches; body robust, short, thick and deep, much heavier
forward, not notably compressed; depth 3.2 to 4 in length; caudal
peduncle stout, its length about same as head, its depth usually less
than 2 in its length. Color rather dark olive, with a tinge of coppery or
purplish forward; dorsal fin with a dusky cross-bar about the middle,
faint in females and young, but appearing as a large jet-black blotch
covering most of the lower two thirds of the fin in spring males; other
fins plain in females, in males all more or less dusky, pectorals and anal
most so; spring males often found in which almost the entire body is
dusky, the head in such instances being a jet Mark.* Head 3.6 to 4 in
length, very broad, short, and blunt, sometimes appearing almost
globular in breeding males; width of head unusually great (see Cliola
lax), 1.4 to 1.7 in its length; interorbital space broad and nearly
ila i (excepl in spring males, in which it is swollen), 2 to 2 . S in head ; eye
4. 1 to 4.S in head; nose longer than eye, 3 to 3.5 in head; mouth rather
mall, ubti rminal and quite oblique in females, in which the tip of the
* Males taken from Kickapoo Creek a1 Ulmwood in June, 1900, have the hi ad
je1 black, and all the rest ol the body an extreme duskj with the exception oi a
-I transvei - ba oi ligl i u I bacl oi and tipping the oj lercle and a
similar bar which pai ses around the sidei direi tlj beneath the dorsal fin.
(9)
118 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
upper lip is nearly on a level with the upper margin of the pupil — less
oblique in males, in which level of upper lip is scarcely above that of
lower margin of orbit; maxillary a little longer than eye, reaching very
little past anterior nostril, 3.5 to 4 . 5 in head ; jaws about equal; isthmus
comparatively broad, its width greater than diameter of eye. Teeth
4-4 or 4-5; intestine 2 to 3 times the length of head and body; perito-
neum black. Dorsal fir I,* 8, low, placed directly over ventrals and a
little farther from muzzle than base of caudal; longest dorsal ray 1.2 to
1 . 6 in head, usually greater than 1.4; anal rays I,* 7; pectorals g t<>
ventrals, 1 . 2 to 1 . 5 in head; ventrals past front of anal in males, scarcely
reaching vent in females. Scales 8 or 9, 42-48, 5 or 6, much crowded in
front of dorsal fin, before which there are about 25-30 rows; lateral line
incomplete, sometimes almost wanting; when present, with a noticeable
downward curve anteriorly.
This species has a general range from the northeast to the south"
west, but is not reported from the southeastern part of the United
States. It occurs throughout the Great Lake basin to Lake Cham-
plain, throughout the Ohio basin and up the Mississippi to the head-
waters of the Missouri, and thence northward to the Red River of the
North and the Saskatchewan, and southwest to the Rio Grande.
Its distribution in Illinois is a miniature copy of its general range,
being limited to the northern and western three fourths of the state,
leaving the southeastern part with no representation of this species
in our collections. It is, in fact, one of the fishes already frequently
mentioned, which are practically limited to the Mississippi drainage
in this state, and occurs in our collections from the tributaries of the
Ohio only from one group of four localities on the headwaters of the
Embarras where these approach most closely to the upper tribu-
taries of the Kaskaskia. Notwithstanding the general exclusion of
a large part of southern Illim >is fn >m its range, it enters the lower
Illinoisan glaciation in the branches of the Kaskaskia. It frequents
muddy waters freely, occurring there, indeed, in disproportionate
frequency, our ninety-five collections of the species giving us a
frequency coefficient of 2.08. Like most of our minnows, it is
relatively more abundant in creeks than in other waters (coefficient
2.68) and, next to these, in the smaller rivers (1.82). It is fairly
well represented, however, in rivers of the first class (.85), and
occurs not infrequently in lowland lakes and ponds (.23). It has
not been taken by us from our northeastern lakes of glacial origin
nor from Lake Michigan or from the drainage of its basin.
We have found it commonest in the short muddy creeks con-
nected with the larger rivers, and especially abundant in the muddy
' See key to genera of ( 'yprinidce.
PIMEPHALES FATHEADS 119
parts of a short stream near Warsaw, in Hamilton county, running
down from the bluffs to the Mississippi River, where it was associated
with Cliola vigilax, a species of somewhat similar distribution.
Its tolerance of muddy waters is shown by our frequency coeffi-
cient of 2.08 for those with a mud bottom ; and we have found it with
less than the average preference of minnows for a rapidly moving-
stream (coefficient, .73; Stillwater, 1.37).
It belongs to the mud-eating group of minnows, and its alimen-
tary structures correspond to this fact, the intestine being from
two to three times the length of the head and body, and the pharyn-
geal teeth not hooked but with well-developed grinding surface.
Our only knowledge of its food is derived from a study of four speci-
mens from muddy streams in northern and central Illinois. The in-
testines of these were largely filled with mud containing some algae
and a considerable number of insects, partly of terrestrial species
and partly aquatic larva? of Dipt era.
Females greatly distended with eggs, and males in full breeding
color, have been taken by our collectors in May and June. The
snout of the breeding male bears three rows of very large tubercles,
one on a level with the nostrils and the others between this and the
upper lip. Dr. Kirtland reports that these fishes make shallow
excavations in the breeding season under stones and the ends of logs
in still water, and that, after depositing their eggs, they defend them
bravely against all intruders. The species is not a good live bait,
although often sold as such.
'6'
PIMEPHALES NOTATUS (Rafixesque)
(blunt-xosed minnow)
Rafinesque, 1 S20. Ichth. Oh., 47 (Minnilusi.
(', . VII. is: (Hyborhynchusi; I. & ('. . LS9 (Hyborhynchusi ; M V , 54; ]. & E , I,
218; X.. 45 (Hyborhynchusi: ]., 55 (Hyborhynchus) ; F. P., I. 6. 79 (Hyborhyn-
chusi; F . 78; L . 14
Length _' to 3], inches; body elongate, little compressed, the back
broad and rather flat; depth 4.3 to 4.8 in length; caudal peduncle rather
slender, longer than head, its depth 2.1 to 2.6 in its length, as a rule
greater than 2.3. Color pale olivaceous above, all the scales of upper
part of body with dark edgings prominent; sides a dull silvery bluish,
under which is a plumbeous lateral stripe, extending across opercle and
through eye to end of snout ; no dark vertebral streak; a prominent dark
spot at base of caudal; belly whitish; dorsal tin with a dark blotch in
front on first 3 rays, a little less than half way up from base of tin; other
fins plain, except fur faint dusky lines crossing dorsal and caudal; lured-
120 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
ing males with the head jet-black, except for a light transverse bar at
back of opercle, the dorsal blotch enlarged and extending as a broad
bar from front to back of fin; other fins and entire body more or less
dusky. Head 4 to 4.4 in length, small, but rather broad and flat above;
the muzzle very blunt ; width of head 1 . 6 to 1 . S in its length ; interorbital
space 2 .2 to 2.5; eve 3.5 to 4.4 in head; nose 3.1 to 3 .4, longer than
eye; mouth small, inferior, nearlv or wholly horizontal, the tip of the
upper lip below level of lower margin of orbit; maxillary scarcely longer
than eve, 3 . 8 to 4 . 3 in head, reaching to posterior nostril; lower jaw in-
cluded; isthmus not quite so broad as in the last species, its width about
, V diameter of orbit. Teeth 4-4 ; intestine about twice the length of head
and body; peritoneum black. Dorsal fin 1-8 (rarely 1-7), placed a little
behind ventrals and about equidistant between front of eye and base of
caudal; longest dorsal ray 1 .4 to 1 . 7 in head; anal rays 7 ; pectorals short,
reaching little more than half way to ventrals, no difference in this
respect being noticeable between males and females; ventrals in both
males and females falling short of vent. Scales 6 or 7, 41 to 44, 4, rather
crowded before dorsal, but not so much so as in the last species, rows
before dorsal about 23 ; lateral line usually complete, with a slight
downward curve in front of ventrals.
Fig. 24
This is by far the most abundant and widely distributed minnow
in Illinois. It appeared in .^7 7 of our collections, and is abundant in
all of our river basins, in the glacial lakes of the northeastern part of
the state and in the streams of the Lake basin. Generally speak-
ing, k ranges from Winnipeg and Lake Champlain through the
Great Lake 1 lasin and the north Atlantic region as far as New Jersey,
and down the Mississippi Valley to the Alabama and the Rio Colo
rado of Texas. It passes freely into the lower Illinoisan glaciation,
occurs abundantly in small streams along the bluffs of the Mississippi,
and seems to find a satisfactory place of residence in streams of an}'
size or lakes or ponds of any description. It is most abundant in
creeks (coefficient, 2.57), and scarcely less so in the smaller rivers
(2.03), but is rather rare in the larger rivers, from which it has been
taken by us but 23 limes in 293 collections
li is oni of the mud eating group, the alimentary canal being
ci >mm< mly packed from end to end with mud containing filamentous
SEMOTILUS FALLFISHES 121
algae and miscellaneous vegetable debris. Occasionally fragments
of insects or a specimen of the mud-loving Entomostraca may be
found in the general mixture, and individual specimens have been
reported to eat decayed fish in the aquarium.
Its spawning season, if we may judge from our collections, is
from May 15 to June 15 in central Illinois. Dr. Eigenmann reports
that the eggs are sometimes had on the under surface of various
objects submerged in shallow water. He found them throughout
June and a part of July, one of the parents being, as a rule, on guard
about the nest. The snout of the male in the breeding season bears
three rows of large tubercles, seven in i me n >w at the margin of the
upper lip, five in a row directly above this, and four in an upper n >w,
two of them between the nostrils and one on each side between the
nostril and the eve.
Genus SEMOTILUS Rafinesque
(fallfishes)
Body robust; mouth terminal; upper jaw protractile; a small barbel
on the upper side of the maxillary just in front of its extremity (not at
its tip as in most American minnows); teeth 2, 5-4, 2, hooked, without
grinding surface; intestine short; peritoneum pale; dorsal rays 7 or 8;
anal rays 8; scales 45 to 60 in lateral series; lateral line continuous.
Size large, 6 to 18 inches. Two species, 5. atromaculatus being found
from Maine to Wyoming, and 5. corporalis, the large chub or fallfish of
the Eastern creeks, being confined to the east of the Alleghanies.
Fin. 25
SEMOTILUS ATROMACULATUS (Mitchill)
(horned dace; creek chub)
nil. 1818, Am Month Mag , II, M4 (Cyprinus)
G VII , 269 (Leucosomus corporalis: J & < ', , 221 (corporalis). M V., 66; 1 & E .
I. 222; X , 45 (corporalis); J., <>2 (corporalis, I' . 7^ (corporalis); F. F , I. 6.
88 icorporalisi ; L.. 15.
122
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Length usually 6 to 8 inches, sometimes reaching a length of a foot;
body rather elongate, but robust, heavy forward, the back gently arched
in front of the dorsal fin; depth 4.1 to 4.0 in length; caudal peduncle
shorter than head, its depth 2 to 2 . 5 in its length. Color dusky bluish-
olive above; tinges of light purplish on sides as far down as lateral line;
a faint plumbeous lateral band, somewhat more distinct towards end of
caudal peduncle; a faint vertebral streak and a dark bar behind opercle;
sides below lateral line greenish gray to silvery ; belly silvery ; dorsal fin
with a distinct black blotch at base, between first and third rays; in
breeding males there is sometimes a broad but indistinct transverse
bar of dusky color crossing the fin about midway; other fins plainer, at
most, with slight traces of dusky in spring males. Head large, every-
where convex, broadlv rounded above, 3.5 to 3.9 in length; width of
head 1 . 6 to 1.8 in its length ; interorbital space 2 . 4 to 2 . 7 ; eye 4 . 8 to 7.1
in head, usually more than 6 in adults; nose long, broadly and bluntly
rounded, 2 . 7 to 3 .3 in head; mouth very large, terminal, oblique, tip of
upper lip at level of lower margin of pupil; maxillary about 2\ times eye,
Fig. 26
Left branchial cavity of Semotilus atromaculatus, with opercle
removed to show 'left pharyngeal arch in situ; also pharyn-
geal jaws removed and viewed from front
reaching beyond anterior margin of orbit; jaws about equal; isthmus
less than eve. Teeth extremely variable, — 4,1-0,4, 4.1-0.5, 4,2-1,5,
4,2-2,5, 5,2—1 ,5, 4,2—2 ,4 in nine specimens examined by us; intestine
. 9 to 1.1 times length of head and body; peritoneum pale, a very little
dusky forward. Dorsal fin with 8 rays, situated behind ventrals, equi-
distant between front of eye and base of caudal; longest dorsal ray 1 .6
to 1.8 in head; anal rays 8; pectorals short, reaching \ to \ to ventrals,
1.5 to 1.9 in head; ventrals short of vent in adults. Scales 10 or 11,
rarely 9, 55 to 69, 5 to 7, considerably crowded in predorsal and scapular
regions, about 35 rows before dorsal fin; lateral line complete, with a
stnmg downward curve in front of ventrals.
This is essentially a creek species, our frequency coefficient for
creeks being 3.77, and for the smaller rivers 1 .67. In lakes and
ponds we have taken it but 5 times in 591 collections, and in the
[erriversbut 5 times in 293 collections, its preference for creeks
is als<> reported by R. C. < )sburn, who says that in seining up stream
SEMOTILUS — FALLFISHES 123
an increase in its numbers is very noticeable as the headwaters are
approached. Within these limits its distribution in Illinois has been
quite general, including all our hydrographic divisions except the
Michigan drainage and showing no marked preponderance in any.
Outside this state it ranges far and wide throughout the central and
western United States, excepting, however, the Great Lakes and the
extreme southern and southwestern part of our area. From the St.
Lawrence and its tributaries in Canada, and from New Brunswick,
Maine, and Vermont, it is found westward and southward through
the Hudson valley to the Potomac and the Roanoke, through the
Ohio and the Mississippi valleys to the Alabama River, and north-
westward to Wyoming.
It is an active swimmer and exceedingly voracious, and with an
unusually varied diet for a minnow, including considerable quanti-
ties of vegetable food on the one hand, and small fishes on the other.
A fourth of the food of twenty-two specimens consisted of alga? and
of miscellaneous vegetable debris. Four of these specimens had
eaten little else than filamentous algae, and three had captured
small fishes. Grasshoppers, caterpillars, ants, chrysomelid and
scaraba'id beetles and various other terrestrial insects, together with
Corisa, dipterous larvae, and other aquatic forms, were the insects
represented, and three of our twenty-two specimens had eaten
only crawfishes.
This species is reported by Jordan to reach a length of a foot .
and to be an excellent bait, when of the proper size, for bass, wall-
eyed pike, and pickerel. With the possible exception of Hybopsis
kentuckicnsis, it is decidedly our gamiest minnow. It is always
readv to bite at a grasshopper, and will even rise to the fly. It
thrives in the aquarium, and with good treatment soon becomes so
tame as to feed from the hand*.
Males in full breeding dress have been taken in our May collec-
tions. There are, in spring males, two large tubercles on each side
of the upper lip just below the nostrils, a row of four other large ones
on each side of the eye. a cluster of minute tubercles on the lower
part of each opercle, and a row on the margin of most of the scales
on the upper part of the caudal peduncle. Reighard has seen a
male of this species preparing a nest by excavating the sand and
gravel in advance of spawning, but this is abandoned after the eggs
have been laid.
Ilic eastern chub (Semotilus r,<> /or-//; i does no1 occur west of the All'
in's It is said by Atkm to pawn in May. It builds greal hi ip
in running water, bu1 avoids eddies and ripples when spawning The males
build tin- nest, carrying pebbles in their mouths.
124 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Genus OPSOPCEODUS Hay
Body fusiform, somewhat compressed; mouth extremely small,
terminal ; upper jaw protractile; no barbels; teeth 5-5 or 4-5, with
edges serrated and no grinding surface, the tips hooked; intestine short ;
peritoneum white; dorsal rays 7 to 10; anal rays 7 or 8; scales 37 to 42;
lateral line complete or imperfect. Size very small, 2\ inches. Species
3 or 4 ; confined to the Mississippi Valley and the eastern United States.
Fig 27
OPSOPCEODUS EMILLE Hay
Hay, 1880, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 507.
Forbes in J. & G., 247 (Trycherodon megalops); M. V., 6.S; J. & E., I, 24S (megalops);
F., 74; L., 15 (emilise and megalops).
The very small and upturned mouth, the black spot on the posterior
rays of the dorsal fin, and the incomplete lateral line of this species serve
to distinguish it readily from all other minnows found in our range.
Length usuallv less than 2^ inches; body moderately elongate, com-
pressed, the back perceptibly elevated, the profile a more or less even
incline from a point over the tips of the reflexed pectorals; depth 4. 1 to
4.S in length; caudal peduncle slender, longer than head, its depth 2.2
t" 3.2 in its length, not usually, however, over 2.5. Color light olive,
yellowish, the scales excepl on and very near belly conspicuously dark-
edged;* a narrow dark lateral band, extending forward across opercle
and through eve to end of snout, becoming faint anteriorly; no distinct
caudal spot, but sometimes, in highly colored males, an indistinct ver-
tical bar at base of caudal; fins of females plain, or, at most, the dorsal
with faint traces of duskv on anterior third; breeding males with the
snout and chin thickly studded with minute tubercles, and with a large
blotch "I" duskv covering almost entire dorsal fin except a patch at base
and another a1 tip of fin; a second blotch of dusky at back of fin in some
males, situated about half wav up from base and crossing last three ra] s;
other tins plain. Head small, -1. 1 to 4 . 5 in length ; width of head 1 . 7 to
* No other spei ie i of < 'yprinidos found in the. state has the cross-hatching more
distinct or extending farther below the lateral line, typical specimens having al-
mosl t lie entire body so marked
ABRAMIS BREAMS 125
1 . 9 in its length ; interorbital space little convex, 2 . 3 to 2 . 6 in head ; eye
3 . 1 to 3 . 7. a little longer than the snout, but less than the interorbital
space; nose short and blunt, 3.2 to 3.8 in head, the extremely oblique
mouth giving it a turned-up or "snubbed" appearance; mouth extremely
small and very oblique, making an angle of less than 30° with the ver-
tical; maxillarv 3.7 to 4.6 in head, shorter than the eye and scarcely
reaching anterior nostril; upper lip almost or quite on a level with upper
margin of pupil; jaws about equal; isthmus less than pupil. Teeth 5-5
or 4-5, very slender, strongly hooked, and sharply and irregularly cre-
nate; intestine about .9 of length of head and body; peritoneum very
lightly specked with dusky. Dorsal fin with 8 or 9 rays, inserted a little
behind front of ventrals, but nearer muzzle than base of caudal; longest
dorsal rav 1 to 1 . 3 in head; anal rays 8; pectorals §, or more, to ventrals;
ventrals to or slightly past vent. Scales 6, 38-40, 4 ; lateral line variously
imperfect, sometimes present only on the first 4 or 5 scales, sometimes
extending, with numerous interruptions, to the middle of the caudal
peduncle; slightly decurved anteriorly; 15-18 scales before dorsal.
This is a southern species in general range, distributed from
Ohio through Indiana and Illinois to Georgia, Arkansas, and
Oklahoma, and in our collections is relatively much the most
abundant from southern Illinois. Northward it has been taken
almost wholly along the larger rivers — the Illinois, the Mississippi,
and the Rock. It is mainly a species of creeks and ponds with
us, however, although more than usually abundant from the
larger rivers also. Females greatly distended with eggs, and
tuberculate males in high spring color, have been taken by us
about Meredosia between the 10th and the 20th of Tune.
Genus ABRAMIS Cuvier
(breams I
Body deep and strongly compressed; belly before ventrals forming a
keel over which the scales do not pass; mouth oblique or horizontal; pre-
maxillary protractile; no barbels; teeth 5-5, hooked and with grinding
surface; alimentary canal short; peritoneum (in American species) pale;
dorsal rays 8 to 10; anal tvpicallv long, with 20 to 40 rays in the European
species; American forms with anal shorter, the rays 9 to 18; scales 39 to
55; lateral line developed. Size rather large,* the American bream
reaching a length of 12 inches. Species numerous, inhabiting both
Europe and North America; American forms 1 (or 2); distributed from
Nova Scotia to Texas.
* The common bream of Europe I Ibramis bratna) has been known to attain
a weight of 12 rb in some of the hash lakes.
126 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
ABRAMIS CRYSOLEUCAS (Mitchill)
(golden shixer; roach; bream)
Mitchill, 1814, Rep. Fish. X. Y .. 23 (Cyprinus).
G.. VII. 305 (americanus). 306 (leptosomus) ; J. & G .. 249 (Notemigonus leptosomus),
250 (N. chrysoleucusi; M. V.. 68 (Notemigonus); J. & E., I, 250; X.. 48 (Note-
migonus americanus); J., 61 (Notemigonus); F. F.. I. 6. SI (Notemigonus
chrysoleucus) ; F., 74 (Notemigonus); L., 15.
The small, pointed head, greatly compressed form, strongly decurved
lateral line, and the sharp keel on the belly behind the ventral fins, will
as a rule distinguish this species with readiness from all other Illinois
species of its family. Length 6 to 8 inches; body moderately elongate
in the young, in adults becoming very deep and' strongly compressed,
the thickness in the predorsal region contained sometimes nearly three
times in the greatest depth in fully adult specimens ; depth 3 to 3 . 6 in
length; caudal peduncle short, its greatest depth 1 .4 to 1 . 7 in its length.
Color a clear dark greenish olive above, becoming steel-blue in some
lights; sides silvery, with bright golden reflections; a half-diamond-
shaped or triangular spot of dark color more or less evident at base of
exposed portion of each scale; dorsal and anal fins tipped with dusky;
lower fins yellow, the ventrals bright orange at tips in breeding individ-
uals of both sexes; young with a faint vertebral streak and a distinct
dark band along sides. Head small, subconic, flattened on the sides, 4 to
4.5 in length; width of head 1 . 7 to 1 . 9 in its length; interorbital space
2 .4 to 2 . 7 in head, markedly convex; eye 3 .4 to 4.4 in head, within the
anterior half of the head, and rather low, about as near chin as crown;
nose sharply pointed, appreciably longer than eye, 3.2 to 3.8 in head;
mouth rather small, terminal, oblique, tip of upper lip even with top of
pupil; maxillary not reaching past anterior nostril; 3.5 to 3.9 in head;
jaws about equal; isthmus less than pupil. Teeth 5-5 to 4-4, constricted
at base and sometimes slightly hooked ; intestine from 1 to 1 . 8 times
length of head and body; peritoneum lightly specked with dusky. Dorsal
fin with 8 rays, set distinctly behind ventrals, its first ray about equi-
distant between upper comer of gill-opening and base of caudal; longesl
dorsal ray 1 to 1.3 in head; anal rays 11 to 14; pectorals 1.1 to 1.3 in
head, reaching about § to ventrals; ventrals falling short of vent in
adults. Scales 9 to 11, 45 to 52, 3 ; lateral line complete, broadly and
deeply decurved, and often flexuose from back of opercle to a point about
midway of caudal peduncle, its distance from the back in the middle of
the body 2 A times the interval below.
This extremely abundant species occurs from New Brunswick
and the Province of Quebec southward to St. Johns River and the
lakes of Orange county, Florida, westward to the branches of the
Missouri in the Dakotas, and southwesl to the Nueces River in Texas.
Ii is not reported from the Greal bakes. Professor Hay says that
it prefers slow streams and grassy ponds, and is sometimes found in
large numbers in the muddiest and most uninviting holes. In
z
X
tn
Z
W
Q
O
o
■
I
ABRAMIS BREAMS
127
Ohio, Osburn found it chiefly in ponds, quiet pools, and weedy
bayous. According to Dr. Bean, it is one of the commonest fishes
of Pennsylvania, frequenting sluggish waters and abounding in
bayous and weedy ponds where it grows to a length of a foot and a
weight of a pound and a half. According to Dr. Jordan, "it is
especially characteristic of sluggish waters in either lake, pond, or
bayou. In Ohio it is extremely abundant, in the weedy bayous
most of all. The yellow pond-lily is its favorite shelter."
It has been taken by us in 303 collections, more frequently
than any other fish except the blunt-nosed minnow {Pimephalcs
notatus), which has appeared in 3 7 7. The most notable pecu-
liarities of its local and ecological distribution in Illinois are
its frequencv in lowland lakes and ponds (coefficient, 1.36),
and over a muddy bottom (3.79). Our map of the distribu-
tion of the Illinois collections of this species shows that, although
it is widely distributed throughout the state, occurring in many
localities in each of our stream systems, there is a notable
difference in the size of the streams which it chiefly inhabits in the
southern and eastern parts of the state, where it is essentially a
creek species, and in the remainder of the state, where it has been
taken chiefly along our larger rivers. It is also very much more
abundant in the Wabash basin, the Big Muddy, and the tribu-
taries of the Ohio than in any other part of Illinois, appearing there
three and four times as frequently to the hundred collections as in
the Illinois valley or the streams of northwestern Illinois.
It has a more efficient equipment of alimentary structures than
anyi >ther of our common minnows, and a correspondingly wide range
i >f food resources. Its intestine is rather long — one and a third times
the length of the head and body together; the gill-rakers are long,
fine, and numerous ; and the pharyngeal teeth are provided both with
terminal hooks and grinding surfaces. We find its food varying,
consequently, according to situation, from a mere mass of mud, to
mollusks, insects. Entomostraca, and vegetable substances. Where
mollusks are abundant, it sometimes feeds on nothing else; and in
ponds containing many minute Crusta cca, these may be its sole food.
One specimen taken from Xippersink Lake, in the northern part of
the state, had filled itself \\\{h wild rice. Insects, mainly terrestrial,
were also eaten by several, and some of the specimens studied, had
devoured quantities of algas
The golden shiner is said to be an excellent pan- fish, if of suffi
cienl size. It is active all wint< r, and can be taken through the i<
It lives well in the aquarium, and makes a good bait for black bass.
128
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Spawning females, with eggs running from the vent, have been
taken by us from the first to the last of May, and occasional speci-
mens were found full of eggs as late as July 30. The eggs are ex-
tremely adhesive, and contain no oil globule. The males average
smaller in size than the females, and have the back somewhat more
swollen at the nape. Their sides are rough with minute tubercles,
but the head and snout are not tuberculate.
Genus CLIOLA Girard
Fishes with the form and appearance of Pimephales, but with the
alimentary canal shorter than the body, the peritoneum pale, and the
teeth more hooked — allying them rather with Notropis; mouth inferior;
premaxillary protractile; teeth 4-4; dorsal rays 8, the anterior ray club-
shaped and separated from the second by membrane, as in Pimephales;
anal rays 7; scales 42 to 48; lateral line developed. Size small. 2h to 3
inches. Two species known; central and southwestern United States.
Fir,. 28
CLIOLA VIGILAX (Baird & Girard)
(bullhead minnow; fathead)
Bi ird & Girard, 1853, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila..
('... VII, 2S9 (Leuciscus tuditanus); J. & G., 16
91 (Ceratichthysi.
(tuditana). 166 (taurocephalat,
169; M V . 54; J. & E.. I, 253; J", 56 (Alburnops tuditanus); F., 78; L., IS.
Length 2 to 3 inches; body stout, only moderately elongate, not
much compressed, the thickness of the body in the predorsal region
ci mtained about 1 J times in its depth ; depth 4.1 to 4 . 5 in length ; caudal
peduncle stout, shorter than head, its depth 1.5 to 2 . 2 in its length.
Color dusky olive or yellowish above; sides silvery, with but a faint
uggestion of a dark lateral hand; a small jet-black caudal spot, and a
prominent black spot on the anterior 3 or 1 rays of the dorsal tin about
half way up; spring males with head leaden to blackish, and entire body
more or less dusky. Head 3 . 7 to 4 . 1 in length, broad and tlal above and
little i ape red forward, the muzzle very blunt ; width of head 1.5 to 1.7 in
BLACK-HEAD MINNOW, Pimephales promelas Katinesque
U<Bfal»'«f
BULLHEAD MINNOW (Male), Cliola vigilax (Laird & Girard)
BULLHEAD MINNOW (Female), Cliola vigilax (Baird & Girard)
CLIOLA 129
its length; interorbital space 2.3 to 2.8, nearly flat; eye small, circular,
entirely within upper half of head, 3.2 to 4; nose longer than eye, 2.9 to
3.3 in head; mouth rather small, terminal, oblique, tip of upper lip
about on a level with inferior margin of orbit; maxillary 2.9 to 3.6 in
head, not reaching orbit; jaws equal; isthmus about half diameter of eye.
Teeth 4-4, with grinding surface and slight hook; intestine about equal
to length of head and body; peritoneum silvery with a few small and
scattering dark specks. Dorsal fin low, its longest ray 1.4 to 1 . c) in
head, usually less than the head's width; dorsal rays 1-8, the first little
more than half the length of the second, thickly covered with flesh in
spring males; insertion of dorsal nearly directly over ventrals and about
equidistant between snout and base of caudal ; anal rays 7 ; pectorals
reaching little more than § to ventrals; ventrals in both males and
females usually reaching to vent, but always falling short of anal. Scales
6 to 8, 39 to 44, 4 or S, usually 7-4 above and below; 21 to 2 7 rows before
dorsal; lateral line complete, but slightly decurved in front of ventrals.
This fish, though often confounded with Pimephales notatus,
differs sharply from it in its more oblique mouth and in the distri-
bution of the dark punctulations on the scales, the entire surface of
the scales of the upper half of the body being more or less dusted
with dark specks in Cliola, while in P. notatus the scales are very
distinctly dark-edged. It will scarcely be confused with P. pro-
melas, which has the mouth smaller and lips (except in males)
thinner, and the lateral line to a greater or less degree imperfect. If
at any time external differences fail, it may be separated with ease
from either species by its generic characters.
This little species, although one of our minor minnows, only two
or three inches long, is one of the most abundant in the larger rivers
of the state — the fifth on our list in order of frequency in rivers of
the first class. This feature of its distribution is derivable also from
our map of the state showing the distribution of the 116 localities
from which our 194 collections of the species have been made. It
occurs with still greater frequency in the smaller rivers and the
creeks, more abundantly in the former, however, than in the latter.
From lakes and ponds it lias been taken by us only 28 times in 591
collections. Its preference for a rapid current (coefficient, 2.46)
and a clea bottom (2.04) is also especially pronounced. Profess* >r
Hav likewise reports, in his list of the lampreys and fishes of In-
diana, that this species appears to prefer clear streams. It is gen-
erally distributed from Ohio to Georgia, the Dakotas, Iowa, Arkan-
sas and Texas, and the Rio Grande. It has occurred to us much the
most abundantly in the streams of the Kaskaskia and tin- Wabash
basins, its frequency coefficients lor those stream systems (3.31 ami
2.27 respectively) being many times those for any others in the
130 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
state. It is an exception to the general rule in the fact that it enters
freely the lower Illinoisan glaciation, notwithstanding its evident
preference for clear water.
Gravid females occur in our June collections, and in others
taken as early as the 21st of May. Females are uniformly smaller
than males, and the latter are further distinguished in spring by
nine large tubercles on the snout, five of them in a row just above
the upper lip, two additional ones between the nostrils, and one on
each side between the nostril and the eye.
Genus NOTROPIS Rafinesque
Body oblong or elongate, either more or less compressed; mouth
mostly terminal and oblique, sometimes subinferior; premaxillaries
protractile; no barbels; teeth in 1 or 2 rows, the main row always 4-4;
peritoneum as a rule pale, though often dusky, and in some species black
(anogenus) ; dorsal rays usually 7 or 8; anal rays ordinarily 7 or 8 (or 9),
in a few species 11 or 12 ; scales usually rather large, as a rule less than
40 in lateral series; lateral line complete or imperfect. Size usually
small, most species not exceeding 3 or 4 inches. A very large group,
embracing about 100 species, all confined to the fresh waters of America
east of the Rocky Mountains ; 1 7 species in Illinois.
Key to the Species of NOTROPIS found in Illinois
a. Anal rays typically 7 or S ; occasionally 9 in two compressed forms (see bb,
below), in which, however, scales before dorsal are not over 17, and no
black spot is present at base of first dorsal ravs; teeth 4-4; 1, 4-4, 1; or
1 or 2. 4-4, 1 or 2.
b. Eye moderate, 2 J to 2$ in head, always less than 4; body not usually much
compressed, the back gently and broadly rounded in front of dorsal fin;
scales not closely imbricated; teeth 4-4; 1, 4-4, 1 ; or 1 or 2, 4-4, 1 or 2.
c. Small species, seldom over 2A inches in length; with (1) a black lateral stripe
along sides and through eye to end of snout, or (2) a conspicuous dark
spot above and below each pore of lateral line anteriorly, or (3) pale
species, with no vertebral streak and the spots above lateral pores incon-
spicuous; teeth 4-4 or 1, 4-4, 1 (except heterodon) .
d. Eye 3 or more in head (sometimes under 3 in heterodon, in which dark
lateral stripe extends through eye to end of snout, tipping chin); small,
usually less than 2+ inches.
e. Scales before dorsal large, 12 to 15 in number; teeth 4-4 (except heterodon).
f. A black stripe along sides through eye to end of snout.
g. Chin white; mouth small, nearly horizontal, the upper lip below level of
li iwer margin of pupil cayuga.
gg. Chin black at tip; mouth moderate or very small, oblique, tip of upper lip at
level of upper margin of pupil.
h. Maxillary reaching posterior nostril; mouth moderately oblique, making 40°
to 60° with vertical; teeth 0, or 1, or 2, 4-4, 0, or 1, or 2; peritoneum
silvery heterodon.
NOTROPIS 13]
hh. Mouth extremely small and upturned, the maxillary scarcely reaching
anterior nostril, and making an angle of 20° to 30° with vertical when
mouth is closed; teeth 4-4; peritoneum black anogenus.
ff. Black lateral stripe, if present, developed only posteriorly (m >t continued
forward through eye to end of snout).
i. Mouth more or less oblique, jaws subequal; lateral line distinctly decurved
anteriorly. A dark vertebral streak, and a plumbeous lateral band more
or less distinct posteriorly ; .scales of lateral line of average depth; length
7\ inches .' blennius.
ii. Mouth little, it any, oblique, tip of upper lip below level of lower margin of
orbit; lower jaw distinctly shorter than upper; lateral line nearly straight.
phenacobius.
ee. Scales before dorsal smaller, 17 to 11 in number; mouth inferior, lips rather
thick ; teeth 1 , 4-4, 1 gilberti.
dd. Eye very large, 2 \ to 2\ in head; dark lateral stripe not developed anteriorly;
some dusky color on chin at tip; teeth 1, 4-4, 1 ; length 3 inches
illecebrosus.
cc. Large species. 4 to 6 inches in length when adult; plumbeous lateral stripe
not continued to head; course of lateral line not anywhere marked out by
conspicuous dark spots above and below each pore; a broad vertebral
streak always present; teeth 1 or 2, 4-4, 1 or 2.
j. A prominent black spot at base of caudal fin; scales before dorsal 18 to 20.
hudsonius.
jj. No black spot at base of caudal; scales before dorsal 15 or 16 jejunus.
bb. Eye small. 4 to 5 in head in adults; body more or less distinctly compressed,
the back sharplv rounded in front of dorsal fin; scales closelv imbricated;
teeth 4-4 or 1 , 4-4, 1.
k. Body very short and deep, the depth 3 to 3.3 in length; usually no dark
color on posterior membranes of dorsal fin; teeth as a rule 4-4, sometimes
1 , 4-4, 1 or 0 lutrensis.
kk. Body more elongate, depth 3 \ to 4 in adults; a more or less distinct black
blotch on last membranes of dorsal; teeth 1. 4-4, 1 whipplii.
aa. Anal rays 9, Id. 1 1, or 12; teeth 2, 4-4, 2,
1. Dorsal fin in front of or over ventrals; exposed portions of scales of Hanks
notably deeper than long; a broad dark vertebral streak; anal rays 9 or
Id, usually U) cornutus.
11. Dorsal fin behind ventrals; scales roundish, the exposed portions not notablv
deeper than long.
m. Scales loosely imbricated, those before dorsal in 15 to 17 series; no black
spot at base of dorsal.
n. A broad dark vertebral streak; anal ravs 9 or 10 pilsbryi.
nn. Vertebral streak very narrow and usually faint.
o. Eye equal to or longer than snout; maxillary equal to eye; snout blunt;
anal rays 9, 10, or 11 (usually 10) atherinoides.
oo. Eye shorter than snout; maxillary 1^ times eve; snout sharp; anal rays
9 or 1 0 rubrifrons.
nm. Scales closely imbricated, about 30 series in front of dorsal; a black -pot
usuall) evident at front of base of dorsal; anal ravs 10 to 12. usually
11 umbratilis.
132 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Fig. 21'
NOTROPIS ANOGENUS Forbes
Forbes. 1SS5, Bull. 111. State Lab. Nat. Hist.. II. 2, 138.
M. V , 55; J.& E., I, 2y>: L., 16.
A small, weak species, very similar in general appearance to N.
heterodon, but with complete lateral line, and always clearly distinguish-
able from that species by its black peritoneum and its very small and
extremely oblique mouth, the maxillary standing at an angle of no
more than 40° with the vertical. Length 1| inches; body moderately
elongate, considerably compressed, the depth 4.3 to 4.5 in length;
caudal peduncle rather slender and longer than head. Color dark
above, yellowish beneath; sides silvery with a distinct plumbeous
to blackish lateral band, extending from a small dark spot at base
of caudal along sides and through eye to end of snout, tipping the
chin ; scales of back quite thickly specked with black over most
of their surfaces; the third row above lateral line only narrowly
edged with dusky; the two rows covered by the lateral band rather
densely dusted with fine specks among which are occasional much larger
ones; fins faintly dusky. Head small, 4 . 3 to 4 . 5 in length, bluntly conic,
its width If in its length; interorbital space 2 . 6 to 2.9; eye 3.1 to 3.3;
nose short and blunt, 4.5 to 4.8 in head; mouth very small, terminal,
extremely oblique, the tip of the upper lip at about same level as upper
margin of pupil; maxillary 4.5 to 5.1 in head, scarcely twice diameter
of pupil, not reaching back of anterior nostril; isthmus less than pupil.
Teeth 4-4, with well developed grinding surfaces, sometimes plain,
sc >metimes crenate; teeth more or less hooked at tip; intestine 1.2 to 1.3
times length of head and bodv; peritoneum black. Dorsal fin with 8
rays; about one scale behind ventrals, a little nearer base of caudal than
muzzle; longest dorsal ray somewhat mure than head; anal rays 7 ; pei to
rals less than -, t<> ventrals; ventrals reaching vent. Scales 5 or 6, 34 to
3 7, •! or 4 ; rows before dorsal 13 or 14.
Tins well-marked species was described by the senior author in
1885 from 24 specimens collected in the upper Fox River at Mc-
Henry, 111. It has since been taken in the slate but once. A
well marked specimen was found in Fourth Lake in 1892. Dr.
.Meek found the species iii Cayuga Lake. X. Y., in 1888. and has
cently obtained a number of excellent specimens from northern
NOTROPIS 133
Indiana. It has been taken in Orchard Lake, Oakland county,
Mich., by Mr. T. L. Hankinson during the present summer (1906).
A female taken June 12 was full of eggs, as were some of the
types, taken from the 8th to the 10th of May.
NOTROPIS CAYUGA Meek
Meek, 1888, Ann. Ac. Nat. Hist.. X. Y., 305.
J.& E., I, 260; L.. 16.
Length 2A inches; body moderately elongate, depth 4.5 to 5 . 2 in
length ; caudal peduncle about equal to head, rather slender, its depth 2 . 3
to 2 . 8 in its length. Color olivaceous, the scales above dark edged, their
outlines sharplv defined; a black lateral stripe along sides and through
eve to end of snout ; a faint caudal spot ; the base of each scale of lateral
line marked out bv a conspicuous crescentic band* of black, these bands
crossing the lateral stripe and breaking it up into bars posteriorly,
extending below it on anterior portion of bodv : vertebral streak almost
obsolete. Head bluntly conic, proportionately longer than in the
variety next described, 3.7 to 4.1 (average of 10 specimens 3.84) in
length; width of head 1.9 to 2.2; interorbital space 2.9 to 3.5 in head;
eye large, equal to snout, 3.1 to 3 . 5 in head; nose 3.2 to 3.8 in head;
mouth very small, subterminal, very slightly oblique, the upper lip below
level of lower margin of pupil; back of maxillary under first nostril; its
length less than eye, 4.2 to 4. 9 in head (average of 10 specimens 4.47);
jaws subequal; isthmus less than pupil. Teeth 4-4, hooked, the grinding
surface narrow; intestine 1 to 1.2 times length of head and body; peri-
toneum silvery. Dorsal fin with 8 rays, inserted distinctly behind ven-
trals and farther from muzzle than from base of caudal; longest dorsal
ray a little less than head, in which it is contained 1.1 to 1.2; anal ravs
7 or 8, usually 8; pectorals f to ventrals, 1 .3 to 1 . 5 in head; ventrals to
vent or front of anal. Scales 5, 34 to 36, 3 in- 4; 12 to 15 rows before
dorsal ; lateral pores wanting on some scales.
This species is distributed from Lake Champlain and the St.
Lawrence River to the Dakotas and Assiniboia, Nebraska, Kansas,
Arkansas, and the Neches and Comal rivers in Texas. It is not
abundant in Illinois, having been taken by us in only 30 collections,
nearly all of them from the northern half of the state. It is most
abundant in creeks, although it occurs in the northeast glacial
lakes and has been taken once by us from the Michigan drainage.
Females apparently near spawning have been captured as early
as June 5 and as late as August 1 .
npare description of A', heterolepis Eig. & Eig., Amer. Nat. , Feb., '93, p. 152.
(HO
134 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
NOTROPIS CAYUGA ATROCAUDALIS Evermann
Evermann, 1891, Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., XI, 76.
Length 2h inches; body comparatively shorter and deeper than in the
last species, the depth 4 to 4 . 6 in the length ; caudal peduncle slender, its
depth 2.2 to 2 . 7 in its length. Color as in the last, except that the dark
lateral stripe is solid, there being no transverse crescentic bars at bases
of scales of lateral line. Head short, 3.8 to 4.2, its width 1 . 7 to 1 .9 in
its length ; interorbital space 2.6 to 3.1; eye 2.8 to 3.3; nose 3 to 3.7;
mouth very small, but relatively larger than in the last species, the max-
illary 3.6 to 4.3 (average 3.83 for 10 specimens). Teeth, intestine, and
peritoneum as in last species. Dorsal fin with 8 rays, inserted distinctly
in front of ventrals and closer to the muzzle than to the base of the
caudal. Scales 5, 33-38, 3 or 4; 12 to 14 before dorsal; lateral line
sometimes wanting on a few scales.
Females distended with eggs taken in June; snout, cheeks, chin, and
top of head of breeding males quite thickly covered with evident though
small tubercles. (Tubercles not observed in males of N. cayuga.)
We have ten collections of this minnow, containing thirteen
specimens from the Illinois and adjacent waters, near Meredosia,
and one from the main river at Havana. A specimen from Mack-
inaw creek in Woodford county, one from Anderson's branch, in
Union county, and one from the Little Fox River at Phillipstown
may be referred with some uncertainty to this variety. Specimens
taken at Greenway, Arkansas, by Dr. Meek are, without much
question, identical with the form here described. The uncertainty
arises from the difference between the published figure of N. cayuga
atrocaudalis and the specific description, the figure showing the
lateral stripe solid and the dorsal fin inserted in front of the ven-
trals, and the description stating that the dorsal is slightly behind
the ventrals.
NOTROPIS HETERODON (Cope)
Cope, 1S64, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 2S1 (Alburnops).
G., VII, 261 (Leuciscus); ]. & G , 163 (Hemitremia) ; M V., 55; I. & E., I, 261; N.,
47 (Hemitremia); J. 62 (Hemitremia); F. F., I. 6, 85 (Hemitremia); F., 78; L., 16.
This small species, distinguished from N. anogenus by its larger and
less oblique mouth and pale peritoneum, agrees with it in the general
form of its body and in having a dark lateral stripe from the tip of the
snout to the base of the caudal. It is sharply enough separated from
N. cayuga by its larger mouth and black-tipped chin. Care is sometimes
required to separate it from H ybognathus nubila, although that species
differs from it radically in its generic characters. Length 2 inches;
body moderately compressed and back as a rule noticeably elevated
in adults; depth 4.1 to 4.6 in length; caudal peduncle slender, its
NOTROPIS 135
depth 2.3 to 3 in its length. Color olivaceous, rather dusky above,
the dark punctulations on the scales confined mostly to the edges;
sides leaden silvery, with a black stripe extending forward through eye
to end of snout; belly with an orange tint; fins plain. Head small, conic,
3.9 to 4.2 in length; width of head 1.8 to 2 in its length ;dnterorbital
space 2.6 to 3.1; eye quite large, 2.7 to 3 in head, being usually about
J longer than the snout ; the distance from the tip of which to the anterior
rim of the pupil is about equal to the diameter of the orbit; nose short
and rather sharp, 3 . 5 to 3 . 8 in head ; mouth moderate, oblique, the upper
lip as a rule on a level with the upper margin of the pupil ; cleft of mouth
making an angle of 40° to 60° with the vertical ; maxillary scarcely
reaching front of orbit, its length about J the diameter of the very large
eye ; jaws subequal, the isthmus less than pupil. Teeth as a rule 1 , 4-4, 1 ,
in occasional instances 1, 4-4, 0, 0, 4-4, 1, or 4-4; the first three teeth
of the outer row usually strongly hooked and with a well-developed
groove whose edges are somewhat crenate; intestine shorter than body
and head; peritoneum silvery. Dorsal fin with 8 rays, slightly nearer
snout than base of caudal, set almost directly over ventrals; longest
dorsal ray somewhat less than head (1.1); anal rays 8, occasionally 7;
pectorals short, less than § to ventrals, 1.3 to 1.6 in head; ventrals
reaching vent. Scales 5, 35-38, 3; 12 to 14 scales before dorsal; lateral
line as a rule developed only anteriorly; some specimens met with,
however, in which not more than 2 or 3 pores were lacking on posterior
half of body.
Fig. 30
The typical form of this species appears to be confined,
with us, to the northern part of Illinois, being most abun-
dant in the small glacial lakes of Lake and McHenry coun-
ties, where it is found in clear, cool water among weeds and
over sand along shore. Specimens taken from the headwaters
of the Fox, Des Plaines, and Du Page rivers, and some from
the upper Rock and its tributaries (Yellow creek, Stephenson
county, Kishwaukee River at Sycamore, Rock River at Oregon,
and Green River at Gcncseo) have the teeth 0, 4-4, 1, or 1.
4-4, 1, though the body is somewhat slender and the eye is
hardly so large as in the lake form. From farther southward we
136 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
have about 80 collections, chiefly from the sluggish waters of the
Illinois River and tributary lakes at Havana and Meredosia, in
which the dentition is more usually 2, 4-4, 2, and the lateral line is
nearly always complete. Collections of the same form, which may
be identical with the unnamed* variety of N. heterodon described
some years ago from Switz City swamp, Indiana, and localities in
southern Illinois, have also been taken in lowland streams of the
Wabash, Ohio, and Big Muddy valleys.
New York to Michigan, Minnesota, and Kansas, including Lakes
Michigan and Huron and the Ohio basin. Distributed sparingly
throughout the state, mainly in the lowland and glacial lakes,
and in a way to indicate an avoidance of the lower Illinoisan
glaciation. Our 93 collections, from 21 localities, were derived in
extraordinarily small proportion from either creeks or rivers of the
smaller size. The order of relative abundance in our waters is as
follows: glacial lakes. 2.68; lowland lakes, 1.44; the larger rivers,
.98; creeks, .63; and the smaller rivers, .17. It is about equal-
ly abundant from northern and from central Illinois, but is con-
siderably less common in the waters of the southern part of the
state.
The food of eighteen specimens studied, was peculiar in respect
to the large percentage of Entomostraca included — a fact perhaps
to be accounted for by the small size of the species and the somewhat
unusual development of the gill-rakers, although many of the speci-
mens examined were taken where Entomostraca were very abundant
at the time. Aquatic insect larvae, mainly Chironomus, an am-
phipod crustacean (Allorchestes) , and flowers and seeds, with fila-
mentous algae, were the other principal elements of the food.
The species spawns in May and June in central Illinois. The
snout and top of the head of the male are finely tuberculate.
*Notropis heterodon, var., Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1884. p. 207.
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NOTROPIS
137
Fn
NOTROPIS BLENNIUS (Girard)
(straw-colored minnow)
Girard, L856, Proc. Ac. Xat. Sci. Phila., 194 (Alburnops).
M. V.. 56 (deliciosus) ; J. & E., I, 261; X., 46 (Hybopsis stramineus); J., 57 (Al-
burnops stramineus") ; F. F., [.6, S4 (Luxilus cornutus) ; F. 78 (stramineus) ; I. , 17.
A small pale species of rather indefinite characters, almost entirely
without marked distinctions of either form or color. Length 2\
inches; bodv about equally tapered both forward and backward
from its deepest point, which is a little in front of a line connecting
first dorsal and ventral rays ; moderately compressed ; depth 4 . 2 to 4 . S ;
caudal peduncle rather slender, its depth 2 to 3.1 in its length. Color
very light olive above, paler below; sides silvery, with an indistinct
light-leaden stripe above lateral line, above and below each pore of
which is a black spot; belly silvery; a faint vertebral streak, broaden-
ing into an evident blackish blotch at front of dorsal; caudal spot
faint or but a trace; head olivaceous above, the
cheeks and opercles silvery; dorsal and caudal
often with some dusky; other fins pale. Head
small, conic, 3.8 to 4.2 in length of head and
bodv; width of head 1 . 7 to 2 in its length; inter-
orbital space 3 to 3 . 6 in head; eye 2.9 to 3.4,
usually over 3.2 in full-grown specimens; nose
bluntlv conic, scarcely decurved, its length equal
to diameter of eve in adults, 3.3 to 3 . 8 in head,
usually about 3.5; mouth rather small, terminal,
slightly or moderately oblique, the tip of the upper lip seeming to vary
in position from quite on a level with the inferior margin of the pupil to
even with the lower margin of the orbit; maxillary 3.3 to 3.7 in head,
about reaching vertical from front of orbit; jaws about equal; isthmus
less than pupil. Teeth 4-4, rather strongly hooked, with grinding sur-
faces developed on at least two or three teeth ; intestine . 9 to 1 . 2 times
length of head and body; peritoneum more or less densely sprinkled
with rather large and coarse Mack specks. Dorsal tin with 8 rays
(rarlev 7), inserted almost directly over, or slightly in advance of , ven-
trals, and usually almost exactly equidistant between muzzle and base
of caudal; longest dorsal ray 1.1 to 1 3 in head; anal rays 7 (rarely 6);
Fig.
138 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
pectorals about § to ventrals, 1.2 to 1 .4 in head; ventrals reaching vent
or front of anal. Scales S, 32-36, 4; 12 or 14 before dorsal; lateral line
complete, generally noticeably decurved on anterior half of body.
This abundant but rather insignificant and indefinite species
belongs to the group which apparently avoid the streams of the
southern Illinoisan glaciation. Although distributed throughout
the state from the Ohio and Saline rivers on the south to the extreme
northern boundary, and represented in our records by 128 collec-
tion localities, but five of these are within that area, and these are
on its northern borders where its peculiarities are least pronounced.
It is consistent with this limitation to its distribution in this state
that it should show a decided preference, according to our collec-
tion records, for clean swift waters over muddy and stagnant ones.
Its frequency coefficient for waters over a bottom of rock or sand
is 2.00, and the corresponding frequency ratio for a swift current
is 1.18. It is essentially a species of small rivers and creeks, our
frequencies for these two classes of streams being 2.65 and 2.23
respectively, while that for the larger rivers is only .41 and that for
lakes and ponds but .17. In general distribution it is limited to a
region extending from the Great Lake basin, Lake Champlain, and
the streams of the St. Lawrence system, by way of the Missouri
River to Wyoming, northward to the Lake of the Woods and the
Red River of the North, and southward through the Ohio and the
Mississippi basins to the San Antonio River in Texas.
From the little that is known of its feeding habits, its food is no
more peculiar than its general appearance, e< insisting of a mixture
of aquatic insects, crustaceans, and chance vegetation.
NOTROPIS PHENACOBIUS Forbes
Forbes. 1885, Bull. 111. Stale Lab. Xat. Hist.. II. 2. 137.
This fish unites with a strong general resemblance to Pkenacobius
the chararcters of Notropis. The body of the adult is short and deep, the
head square, the nose long, and the eye unusually
large. Length 2\ inches; depth 3.5 to 4; caudal
peduncle 4 to 4.75. Color in alcohol indefinite; sides
somewhat silvery-, scales along and above the lateral
line slightly specked with black. The head is quad-
rate in transverse section, Hat above, 3.75 to 4;
I.-,,. ^ nose decurved, 3.4 to 3.5; interorbital space 2.9 to
3.1. The mouth is inferior, horizontal, rather small,
lips fleshy, not lobed, lower jaw much the shorter, 2.75 to 3.1 in head,
upper lip opposite the lower margin of the pupil, upper jaw to posterior
NOTROPIS 139
margin of nostrils, 3.33 to 3.9 in head. Teeth 4-4. Intestine about
equal to head and body, .97 to 1 . 17. Eye very large, circular, placed
high up, 3 . 4 to 3 . 5 in head. Branchiostegals free from isthmus. Dorsal
1-8, decidedly before ventrals, its length 7 to 8 in body; anal low, 1-8;
paired fins rather broad and short; ventrals not reaching vent, and pec-
torals falling far short of ventrals, the former 6.2 5 to 6.4 in head and
body. The scales are thin, large, crowded anteriorly upon the sides,
breast wholly naked in all the specimens seen. Lateral line 35 to 36,
longitudinal rows 7 to 9, 13 to 14 before dorsal. Described from 10
specimens, the only ones seen, all taken at Peoria.
This species is retained with some hesitation, owing to the fact
that the ten type specimens obtained many years ago are the only
ones of it ever seen, and through some unaccountable misadven-
ture all but one of these types have disappeared from the State
Laboratory collection. Concerning this species Dr. Evermann
writes me, under date of March S, 1908, after an examination of
this type: "In some respects this specimen resembles N. blennius,
but is much deeper and more arched, and the head is slightly longer.
We have compared it with the type of 'Cliola Mora Jordan,' which
is considered a synonym of N. scylla, but it is not that species.
* * * If you have any reason for believing that this specimen
is the type of your N. phenacobius, I would be disposed to accept
it as such and let the species stand as good."
'**--'- ... \* _
Fig. 34
NOTROPIS GILBERTI Jordan & Meek
Jordan & Meek, 1885, Proc. U. S. Nat Mus., 4.
M. V., 57; J. & E.,I, 266; L., 17.
The long, broad, and flat bead, comparatively inferior mouth, and
rather thick lips of this species distinguish it sufficiently from all other
Illinois species of the genus Notropis. Length 2J inches; form much
as in Ericymba buccata, the body subfusiform, usually rather long and
slender, and the back gently and broadly elevated; depth 4.3 to 5;
caudal peduncle usually longer than head, slender, its depth 2.1 to
2.9 in its length. Color light olive above; sides silvery; a conspicuous
median dorsal stripe and a plumbeous lateral streak; scales above
140 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
dark-edged, those below lateral line on posterior half of body and
caudal peduncle rather sparsely specked with black; top of head and
muzzle darkish; fins all plain; dorsal, caudal, and pectorals pale rosy
in spring males, in which also the head is covered with very fine
tubercles that suggest a sprinkling of white dust. Head long, broad,
flatfish above, 3 . 5 to 4 in length ; its width 1 . S to 2 . 1 in its length ; inter-
orbital space 3 to 3 . 6 ; eye 3 to 3 . 8 ; nose long and muzzle decurved, the
snout usually greater than eye, 2 . S to 3.3 in head ; mouth rather large,
nearly horizontal and inferior, the tip of the upper lip below the level of
the lower margin of the orbit ; lower jaw included ; isthmus less than pupil.
Teeth 1, 4-4, 1; intestine a little less than head and body; peritoneum
silvery, with sometimes a very few dark specks. Dorsal fin with 8 rays
(sometimes 9), quite uniformly set slightly behind ventrals; longest
dorsal ray \ of head in adults, 1.1 to 1.4; anal rays 8 (occasionally 9);
pectoraks about j to ventrals, 1 . 3 to 1 . 6 in head; ventrals to or past vent.
Scales 6, 34-37, 4, smaller and crowded anteriorly, 16 to 18 rows before
dorsal; lateral line complete, decurved anteriorly.
This is a western species, the range of which to the eastward
terminates in Illinois. It extends westward through Iowa to east-
ern Colorado, being most abundant, so far as known, in muddy
streams of the plains from the Des Moines to the Platte. It occurs
also in tributaries of the Missouri in Missouri and Iowa. Only 2
of the 32 localities from which it has been recognized in this state
lie outside the Mississippi drainage, and both of these are in the Wa-
bash Valley, one near the mouth of that stream and the other on
the extreme headwaters of the Embarras. It seems to be essen-
tially a species of small rivers and creeks, our ratios of occurrence
in the larger rivers and in lakes and ponds being quite insignificant.
Gravid females have been found by us in the latter part of June.
NOTROPIS ILLECEBROSUS (Girard)
Girard, 1856, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 194 (Alburnops shumardi),
J. & G., 192 (Minnilus), 194 (M. scabriceps); M. V., 57 (boops); J. & E., I, 268; L.,
17 (shumardi).
The very large eye, large oblique mouth, and broad head of this
species distinguish it from all other Illinois minnows of its genus.
Length 3 inches, body moderately compressed, the back little ele-
vated; depth 4.5 to 5.4 in length; caudal peduncle rather slender, its
depth 2.1 to 2.7 in its length. Color olivaceous or straw, the sides little
silvery; a dark lateral band, continued forward through eye to end of
snout, tipping the chin; tins all plain. Head broad and flat above, 3.8
to 4. 1 in length ; width of head 1 . 8 to 2 . 1 ; interorbital space 2 . 8 to 3 .2 ;
r i very large, ', to | L mger t han nose or maxillary, 2.4 to 2.8 in head ;
nose 2.9 to 3.6, blunt and shorter than the very large eye; muzzle not
decurved; mouth large and quite oblique, the tip of upper lip above level
XOTROPIS
141
of lower margin of pupil; maxillary reaching front of orbit; lower jaw
slightlv shorter than upper; isthmus less than pupil. Teeth 1, 4-4, 1;
intestine about 1.15 times length of head and body; peritoneum a very
dark brown to almost solid black. Dorsal fin with 8 rays, inserted a
little behind ventrals, about equidistant between muzzle and base of
caudal; longest dorsal ray usually a little less than head, 1 to 1.2; anal
rays 8 (occasionally 7); pectorals § to £ to ventrals, 1.1 to 1.3 in head;
ventrals to vent, not reaching anal in any of our specimens. Scales S or 6
(usuallv S), 35-3 7, 3; 13 to 15 in front of dorsal tin; lateral line complete,
somewhat decurved anteriorly.
.nwui*- 1,'> ■"*
Fig. 35
This species, rather rare in Illinois, is closely limited in the main
to the tributaries of the Wabash in the eastern part of the state,
from which it is recorded in our collections at 1 7 localities, the only
other places of its occurrence in this state Vicing Cedar Lake, in
northeastern Illinois, Mazon creek, a branch of the Illinois River
near its origin, and a small bluff stream of the Mississippi, in Han-
cock county. Its general range is from the Lake Erie basin and
the Ohio River westward to Arkansas and Missouri.
Females with fully developed eggs, and breeding males with
muzzle and chin tuberculate, have been taken by us in the latter
part of May.
NOTROPIS HUDSONIUS (DeWitt Clinton)
(spot-tailed minnow)
DeWitl Clinton, 1824, Ann Lye. Nat. Hist. X. V., I, 4<> (Clupea).
G., VII, 251 (Leuciscusi; M. V., 57; ] & E., I. 26'); X., 46 (Hybopsis); |., 56 (Al-
burnops); F. F , I. 6, 82 (Hybopsis); F., 77; L., 17.
The usually large and conspicuous black caudal spot of this minnow,
rarely absent in western specimens of the species, will commonly serve to
call attention to it when found, and will serve to separate it from the
other larger and paler species of Illinois Cyprinida. Length 4 t<> <>
inches; body moderately robust, nut much elongate, considerably com-
pressed, the sides vertical at their middle; depth -1 to 4.5 in length;
142 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
caudal peduncle shorter than head, its depth 1.9 to 2.3 in its length.
Color very pale olive; sides with a very broad silvery to plumbeous
band ; commonly a large black spot at base of caudal fin ; scales faintly
cross-hatched on upper part of body and for a little distance below
lateral line forward; spots above and below pores of lateral line faint or
wanting; fins pale. Head short, 4.1 to 4.7 in length of head and body;
width of head 1.8 to 2.1; interorbital space 2.5 to 2.9; eve moderate,
2 .8 to 3 . 5 in head, equal to nose or slightly shorter or longer in adults;
nose blunt, usually somewhat decurved, 3 . 2 to 3 . S in head ; mouth rather
small, nearly horizontal, the tip of upper lip below level of lower margin
of pupil; maxillary usually not quite reaching orbit, 3.7 to 4.5 in head;
lower jaw shorter than upper; isthmus less than pupil. Teeth variable:
0, 4-4, 1 ; 1 , 4-4, 1 ; 1 , 4-4, 2 ; or 2 , 4-4, 2 ; teeth of main row more or less
hooked, and generally quite compressed, the grinding surface developed
as a quite narrow groove whose edges are smooth ; intestine . 9 to 1.4
times length of head and body; peritoneum silvery, finely but not densely
specked with dark. Dorsal fin with 8 rays, set usually a trifle in advance
of the ventrals and nearer snout than base of caudal; longest dorsal ray
about equal to the length of the short head ; anal rays 8 ; pectorals scarcely
| to ventrals; ventrals usually short of vent. Scales 5 or 6, 36 to 39, 4;
15 to 18 before dorsal; longitudinal rows of scales above lateral line with
the appearance of "running out" behind dorsal fin, as in N. cornutus;
lateral line usually complete, not much decurved anteriorly.
Fig 36
This abundant, graceful, and well-known species, essentially
a northern minnow in this state, is much the most abundant in our
largest rivers and in lakes, its frequency ratio in the former being
1.8, and in the latter 1.76. In small rivers and in creeks it has been
taken <>nlv occasionally, the corresponding ratios being .29 and .14.
It is abundant in its favorite localities, and appears in 147 of our
collections. In Illinois it is limited to the Mississippi and Lake
Michigan drainage, and lias occurred but twice south of the central
part of the state, once in Union county and once from the Ohio at
Cairo. We have found it most frequently in the Illinois River and
its adjacent waters at Havana and Meredosia, from which two
places 119 of our collections have come. It is also one of the com-
NOTROPIS 143
monest longshore minnows in southern Lake Michigan, swarming
especially about the piers off Chicago, where it is caught in quanti-
ties and sold for bait.
Although reported from South Carolina, it is essentially a
northern species, ranging from New England, Quebec, and the Lake
of the Woods through the Hudson and Great Lake basin to the
streams of the Missouri in Minnesota and the Dakotas. It is
abundant in the Great Lakes and at the mouths of the rivers
opening into them. In Ohio and in Indiana, as in Illinois, it is
generally confined to the northern parts of the state.
It is a typical minnow in its food, depending on insects, crusta-
ceans, and vegetation, the latter partly algas of the filamentous
forms and partly fragments of aquatic plants. This general state-
ment does not indicate the variety of its resources or the seeming
indifference with which it will fill itself with one or the other kind
of food which it finds most abundant. One of our specimens, for
example, had eaten nothing but algas, and these plants made three
fourths of the food of another. Three had eaten only insects, and
these were 90 per cent., or more, of the food of three others. Two
had taken nothing but Entomostraca, all a species of Cypris feeding
upon the bottom. Four had tilled themselves with various vege-
tal tie structures, and 90 per cent., or more, of the food of three others
consisted of like material. Three out of four of these minnows,
taken at Nippersink Lake in May, had eaten only terrestrial snout-
beetles (Rhynchophora) , whose occurrence in the water was a mat-
ter of chance. The larvae of day-flies (Ephcmcrida) made more
than three fourths of the food of three other specimens. One had
eaten a small fish, and traces of like food were found in another.
NOTROPIS LUTRENSIS (Baird & Girard)
(redfin)
Baird & Girard, 18S3, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 317 (Leuciscus).
G.. VII, 25S (Leuciscus); J. & G., 172 (Cliola iris and C. jugalis). 174 (C. gibbosa
and C. forbesi), 175 (C. lutrensis), 176 (C. suavis), 177 (billingsiana) , M. V.,
57; J. & E., I, 271; J., 57 (Cyprinella forbesi) ; F.. 77; L., 17.
Tins little fish is especially distinguished among Illinois CyprinidcB by
the brilliancy of its color and by the depth and thinness of its body, fully
grown specimens not seldom having the depth in length less than 2f. It
is very nearly allied to the next species, A', whipplii, compared with
which it seems to be merely a more specialized form, the two sometimes
intergrading in an obscure and very puzzling way. tit may, however, he
distinguished from the next species, as a rule, by its greater depth when
144 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
adult, by the greater thickness at the nape, the more elevated back and
steeper profile, and by the absence, in most specimens, ol the black spot
on the posterior part of the dorsal fin. Length 2f inches; depth
2.7 to 3.2 in length in adults, the young more slender; caudal
peduncle shorter than head, its depth 1.7 to 2.1 in its length.
Color of females and postnuptial males olivaceous under irides-
cent steel above, pale greenish to greenish gray and silvery lower, down
and on belly; a faint purplish wedge-shaped bar behind opercles; fins
plain (in typical specimens), tinged with reddish or orange in males.
Spring males with the upper parts a brilliant iridescent steel-blue, the
sides and belly orange-red to crimson, and the top of head, cheeks, and
opercles flushed with rose; gill-opening bordered with red; the postoper-
cular bar a brilliant purplish violet, behind which is a broad vertical band
of faint crimson; all the fins reddish, the dorsal dusky with greenish at
base; pectorals plain red; ventrals blood-red tipped with a narrow margin
of orange; caudal dusky near base, crimson outward, tipped with darker.
Head 3 . 6 to 4 in length, stout and deep, depressed but not flat above,
1 lir profile angled at the nape, most so in males; width of head 1 . 8 to 2 . 2
in its length; interorbital space 2.5 to 2.8, nearlv twice the small eve;
eye 4 to 4.5, less than nose; nose 3.1 to 3 . 6 in head, conic, sharper and
upturned in males; mouth oblique, the tip of upper lip above level of
lower margin of pupil; maxillary 3 to 3 . 6 in head, reaching to vertical
from back of posterior nostril, but not to orbit; lower jaw included, the
upper considerably projecting in males (in females the jaws are usually
very nearly equal) ; isthmus less than pupil. Teeth variable, usuallv 4-4,
though 0, 4-4, 1.1, 4-4, 0, and 1, 4-4, 1 are not uncommonly met with
in our collections; the supernumerary teeth are usually weak and much
less developed than in the next species, in which the number is normally
1, 4-4, 1; intestine shorter than head and body, in which it is contained
.8 to .9 times; peritoneum silvery, finely but not densely specked with
black. Dorsal fin with 8 rays, set a little behind or over the ventrals;
longest dorsal ray 1 . 1 to 1.3 in head; anal rays usuallv 8, sometimes 7 or
9; pectorals 3 to ventrals, 1 .2 to 1 .4 in head; ventrals to vent in females,
to front of anal in males. Scales 6, 34-3 7, 3-4; rows before dorsal 14 to
17 ; lateral line complete, strongly decurved, being approximatelv parallel
with the lower outline.
This little. redfin, one of the most beautiful, in its breeding
colors, of any of our minnows, is essentially a western species;
and all our 163 collections have been made from the streams
of the Mississippi drainage. Outside this state the species ranges
from South Dakota and Wyoming to Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri,
and Arkansas, and the tributaries of the Rio Grande. It is a
minnow of the .streams, present in about equal ratio in creeks and
the larger and the smaller rivers, but found in lowland lakes with
only about half the frequency of its occurrence in running waters.
It tolerates muddy waters, as is shown by its frequency coefficient
ot 1.69, and it enters the lower Illinoisan glaciation in the branches
NOTROPIS 145
of the Big Muddy. It is closely allied to N. whipplii, and appears,
in fact, to intergrade with that species, of which it is the repre-
sentative to the south and west.
This active minnow loves to play in the swift ripples of rocky
streams, where its presence may be betrayed to the watchful ob-
server by flashes of rainbow color from a fish not otherwise visible.
It spawns from the middle of May to the last of June. The breed-
ing males are excessively tuberculate, with a double row of tubercles
bordering the upper lip, a triangular or crescentic patch about
each eye, two longitudinal rows along the middle of the top of the
head, and several shorter ones upon the sides. The scales of the
nape and those of the sides of the body are also tuberculate, espe-
cially those on the caudal peduncle between the anal fin and the lat-
eral line. Sometimes all the scales are tuberculate, with the ex-
ception of a few in front of the ventrals, on the lower part of the
sides and belly. We have even seen females with small tubercles
upon the head.
NOTROPIS WHIPPLII (Girard)
(STEEL-COLORED MINNOW; SILVERFIN J LEMON-FIN)
Girard, 1856, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., lc>8 (Cyprinella).
G., VII, 254 (Leuciscus spilopterus) ; f. & G., 178 (Cliola), 170 (C. analostoma ) :
M V., 58; J. & E.. I. 278; X , 47" (Cyprinella galacturus); J., 57 (Photogenis
analostanus); F., F., I. 6, 87 (Photogenis analostanus) ; F., 77; L., 17.
This species, which presents a general resemblance to N. lutrensis,
is generally distinguishable from that species by its more elongate, lan-
ceolate form, by its longer and more pointed head, and, in most cases,
by the black spot on the posterior membranes of the dorsal fin (a mark
absent in typical specimens of lutrensis). Length 3 to 4 inches;
depth 3 . 3 to 4 in length in adults ; females and young more
slender, the depth 4.3 to 5; caudal peduncle slightly shorter than
head, its depth 1.7 to 2.2 in its length. Color leaden silvery over
i ilive in females, somewhat bluish forward and above. Males bright steel-
blue to purplish above, dull silvery white or greenish on lower part of
sides and on belly; steel color most prominent behind and above opercles
and above lateral line backward along sides to tip of caudal peduncle;
cheeks and opercles metallic purplish blue; iris brassy, purplish outward
above; scales of sides with dusky bluish lines parallel to their edges, pro-
ducing the appearance of a very regular and sharply defined lozenge-
blocked reticulation* over the entire side, this appearance being aided by
♦These lozenges of darker blue outline on a purplish or steel-blue ground form
one "I the most notii eable features of the coloration of this species, distinguishing
it ordinarily with readiness from X. lutrensis, in which, except in some specimens
from the more northward part of its range, the cross-hatching on the scales is
indist m<t
146 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
the great uniformity in size of the scales; a rather broad but faint verte-
bral streak; two black blotches on the posterior membranes of the dorsal
(fainter in females) ; paired fins, lower part of belly, tips of anal and cau-
dal, and the front and upper margin of the dorsal charged with clear
satin-white pigment in males in the spring; basal half of dorsal in full
breeding dress light green ; lower fins lemon-yellow, except tips of ventrals
and anal. Head small, subconic, not so stout as in the last species,. 3 . 9to4.2
in length ; profile scarcely angled at nape ; width of head 1 . 9 to 2 . 2 ; inter-
orbital space 2.5 to 2.7 in head, very convex; eye small, 3.9 to 4.8 in
head ; nose somewhat longer than in the last species, 2 . 8 to 3 . 2 in head,
conic and usually more or less upturned, especially in males; mouth
slightly less oblique than in the last, the tip of the upper lip scarcely above
level of lower margin of orbit; maxillary longer than eye, reaching to
back of posterior nostril-opening, but not to orbit, 3 . 1 to 3 . 6 in head;
lower jaw shorter than upper; isthmus less than pupil. Teeth usually
1, 4-4, 1*, the edges of the grinding surface often more or less crenate,
intestine .8 to .9 times length of head and body; peritoneum silvery,
finely specked with black. Dorsal fin with 8 rays, set a little behind the
ventrals, its longest ray usually a little less than head, in which it is con-
tained 1 . 9 to 1.2; anal rays 8 or 9 ; pectorals 1.2 to 1 . 4 in head, about §
to ventrals in fully grown specimens, about i in young but sexually
mature males; ventrals to vent in females, past front of anal in males.
Scales 6, 36-39, 3 ; 14 to 16 before dorsal, where they are scarcely crowded ;
lateral line decurved anteriorly to about parallel with lower outline.
Extremely abundant in Illinois, especially in the smaller streams
of the central part of the state, and taken in 270 of our collections.
A species of the creeks and smaller rivers in this state, its frequency
ratios for those streams being approximately 2\, while those for
lakes and the larger rivers are but .11 and .35 respectively. It
shows a marked preference for swift water and for a clean bottom,
our coefficients for these situations being 1.3 and 1.6 respectively.
It is generally distributed from Lake Champlain and the St. Law-
rence River through the lakes of central New York and -the Great
Lake basin to Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Virginia, northern Ala-
bama, and Arkansas.
Two thirds of the entire food of 33 specimens examined, con-
sisted of insects, nearly half of which were terrestrial. Three of
our specimens had eaten small fishes, and a mixture of vegetable
elements derived from both aquatic and terrestrial plants had been
eaten mainly by four, one of which had fed only on algae, while
three others had taken some 90 per cent, of their food from miscel-
♦Cases of apparent TV. whipplii in which the teeth are 4-4 or 1, 4-4. 1 occur
in a few collections from localities in which N . lutrensis and N . whipplii seem to
intergrade. In general our collections show, however, that little variation need
be looked for in this species.
COMMON SHINER, Notropis comuttis (Mitchill)
BLACKFIN, Notropis uiubratilis atripes (Jordan)
NOTROPIS 147
laneous plant structures, including seeds, anthers, and pollen, and
fragments of grassdike vegetation.
Females apparently about to spawn have been taken by us from
May 21 to June 12, but others which had not yet deposited their
eggs occur in our collections occasionally up to the middle of August.
Breeding males have the head largely tuberculate, together with a
paddike tuberosity, closely set with tubercles, on the snout. The
scales of the upper part of the sides in front of the dorsal fin are
likewise tuberculate.
NOTROPIS CORNUTUS (Mitchill)
(common shiner)
Mitchill. 1817, Am Month. Mag., I, 2S0 (Cyprinus).
G., VII, 240 (Leuciscus); J. & G., 1S6 iMinnilus), 1"2 (M. plumbeolus) ; M. V., 58
(megalops); J. & E., I, 281; N., 47 (Luxilus) ; [., 5 7 (Luxilus); P., 77 (megalopst ;
L.. 17.
This species, in size one of the largest of our minnows, is distinguished
especially by the great depth of the exposed portions of the scales and (in
spring males) by the brilliant and more or less mottled salmon-pink
coloration. Length S to 8 inches; body elongate in the voung; adults
shorter and much compressed, the sides nearly vertical; depth 3.3 to
4.4 in length; anterior dorsal region gibbous and rather swollen in
adult males; caudal peduncle rather deep, its depth 1.6 to 2.3, usu-
ally less than 2.1, in its length. Color of midsummer males olivace-
ous above with steel-blue luster; belly and lower part of sides silvery;
a broad dark vertebral streak and a faint plumbeous lateral band,
showing as gilt when seen through water; scales above lateral line
thickly specked with dusky, with narrow edges of darker; scales along
middle of each side partly with the most of the exposed surface un-
specked bright silvery with dusky bases, and partlv wholly dusky,
giving rise to a mottled appearance which is most accentuated in the
breeding season; dorsal and caudal tins somewhat dusky, other fins
plain; coloration of spring males very brilliant, the upper parts greenish
and the sides a rich salmon-pink over silvery, with mottlings of
dusky emerald ; females and young are plain olivaceous above and
silvery below. Head 3.8 to 4.2 in length, rather large and heavy,
compressed, rounded between the eves, the muzzle bluntish; width
of head 1.9 to 2.1; interorbital space 2 . 6 to 3 . 1 in head; eye rather
small, 3 . 1 to 4 . 7 in head, usually over 4 in adults; nose much longer than
eye in adults, 2.8 to i.3 in head; mouth moderately large and oblique,
the tip of the upper lip usually very little above level of lower margin of
orbit; maxillary j longer than eye in fully grown specimens, 2 . 9 to 3 . 2 in
head, scarcely reaching front of orbit; lower jaw slightly shorter than
upper; isthmus less than pupil. Teeth 2, 4-4, 2, with rather narrow
grinding surface; intestine .9 to l.S times length of head and body;
148 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
peritoneum dusky to solid brown. Dorsal fin with 8 rays, set usually
a little in advance of the ventrals and closer to muzzle than base of caudal ;
longest dorsal ray 1 to 1 .3 in head; anal rays 9 or 10, usually 9; pectorals
§ to f to ventrals, 1 .2 to 1 . 5 in head; ventrals usually not reaching vent.
Scales 6, rarely 7, 37-40, 3, rows before dorsal 16 to 25; always much
deeper than long on the flanks, becoming exceedingly so in adults;
longitudinal rows with an appearance of "running out" behind the dorsal
fin; lateral line complete, decurved anteriorly.
This common, large, and well-known minnow, one of the most
conspicuous in our series, is unequally distributed throughout the
state, very abundantly so in its northern two thirds. It occurs also
in the hill streams of southern Illinois, but is nearly absent from
the lower Illinoisan glaciation, whence we have taken it indeed
but three times — from two localities on the Little Wabash and from
one on the headwaters of the Kaskaskia at the northern boundary
of this area. It is especially a minnow of creeks and the smaller
rivers — our coefficients for which are 3 and 2.45 respectively —
scarcely ever occurring in either lakes or the larger streams. It
shows also a marked preference for clear waters, which corresponds
to its avoidance of the lower Illinoisan glaciation. Its coefficient of
preference for a clean bottom is 2.2. Outside our territory it is re-
ported from the entire eastern United States (including the Great
Lakes) from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic, with the excep-
tion of Texas and the southeastern region from the Neuse River on
the north to the Alabama on the west. It also ranges into Canada,
from New Brunswick and the River St. Lawrence and its tributary
streams in Quebec to the Assiniboin in Manitoba.
Somewhat more than a third of the food of 21 specimens exam-
ned by us consisted of vegetable objects, a large percentage of
which were alga;, and the greater part of the remainder was insects,
both aquatic and terrestrial, the former, however, largely prepon-
derant. A single specimen had eaten only fishes. The crustacean
ratio was, as usual, insignificant. A single aquatic worm {Lum-
briculus) was observed in one. The individuals of this little collec-
tion varied widely in respect to the food they had last taken, five,
for example, having eaten insects only, while two had eaten little or
nothing but alga' and other vegetable objects.
Its spawning season begins about May 1 and continues to the
last of June. Spring males have the top of the head, the tip of the
snout, and the predorsal region covered with rather large tubercles.
This minnow takes a worm or a grasshopper readily, and is one of
the fishes most likely to be found on a boy's string. Although it
NOTROPIS 149
sometimes grows to a length of eight inches, it is usually too small
to be of importance as a pan-fish, but Dr. Henshaw recommends it
as the best live bait for black bass.
NOTROPIS PILSBRYI Fowler
Fowler, 1904, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., LVI, 24S-247.
Fishes intermediate between those forms typified in Illinois by N.
cornutus on the one hand and N. aiherinoides and rubrijrons on the other,
and possessing resemblances to both. Readily distinguished from the
first by the rounded and loosely imbricated scales of the sides and bv the
backward insertion of the dorsal fin, and from the latter by the difference
in general proportions (the present species being much shorter and
deeper), and by the presence (as in N. cornutus) of a broad dark streak
along the mid-dorsal line.
Length 2f inches; form robust, the body deep in front of dorsal and
moderately compressed; back elevated, the upper and lower outlines
tapered evenly to the tip of the pointed snout, much as in Hybognathus
nuchalis ; depth 4 to 4 . 4 in length ; caudal peduncle but little shorter than
head, more slender than in N. cornutus, its depth 2 . 3 to 2 . 5 in its length.
Color in life not known; in spirits, a dusky olive above, the scales rather
densely specked over their entire surface and not distinctly dark-edged ;
sides below lateral line and bellv silvery, unspecked; a broad dusky band
along side, interrupted on opercle and in eye (in preserved specimens),
but faintly apparent before eye to end of snout, tipping chin ; a broad and
distinct dark vertebral streak; dorsal and lower fins pale; caudal some-
what dusky. Head conical, 4 to 4.3 in length, the muzzle pointed and
profile slightly angled at nape ; width of head 2 to 2 . 1 in its length ; inter-
orbital space nearly flat, 2.9 to 3.1 in head; eye 3.4 to 3.5 in head,
slightly less than snout; nose 3.3; mouth rather large, oblique, tip of
upper lip above lower margin of orbit; maxillary longer than eye, 2 .8 in
head, barely reaching front of orbit; jaws subequal; isthmus less than
pupil. Teeth 2, 4—4, 2, compressed and hooked, the grinding surface
developed as an extremely narrow groove on at least two of the teeth;
peritoneum densely and coarsely specked with brown. Dorsal fin with 8
rays, inserted distinctly behind ventrals, its first ray farther from muzzle
than base of caudal; longest dorsal ray 1 . 3 to 1 . 5 in head ; anal rays 9 or
10; pectorals § to ventrals, 1.3 in head; ventrals quite reaching vent.
Scales 6, 37 or 38, 3 or 4, large, cycloid and loosely imbricated, not
notably deeper than long on sides and not crowded anteriorly ; the rows
appearing to "run out" on back behind dorsal as in N. cornutus; lateral
line decurved anteriorly, complete; 15 scales before dorsal fin.
Sexual differences not known, the three specimens from Illinois
which were taken on May 30 (1901; Ac. No. 28174) being males
with sexual organs considerably developed but without tubercles.
(in
150 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Found in this state only from the East Fork of the Mazon
River, near Gardner. The identity of this species with N. pilsbryi
Fowler, which was described in 1904 from the White River basin in
Arkansas, seems open to no question.
Fig. 37
NOTROPIS JEJUNUS (Forbes)
Forbes, 1878, Bull. 111. State Lab. Xat. Hist., I. 2, 60 (Episema).
J. & G., 194 (Minnilus); M. V., 60; J. & E.. I, 290; F., 77: L., 18.
A pale silvery minnow of rather indefinite characters, in form resem-
bling Hybognathus nuchalis, the outline being fusiform, with dorsal and
ventral contours similar, but lacking the long intestine and maxil-
lary protuberance of that species and with the head rather blunter.
Length 2 to 2\ inches; depth 3.8 to 5 in length, the body deepest just
in front of the dorsal fin; body considerably compressed, the greatest
width about \ the greatest depth ; caudal peduncle somewhat shorter than
head, its depth 1 .9 to 2 .4 in its length. Color pale, the sides silvery with
a broad plumbeous band; lateral scales rather coarsely specked with
black, those of back more finely specked over their entire surfaces;
cross-hatching most evident along lateral line and below it, where the
scales are pale except at outer edges; a dark vertebral streak but no
caudal spot; cheeks and opercles silvery below, steel-blue to cerulean
above; a conspicuous splash of emerald on lateral aspect n| <vi iput —
just behind eye; iris silvery with some lavender; fins all plain. Head 3 . 8
to 1.5 in length, squarish in transverse section at orbits, being only
slightly rounded above ; width of head 1 . 7 to 2 . 2 in its length ; inten irbital
space 2 . 5 to 2 . 9 in head ; eve very little shorter than snout in adults, 3 . 2
to 3.8 in head; nose bluntly conic, 3.1 to 3.6; mouth moderately large,
very Little oblique, the tip of the upper lip little above level of lower rim
of pupil ; maxillary 2 . 8 to 3 . 4 in head, extending hardly to front of orbit;
lower jaw slightly shorter than upper; isthmus less than pupil. Teeth
usually 2, 4 4. 2; sometimes 1, 4-4, 1 or various intermediate combina-
tions; grinding surface, if present, narrow and irregular; intestine .9 to
1 . 1 times length of head and body ; peritoneum silvery, with a few small
specks of dark color. Dorsal (in with 8 rays, occasionally 7, set as a rule
almost, directlv over ventrals and about equidistant between muzzle and
base of caudal ; longest dorsal ray 1.1 to 1.4 in head; anal rays usually 7,
occasionally 6 or 8; pectorals short, 1 . 1 to 1 .4 in head, as a rule less than
I
NOTROPIS 151
§ to ventrals; ventrals falling distinctly short of vent. Scales S, 34-37,
3 or 4; rows before dorsal 13 to IS; scales rather large, thin, and round;
lateral line little decurved.
This is a small and insignificant species, without marked specific
characters, obviously limited by preference to the larger rivers
(coefficient, 1.63) and apparently avoiding the lower Illinoisan glacia-
tion. It occurs also in considerable numbers in the smaller rivers
(1.12), but is usually scarce in creeks and only moderately abundant
in the lowland lakes. In Illinois it has occurred in 51 collections,
rather sparingly distributed along the main streams and in their
neighborhood, from the northern boundary to Cairo and from the
Wabash and Ohio to the Mississippi. It is reported from the
northern Mississippi Valley at large, and from the Ohio basin,
ranging from Kansas and western Pennsylvania to Wyoming and
Winnipeg. In Pennsylvania it occurs only in the Ohio basin.
The species is too small to be of any importance except as food
for larger fishes.
Its breeding season is apparently late, no females with swollen
i ivaries occurring in our collections until the last of June, and speci-
mens loaded with eggs being found by us as late as August 27. The
sexual differences are not noticeable.
NOTROPIS ATHERINOIDES Rafinesque
(shiner)
Rafinesque. 1818, Am Month. Mag.. 204.
G., VII. 254 (Leuciscus rubellus). 255 (L. copiii; J. & G., 202 (Minnilus rubellus
and M. dinemus); M Y.. (.1; J. & E . I, 293; X.. 47 (Minnulus dilectus and
amabilis), 4S (M. rubellus and M dinemusi; J., 60; F. F., I. 6, So (Minnilusi;
F., 7 f > (dinemus, part); L., 18 (also arge and dilectus).
A common slender silvery minnow of the larger rivers, known
especially by its bright silvers' color and by the posterior insertion of the
dorsal fin. Length 2h to 44 inches; general form slender, moderately com-
pressed, both back and belly about equally and very little arched, the
body deepest in front of dorsal fin; profile from dorsal to muzzle a gentle
convex curve; depth in length in typical specimens 4.9 to 5.5*. Color
translucent green above (olivaceous) ' sides bright silvery, the iridescent
emerald, lavender, and cerulean, common in other silvery minnows, being
scarcely noticeable in this species; scales above faintly specked, but not
blotched or prominently dark-edged; a narrow and rather faint dark
vertebral line, and a faint plumbeous lateral hand from opercle to caudal;
♦Specimens in some collections from Illinois have the depth as low as 4 to
4. 25 in length, these shorter and deeper forms seeming to grade insensibly into the
typical slender atherinoides.
152 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
no caudal spot; cheeks and opercles pure silvery, having the sheen of fine
silver-leaf; iris almost pure silvery; fins all pale, transparent; well called
"shiner" or "silvery minnow". Head short and very bluntly conic, 4. 1
to 4 . 8 in length, usually about 4.5; width of head 2.1 to 2 . 4 in its length ;
interorbital space 2 . 9 to 3 . 3 ; eye about equal to snout (larger in younger
specimens) , 3 to 3 . 4 in head ; nose 3 . 3 to 3 . 6 ; mouth moderate, terminal,
oblique, tip of upper lip even with middle of pupil; maxillary 3 to 3 .4 in
head, scarcely longer than eye, nearly reaching front of orbit; jaws sub-
equal; isthmus less than pupil. Teeth 2, 4-4, 2, occasionally 1, 4-4, 2 or
2, 4-4, 1; the masticatory surface a very narrow groove; intestine com-
monly less than length of head and body; peritoneum rather densely
specked with black. Dorsal fin with 8 rays, set well behind ventrals, the
distance from dorsal to caudal not more than 78 to 85 per cent, of that
from snout to dorsal; longest dorsal ray 1.1 to 1.2 in head; anal rays
9, 10, or 11, usually 10; pectorals short, about § to ventrals, 1.2 to 1.4
in head; ventrals not reaching vent. Scales rather large and very thin,
6, 36-40, 3, rows before dorsal 18 to 21; lateral line decurved.
Extremely variable, having been described under various names even
from our own state. No attempt is made here to separate the forms
iithcrinoides, arge, and dilectus, the two latter of which should probably
be regarded as synonyms of the present species. It appears to be distinct
in our collections from N. rubnfrons , from which it differs in its shorter
head, shorter maxillary, larger eye, and blunter snout, as well as in its
coloration and faintly developed secondary sexual characters.
This graceful and attractive species, distinguished by a golden
lateral stripe on a clear green ground, is an excessively abundant
and active minnow, occurring throughout the state, but almost
strictly confined everywhere to the larger lakes and rivers. Among
our collections from the smaller lakes of northeastern Illinois we
have not obtained a single specimen of this species, while the waters
of Lake Michigan, but a few miles away, were swarming with them
along the shore, and especially about the wharfs. There they are
captured in great numbers, together with the most abundant of the
lake species, the spot-tailed minnow, and sold for bait. Of our 206
collections, the greater part are from rivers, 2.14 being the coeffi-
cient for rivers of the second class, and 1.21 for those of the first
class. The coefficient for creeks is .93, and that for lowland lakes
is .66, our Lake Michigan collections not being represented in this
scries. The distribution map of the state, for this species, shows a
curious difference between southern Illinois, where this minnow
occurs mainly in the creeks and smaller rivers, and the remainder
of the state, in which the larger streams are its principal resort.
It. appears to have a moderate preference for a good current (1.19)
and for a clean bottom (1.22), but it is nevertheless one of the
species which enters the lower Illinoisan glaciation freely. It is
N'OTROPIS 153
distributed throughout the state in fairly equal ratio, although less
abundant in the Illinois, the Kaskaskia, and the Big Muddy than
in the other stream systems. It is one of the small number of
species which we have found present in the Michigan drainage in
larger ratio (1.96) than in any other section. In its continental dis-
tribution it is, on the whole, a northern species, its general area ex-
tending from the St. Lawrence and Lake Champlain through the
Great Lakes to the northern shore of Lake Superior, the Red River of
the North, and the Saskatchewan, and through the Ohio Valley to
Tennessee and the Washita River in Kansas, and up the tribu-
taries of the Missouri.
It moves and feeds in large schools, thousands being frequently
seen together near the surface The food of those examined by us
(18 specimens, all from the northern part of the state) consisted
principally of insects, nearly two thirds of which were terrestrial
species, and the remainder chiefly case-worms and larvae of day-
flies. Six of the specimens had, indeed, eaten insects only, and
these made 90 per cent, of the food of two others. Three taken
from Peoria Lake in October had eaten only Entomostraca, which
amounted, in fact, to the unusual ratio of 22 per cent, of the food of
the whole group. A single specimen had taken about 40 per cent,
of its food from the thread algas, and a minute fish had been eaten
by another.
Females greatly distended with eggs and apparently about to
spawn have been collected by us from the middle of May to the first
of June. The sexual differences are slight, and we have seen no
tuberculate males.
NOTROPIS RUBRIFRONS (Cope)
(ROSY-FACED MINNOW)
Cope, 1865, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 85 (Alburnus).
G., VII, 255 (Leuciscus) ; J. & G., 202 (Minnilus rubrifrons and M. percobromusl ;
M. V., 61 (dilectus); J. & E., I., 295; X., 47 (Minnilus); ]., 60; F., 7<> (dinemus,
part); L., 18.
The smaller size, darker and less silvery coloration, shorter and
deeper body, longer head, longer snout and maxillary, and smaller eye,
as well as the dense tuberculation and flushed color of the head and pre-
dorsal region in spring males of this species, will serve to distinguish
this from the last species described. Length 2\ inches ; body moderately
elongate, back little elevated; caudal peduncle slender, its depth 2.4 to
2 . 8 in its length; depth in length 4.8 to 5.8. Color of upper parts
rather dark olive, the scales dark-edged ; sides silvery above and below the
dark, to almost black, lateral band ; a faint and narrow dark vertebral
154 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
streak; fins plain ; forehead, opercles, and predorsal region flushed with
red in spring males. Head long, conic, pointed, 3.8 to 4.3 in length,
its width 2.3 to 2.6 in its length; interorbital space little convex, 3 to
3 . 6 in head; eve smaller than in the last species, 3.2 to 3.6 in head
in adults, in which it is distinctly less than the maxillary; nose 3 to
3 .4 in head; mouth rather large, oblique, tip of upper lip almost at top of
pupil; maxillarv distinctly longer than eye, 2 . 7 to 3 . 1 in head, reaching
vertical from front of orbit; jaws subequal; isthmus less than pupil.
Teeth 2, 4-4, 2, the grinding surface slight and present on few teeth;
intestine .8 to .9 of length of head and body; peritoneum dusted with
coarse brown specks. Dorsal fin with 8 rays (occasionally 7), set well be-
hind ventrals, so that distance from dorsal to caudal is 74 to 81 per
cent, of that from muzzle to dorsal; longest dorsal ray 1.3 to 1.5 in
head; anal rays usually 10, sometimes 9 or 11; pectorals scarcely § to
ventrals, 1.2 to 1.5 in head; ventrals usually short of vent. Scales 6
(or 7), 36-40, 3; rows before dorsal 17 to 21; lateral line decurved ante-
riorly.
The rosy-faced minnow is a bright-colored species which delights
in the clear waters of rapid streams. It has been rare in our work,
occurring only in the Mississippi drainage of the northern third of
the state, in the tributaries of the Illinois, the Rock, and the Missis-
sippi, and only once from the main stream; It is a species of north-
ern distribution, ranging from the lower St. Lawrence and Lake
Champlain to the Lake of the Woods, thence southward to the head-
waters of the James, through the Ohio Valley to the Alleghany
River, and to the tributaries of the Missouri in Kansas and Missouri.
In Ohio it is reported by Osburn as occasionally occurring in large
schools over clean gravelly places in ripples, the females ready to
spawn during the latter part of May — a date which agrees with our
own observations in Illinois. The spring males have the head and
fore part of the body excessively tuberculate, and there are some-
times weak tubercles on the same parts of the breeding females
alsi i.
NOTROPIS UMBRATILIS ATRIPES (Jordan)
(bi.ack.fin)
Jordan, L878, Bull. 111. St. Lab. Nat. Hist., I, 2. 59 (Lythrurus atripes).
J & (', . 197 (Minnilus atripes); M. V., 61 (umbratilis) ; J. & E., I, 300, also (?) 301
(umbratilis fasciolaris) ; X , 17 (Lythrurus diplaemius) ; J., 59 (Lythrurus
atripes and diplaemius) ; F.,76 (also macrolepidotus) and Bull. 111. St. Lab. Nat.
Hist.. II 2, 138 (macrolepidotus); L., 18 (umbratilis).
Fishes witli the dentition and the elongate anal fin oiNotropis (e.g.,
atherinoides and rubrifrons), but with the form of body (deep and com-
pressed) of ( 'yprinella (e. g., N. whipplii) or Montana (A', lutrensis); most
easilv distinguished from the fishes of the first subgenus mentioned
NOTROPIS
155
-bv the deeper and more compressed body, and from the latter by the
smaller scales, which are much crowded •;i1".'nor!y. L§Sg&3 3 m.-h.s;
bodv as a rule rather deep and compressed, the depth 3.2 to 4.2
in length; profile usually angled at nape in adults; caudal peduncle less
than head, its depth 1.7 to 2.4 in its length. Color dark purplish
blue above, greenish blue, not silvery, on middle part of sides, and
greenish lower down and on belly ; a dusky lateral band on caudal ped-
uncle, becoming obsolete forward; scales, except on belly, dusted with
dark specks but not prominently dark-edged; dorsal fin with a more or
less prominent black spot at its base in front* ; anal tipped with dusky in
males; dorsal with or without a dusky bar mesially ; spring males with the
dorsal and caudal fins greenish at base and bright brick- to blood-red
outward; lower fins nearly uniform red, the pectorals less brilliant, pink-
ish or rose; females pale olive, plain. Head conic, comparatively pointed,
4 to 4 . 1 in length ; width of head 1 . 8 to 2 . 1 ; interorbital space quite con-
vex, 2.2 to 3 in head; eye small, shorter than snout, 3.4 to 4.2 in head;
nose 2.8 to 3.3; mouth moderate, oblique, tip of upper lip above lower
margin- of pupil; maxillary 2.7 to 3.2 in head, reaching front of orbit;
jaws about equal; isthmus less than pupil. Teeth 2, 4-4, 2, with more or
less developed grinding surfaces on the median teeth of the outer row,
this surface narrow and either plane or concave; intestine .8 to .9 of
length of head and body; peritoneum silvery, rather sparsely and coarsely
specked with brown. Dorsal rays 8, the fin set well back of ventrals;
longest dorsal rav 1 to 1.1 in head; anal rays 10, ,11, or 12, usually 11;
pectorals more than § to ventrals; ventrals to or past vent. Scales 9 or
10, 41 to 48. 4, crowded anteriorly, the rows in front of dorsal fin 26 to 30;
lateral line deeply decurved.
This is an exceedingly handsome species, especially during the
breeding season. It is commonly said to be most frequently seen
in clear, swift streams. Our frequency coefficient for creeks reaches,
in fact, the extraordinary number of 3.9, while that for the smaller
rivers is 1.0, and for the larger rivers, .10. In lowland lakes we
have found it but once in 540 collections, ami in glacial lakes not at
all. On the other hand, 109 collections for which we have the
necessary data give us a frequency coefficient of 1.76 for still-
water situations as compared \vith those with a rapid current — from
which we may infer that in Illinois, at any rate, the species is more
frequently to be found in quiet waters than in those with a rapid
(low. Our similar data concerning cleanness or muddiness of bot-
*Great variation in color is found in our specimens, making it extremely difficult
to distinguish varieties. We have included all Illinois specimens accordingly
under the oldest name for this portion of the range of this wide-spread and variable
species Ah i ,i of our specimens have the dark blotch at base of dorsal prom-
inent, and anal dusky in males (atripes); others, hut much fewer in number,
have the spot faint or obsolete (macrotepidotus) ; in some specimens there arc dis-
tinct traces of .1 to 5 vertical bars of dusky on back portion of sides ami fore fail
"t caudal peduncle (fasciolarisl).
156 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
torn, drawn from 69 collection >nb give us no evidence of
c."y ueimite choice, the corresponding coefficient being 1.01. The
species has been taken by us 208 times, from 136 Illinois locali-
ties. Outside the state it is distributed far and wide, from the
Great Lakes and the smaller lakes of New York to the Roanoke
River on the Atlantic coast and to the Tombigbee in Alabama, and
westward through the Ohio Valley to the Arkansas and the tribu-
taries of the Missouri in Kansas and Missouri. Notwithstanding
this wide-spread general occurrence, its distribution in this state is
somewhat peculiar, as shown by the fact that, although we have col-
lected it throughout the state, our records of its^ occurrence are sev-
eral times more numerous from the eastern half of Illinois than from
the western. It is one of the species which enters freely the lower
Illinoisan glaciation, and is, indeed, much more abundant southward
than in the northern parts of the state. Its area of greatest pro-
portionate abundance in our collections is that containing the Big
Muddy, the tributaries of the Wabash, and the small rivers and
creeks of extreme southern Illinois.
Females bursting with eggs have been taken about the first of
June, together with spring males with heads profusely covered with
small tubercles of a peculiar whitish tint. Tuberculate males have
occurred, indeed, in our collections from the middle of May to
August 1 .
Genus ERICYMBA Cope
Body elongate, little compressed; muzzle broad; interorbitals, sub-
orbitals, and dentaries containing greatly developed mucus channels,
which appear externally as distinct transverse vitreous streaks; no barbel ;
premaxillaries protractile ; teeth 1 , 4-4, 1 or 4-4, without grinding surface,
hooked; intestine short; peritoneum silvery; dorsal rays 8; anal 8; scales
about 35; lateral line continuous. Size small. One species known.
ERICYMBA BUCCATA Cope
(silver-mouthed minnow)
Cope, 1865, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. 1'liila., 88.
G., VII, 185; J. &G., 204; M. V., 62; J. & E., I, M)2; N., 45; J., 61; P., 76; L., 18.
Small, pale silvery to straw-colored fishes with an elongate and de-
curved snout, sufficiently distinguished from all other Illinois Cyprinidce
by the externally visible mucus channels in the infraorbital and lower jaw-
bones. Length 3 to 4 inches ; body fusiform, rather elongate and little com-
pressed, and the back not much elevated; profile not angled at nape,
being a gentle convex curve from base of dorsal to tip of snout; depth 4 , 1
ERICYMBA 1S7
to 5.2 in length; caudal peduncle as a rule about f length of head,
slender, its depth contained 2.2 to 2.9 in its length. Color pale olive
above, the scales rather narrowly and indistinctly dark-edged; sides pale
silven- with bluish reflections; a dark dorsal streak and an indistinct
plumbeous lateral band developed
posteriorly; no caudal spot; fins all
plain; cheeks and opercles bright
silvery ; iris silvery below, with some
dusky above; spring males without
bright colors. Head long for its
depth, depressed above, with prom- 1
inently decurved muzzle ; chin broad
and flat ; length of head 3.5 to 3.7
in body and head, its width 1 . 9 to
2.4 in its length; interorbital space pIG 38
nearly flat and quite narrow, 3.5 to
3 . 9 in head ; eye 3 . 3 to 3 . 6 in head ; suborbitals, interopercles, and lower
jaw-boncs.with greatly developed mucus channels, appearing externally as
vitreous streaks ; nose 2 . 6 to 3 in head, always distinctly longer than eye ;
mouth small, horizontal, subinferior, tip of upper lip below level of lower
margin of orbit; maxillary 3.5 to 4 in head, not reaching past anterior
nostril-opening; lower jaw much shorter than upper; isthmus less than
pupil. Teeth 4-4, or 1, 4-4, 1, rather strongly hooked, the grinding
surface somewhat weakly developed as a narrow groove whose edges are
smooth; intestine .9 to i .0 times length of head and body; peritoneum
bright silvery, with a very few scattered dark specks. Dorsal fin with 8
rays, set nearlv directly over vcntrals, but distinctly nearer tip of snout
than base of caudal; longest dorsal ray 1 . 1 to 1 .2 in head; anal rays 8,
sometimes 7 ; pectorals long, reaching nearly to ventrals ; ventrals past
vent but not quite to front of anal. Scales 5, 32-35, 3; 13 to 15 rows
before dorsal; breast without scales; lateral line nearly straight.
This interesting little fish is especially peculiar because of the
tubular cavities, the so-called mucus canals, in the bones of the side
of the head and the lower jaw. It has, on the whole, an easterly
distribution, ranging, according to Jordan and Evermann, from
Michigan and western Pennsylvania to Kansas and southward
to western Florida. In our collections it has been limited almost
wholly to the central eastern part of the state, occurring chiefly in
the headwaters of the minor tributaries of the Wabash and in the
upper course of the Kaskaskia River, and in the tributaries of the
Iroquois and of the Sangamon. The distribution map of the state
for this species suggests a relation to an eastern center, and an ex-
tension past the watersheds from the tributaries of the Wabash to
the headwaters of adjacent streams. Our 74 collections came in si i
large a proportion from the smaller streams that the coefficient < if
frequency for creeks is 4.85, and that for the smaller rivers is 1.06.
158 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
It has occurred to us from first-class rivers but once in 293 collec-
tions, and not at all from stagnant waters of any description. It
has a very decided preference for a clean bottom, if we may judge
from the 38 collections of the species made for which data of this de-
scription were recorded, its frequency coefficient for this class of
situations being 3.2. It is a noticeable fact, however, that the spe-
cies nevertheless occurs within the lower Illinoisan glaciation, par-
ticularly in the headwaters of the Kaskaskia in the northern part.
Females apparently near spawning condition have been taken
by us in late May and early June. The sexual differences are not
well marked, and the males have neither tubercles nor brilliant col-
ors in spring.
Genus PHENACOBIUS Cope
(sucker-mouthed minnows)
Body elongate, little compressed; mouth inferior, the lower lip thin
mesially and enlarged on each side into a fleshy lobe; upper jaw pro-
tractile; no barbel; teeth 4-4, hooked and with grinding surface; intestine
short; peritoneum silvery; dorsal rays 8; anal 7; scales 45 to 60; lateral
line complete. Length 3 to 4 inches, the adults having much the appear-
ance of voung suckers. About 5 species known, confined chiefly to the
central and southeastern United States.
PHENACOBIUS MIRABILIS (Girard)
(sucker-mouthed minnow)
Girard, 1856, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 191 (Exoglossum).
J. & G., 205; M. V., 63; J. & E., I, 303; N., 46 (teretulus liosternus) ; J., 61 (scopife-
rus); F. F.. I. 6. 88 "(scopiferus) ; F., 76; L.. 18.
The inferior sucker-like mouth, thick lips, small scales, and black
spot at base of caudal fin in this species will, taken together, distin-
guish it from all other
minnows found in Illi-
nois. Length 3 J inches;
form of body much as
in the common red-horse
( Moxostoma aureolum) , —
the inferior mouth and
fleshy lips adding to the
Fin. 39 resemblance, — fusiform,
the back moderately ele-
vated, depth 4.6 to 5 in length; caudal peduncle about equal to head,
its depth 2 to 2.2 in its length. Color olivaceous, the sides with a
dull silvery luster overlying a dusky lateral shade; a distinct black
•
•s
Z
X
en
O
z
z
-
w
a
H
a
o
u
D
PHEXACOBIUS SUCKER-MOUTHED MINNOWS 159
caudal spot and a narrow vertebral streak, golden in life, when the
shoulders are also dusted with gold specks; belly silvery; all scales
except those of belly sprinkled with minute black specks which be-
come denser at edges of scales; cheeks and opercles silvery with some
greenish; pupil brilliant black; iris with a wide inner rim of gold above
and silver>- below, the outer portion being variegated light or dark
green and gold with some silvery below ; fins all pale. Head subquad-
rate in transverse section and flat above, short, 3.9 to 4.5 in length ;
width of head 1.6 to 1.9 in its length ; interorbital space flat, 2 . 7 to
3.3 in head; eye small, 3 . 6 to 4.8; nose nearly twice length of eye, 2.3
to 2 .6 in head; mouth very small, wholly inferior and horizontal, "the tip
of the upper lip on level of chin and breast ; maxillary 3 . 7 to 4 . 3 in head,
not reaching to orbit; lower jaw included; upper jaw provided with a
fleshv lip which is continuous on each side with the lower lip, forming
laterallv a somewhat prominently projecting lobe; the two lobes of the
lower lip separated at the middle by a narrow and projecting horny fre-
num, not separated from the chin by either a groove or a fold; isthmus
less than pupil. Teeth 4-4, hooked, one of them occasionally with a nar-
row grinding surface; intestine about equal to length of head and body;
peritoneum plain silvery. Dorsal fin with usually 8 rays, sometimes 7 or
9, alwavs set distinctly in front of ventrals and nearer muzzle than base
of caudal ; longest dorsal ray 1 to 1 . 4 in head ; anal rays 7 ; pectorals shi irt,
reaching little more than half way to ventrals in fully grown specimens;
ventrals a little short of vent in adults. Scales 6, 43-51, 5; rows before
dorsal 18 to 22 ; lateral line complete and little decurved.
Owing to the range of variation in size of scales in this species, we have
found it impossible to separate this and P. scopijer in our collections, and
have therefore included the latter species in the synonymy of P. mirabilis.
This little fish is, in Illinois, upon the eastern border of its range,
doubtless extending into Indiana, although not hitherto reported
from that state. It is distributed mainly west and south through
Iowa to South Dakota and through Missouri to the Sabine and
Trinity rivers emptying into the west Gulf. In this state it is of
general distribution, occurring in all our river basins, but mainly in
the smaller streams. It is most abundant with us in creeks — where
1s frequency coefficient rises to 3. 18 — and in the smaller rivers — 2.19.
In the larger rivers its coefficient falls to .32, and in lowland lakes
to .05. Although we have taken it in 159 Illinois collections, it has
not occurred once in the upland glacial lakes. It is also mi ist al >un-
dant here in swift streams, particularly in those with a sandy bot-
tom, or in the more rapid and rocky portions of somewhat sluggish
crocks. The corresponding coefficients arc 1.32 for waters with a
rapid flow, and 1.36 for those with a clean bottom.
Nine of our specimens studied with reference to their food were
found to have eaten little but the aquatic larvae of a gnat-like fly
{Ckironomus) , which is abundant on the bottom and under stones.
160 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
A few case-worms (Phyrganeidce) occurring in some similar situa-
tions were the only other important element of the food, of which
insects made practically 98 per cent. Its small inferior mouth,
provided with fleshy lips something like those of a sucker, enables
this minnow to collect readily its peculiar food, in respect to
which, as well as in its favorite haunts, it bears a considerable
resemblance to the darters. In the aquarium it rests, like a
darter, upon the sand, supported by its pectoral fins, the head
moving gently up and down with the opening and closing of the
gills.
Females greatly distended with eggs were taken by us in late
May and early June. Spring males are profusely but rather mi-
nutely tuberculate on the top of the head, on the opercles, and on
the back and upper part of the sides to the posterior end of the dor-
sal fin.
Genus RHINICHTHYS Agassiz
Bod}' elongate, little compressed; mouth small, subinferior; upper
jaw not protractile, the upper mesially continuous with the skin of the
forehead; a small barbel at tip of maxillary; teeth 1 or 2, 4-4, 1 or 2,
hooked and without grinding surface; intestine short; peritoneum dusky;
dorsal rays 7 to 9; anal 6 or 7 ; scales 60 to 70; lateral line continuous.
Size small, 3 to 5 inches. Species few, 2 in Illinois. Active fishes,
inhabiting mountain springs of the east and west and the swifter and
cooler brooks of the central United States.
Kiev to the Species of RHINICHTHYS found in Illinois
a. Snout long and prominent, projecting far beyond the inferior mouth, less
than 2 A in head and more than twice length of eye in adults. . . cataractae.
aa. Snout moderate, projecting little beyond the mouth (which is subterminal),
more than 2 \ in head, and not over 1 i times length of eye in adults
atronasus.
RHINICHTHYS CATARACTS (Cuvier & Valenciennes)
(long-nosed dace)
Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1842, XVI, 315 (Gobio).
G., VI I, 17(i (Ceratichthys) and 189 (Rhinichthys marmoratus and R. nasutus) ;
J. & G., 207; M. V., 63; J. & E., 1. 306; X.. 45 (nasutus and maxillosus) ; J., 62;
F., 75 (atronasus, part).
Distinguished from the next species by its longer snout, longer and
much projecting upper jaw, more elongate body, and less coarsely mottled
coloration. Length 2.V inches; depth 4.8 to 5.2 in length; caudal peduncle
RHIXICHTHYS 161
as long as or longer than head, its depth 2.1 to 2.6 in its length. Coloration
olivaceous, paler below; sides with some spots and splotches of dark color,
but the mottling less prominent than in R. atronasus; back, sides, cheeks
and opercles, and caudal peduncle more or less densely punctulate with
dusky ; lateral band indistinct ; a black spot
on opercle; fins all plain, no spot at middle
of base of dorsal fin. (Spring males with
lips, cheeks, and lower fins crimson. — Jor-
dan & Evermann.) Head long and greatly
narrowed, the pointed muzzle very prom- ^fl
inent, 4 to 4.1 in length; width of head
1 . 8 to 2.2; interorbital space 3.2 to 3 . 3
in head; eve 4.8 to S.6; nose long and Pig. 40
pointed, twice the length of the eye, 2.2
to 2 . 5 in head; mouth wholly inferior and horizontal, tip of upper lip
half way between lower margin of orbit and chin ; maxillary 2.9 to 3.1,
extending a little past anterior nostril; lower jaw much shorter than
upper, the muzzle projecting beyond tip of chin for a distance nearly
equal to half length of snout; a small maxillary barbel; isthmus twice
diameter of orbit. Teeth 2, 4-4, 2; peritoneum finely but not very
densely punctulate with brown. Dorsal fin with 8 rays, set behind ven-
trals, its distance from muzzle IS to 20 per cent, greater than to base
of caudal; longest dorsal ray 1 . 2 in head; anal rays 7; pectorals about
§ to ventrals, 1.1 to 1.3 in head; ventrals short of front of anal, pas-
sing vent. Scales very small, 7 to 10, 63-70, 7 or 8; lateral line little
decurved.
This species, although very wide-spread and abundant under
its preferred conditions, has been very rare with us, being repre-
sented in all our collections by only four specimens, one obtained
near Waukegan, in northeastern Illinois, and three from Big creek,
near the town of Anna, in Union county, in the extreme southern
part of the state. It generally prefers clear, cold streams — a fact
sufficient to account for its scarcity within our limits. It ranges
very widely north, south, east, and west, from New Brunswick
and the Province of Quebec through the Great Lakes to the head-
waters of the Missouri in Montana, northward to the Saskatchewan,
and across the mountains to the Columbia River, southward along
tin' Atlantic coast to the Potomac and the James, and by way of
the Mississippi Valley to the Rio Grande. It is said to occur also
in the Gnat Salt Lake basin of Utah.
162 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
RHINICHTHYS ATRONASUS (Mitchill)
(black-nosed dace)
Mitchill 1815 Trans. Lit. and Phil. Soc. X. Y.. I. 460 (Cyprinus).
G., VII, 191; J. & G., 208; M. V., 63; J. & E., I. 307; X., 45. also 46 (lunatus and
meleagris); J , 63 (obtusus and meleagris); F., 7 5 (part); L., IS.
Length 2f inches; body moderately elongate, very little compressed;
depth 4 . 5 to 5 in length; caudal peduncle rather short and deep, less than
head, its depth 1 . 7 to 2 . 1 in its length. Color
dusky to blackish above, the back and sides
variously mottled with darker; a black band
along sides, through eye to end of snout, be-
low which is a paler streak; belly silvery; a
distinct black blotch at base of dorsal be-
hind ; dorsal otherwise and all other fins plain ;
|. ,,. 4i spring males with the lower fins and often
almost entire body more or less blood-red,
this color becoming obsolescent by midsummer. Head pyramidal, sub-
quadrate in transverse section, being a little wider than deep; length of
head 3 . 6 to 4 . 2 in head and body, its width 1 . 7 to 2 in its length ; inter-
orbital space flat, 2 . 8 to 3 . 1 ; eye small, 4.3 to 4 . 9 ; nose long and project-
ing, but not decurved, both nostrils lying well in upper half of head;
length of nose 2 . 7 to 3 in head ; mouth rather small, subterminal, slightlv
oblique, tip of upper lip as high as lower margin of orbit; maxillary
shorter than in the last species, 3.3 to 4 in head, usually over 3.6,
reaching scarcely past anterior nostril; a minute maxillary barbel; lower
jaw included ; isthmus twice width of orbit. Teeth 2, 4-4, 2 ; peritoneum
silvery except high up, where it is dusky. Dorsal fin with 8 rays, set
distinctly behind ventrals, 15 to 20 per cent, farther from muzzle than
base of caudal; longest dorsal ray 1 . 3 to 1 . 4 in head ; anal rays 7 ; pectorals
about § to ventrals, 1 . 3 to 1 . S in head ; ventrals past base of anal in adult
males. Scales 9 to 1 1 , 62-7 1 , 8 to 10 ; lateral line complete, little decurved.
This species, widely distributed like the preceding, extends
from New Brunswick and the rivers of northeastern Quebec
through the Hudson and the Great Lakes to the James and the
Roanoke, to the Dakotas in the northwest, and through the Ohio
basin to Iowa and northern Alabama. We have found it in only
six Illinois collections, all but one in the clear swift 1 minks
of the northern part of the state. The northern Illinois localities
reported are Oregon, Ogle county, Bailey's creek and other streams
of La Salle county, Big Rock creek and Little Rock creek, near
Piano, in Kendall county, the lakes about Henry, in Marshall e< lunty,
and Farm creek, near Peoria. We have also two specimens from
Big creek, near Anna, in Union county, in extreme southern
Illinois.
HYBOPSIS 163
This is an active fish, decidedly preferring clear rocky streams.
Breeding males were taken about Ottawa in June. It has been
seen to spawn in shallow running water, piling pebbles up about
the nest after the eggs are deposited. Spring males have the front
of the head and the occipital region finely tuberculate.
Genus HYBOPSIS Agassiz
Body robust or elongate; mouth terminal or inferior; a barbel always
present, terminal on the maxillary (in one species there are 2 barbels on
each side); premaxillary protractile; teeth 4-4, or 1, 4-4, 1 or 0, hooked
and with grinding surface narrow or obsolete; intestine short; peritoneum
pale, dusky, or black; dorsal rays 7 or 8; anal 6 to S; scales 35 to 60; lat-
eral line continuotis. Species numerous, about 17 ; 5 in Illinois. A large
and varied group, embracing both small species from 2^ to 5 inches in
length and larger forms up to a length of 10 or 12 inches. United States
east of the Rockies ; one species from California.
HYBOPSIS HYOSTOMUS (Gilbert)
Gilbert, 1884, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 203 (Nocomis).
M. V., 64; J. & E., I, 316; L., 19 (part).
Wry small minnows with an inferior mouth, and with barbel J to i as
long as snout, easily distinguished among Illinois Cyprinidcc by their
small size, elongate eye, posteriorly placed mouth (tip of lower lip
under first nostril), and rusty- to blackish-punctulate coloration.
Length of our largest specimens If inches; body moderately elongate,
subfusiform, little compressed, heaviest forward of dorsal fin; depth 4."
to 6.2 in length; caudal peduncle slender, its depth 2.5 to 2.S in its
length. Color silvery, everywhere more or less dusted with brownish
specks; similar but larger specks, suggesting rust-spots in preserved mate-
rial, found on nose, suborbitals, and opercles; fins all pale. Head rather
long, 3.7 to 4, its width 2 to 2 . 1 in its length; interorbital space nearly
flat, 3 . 5 to 4 in head; eye 2 .8 to 3 .4, elliptical, its long diameter 1J to 1£
times its short; nose 2.7 to 3.1, about as long as eye, broad, bluntly
pointed and decurved, projecting nearly half its length beyond the mouth;
mouth wholly inferior and horizontal, tip of lower lip directly under first
nostril; maxillary 3.3 to 3.8 in head, reaching past front of orbit; barbel
long, 2 to 3 in snout; isthmus less than pupil. Teeth 4-4, rather strongly
hooked, the grinding surface extremely narrow or not at all developed;
peritoneum silvery, with some rather coarse specks upward. Dorsal fin
with 8 rays, rarely 7, set about over ventrals and equidistant between
muzzle and base of caudal ; longest dorsal ray 1.1 to 1.3 in head ; anal
rays 7 or 8, usually 7; pectorals more than § to ventrals; ventrals past
vent. Scales 5, 34-36, 4; 14 before dorsal; lateral line decurved.
Sexual differences not noted, our specimens being few and probably
not fully grown.
164 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Taken by us in only three collections — from the Rock River at
Erie, from Green River at Cleveland, and from the Illinois River at
Naples. The first two came from fairly swift water running over
rock and gravel. The species is said to be rather common in
sandy river channels from Iowa and southern Illinois southward
to the Alabama River. It ranges also westward and northward in
the Missouri to Nebraska and Minnesota
HYBOPSIS DISSIMILIS (Kirtland)
(spotted shiner)
Kirtland, 1840, Bost. Jour. Nat. Mist., Ill, 341 (Luxilus).
G., VII, 177 (Ceratichthys) ; J. & G., 215 (Ceratichthys) ; M. V . 64; ]. & E., I, 318;
N., 45 (Ceratichthys); J., 62 (Ceratichthys); F., 74 (Semotilus); L., 19.
Known from H. amblops, which, of our species, it most resembles,
by its more slender body, smaller eye, and more or less mottled coloration.
Length 3 inches ; body long and slen-
der, sub fusiform, little compressed,
depth 4.7 to S.3 in length; caudal
peduncle slender, about equal to the
head, its depth 2 .3 to 2 .8 in its length.
Color olivaceous, the sides silvery ;
c~ a more or less distinct bluish lat-
Fig. 42 eralband, most evident posteriorly,
in places widened or broken into
blotches; back and sides marked with irregularly X-shaped splotches
formed by dark punctulations on the scales ; a dusky band through eye
to end of snout; fins plain. Head somewhat long, flattish above, 3.9 to
4.2 in length; its width 1.9 to 2.2 in its length; interorbital space 3.3
to 3.9; eye 3.1 to 3 . 8, little elliptical ; nose 2 . 4 to 2 . 7 in head, bluntly
pointed and somewhat decurved, projecting little beyond the mouth;
mi ruth horizontal, inferior, tip of lower jaw as far in front of anterior nos-
tril as that is in front of eye; length of maxillary 3.6 to 4.3 in head,
reaching to anterior nostril; barbel usuallv rather less than diameter of
pupil; isthmus wide, its breadth equal to diameter of orbit. Teeth 4-4,
with very narrow grinding surface; intestine 1 to 1 . 5 times length of head
and body; peritoneum black. Dorsal fin with 8 rays, set distinctly in
front of ventrals, and about equidistant between tip of snout and base
of caudal; longest dorsal ray 1 . 1 to 1 .3 in head; anal rays 7 ; pectorals
about -J to ventrals; ventrals to vent. Scales 5 or 6, 38-47, 4 or 5; 14 to
17 rows before dorsal; lateral line complete, nearly straight.
No females with eggs found in our collections, which are few,
and mostly taken in midsummer or after. Males with organs ap-
parently well developed, but without tubercles, taken in the mid-
dle of June.
HYBOPSIS
165
An uncommon species in this state, its known localities being
one on the lower Kaskaskia, one on the upper Embarras in Coles
county, one on the Sangamon in Macon county, one on the Kick-
apoo in Logan county, one on Spoon River in Fulton county, and
four on Rock River, in Lee and Winnebago counties. In northern
Illinois it has been taken chiefly in swift water flowing over sand.
Outside the state it is to be found from Lake Erie to the head-
waters of the Tennessee, west to Arkansas and Iowa, and north to
the Saskatchewan River and to Calgary.
HYBOPSIS AMBLOPS (Rafinesque)
(big-eyed chub; silver chub)
Rafinesque, 1S20, Ichth. Oh.. 51 (Rutilus).
G..VII, 179 (Ceratichthys hyalinus); J. & G., 214 (Ceratichthys) ; M.V., 64; J. & E.,
I, 320; J., 62 (Ceratichthys); P., 75 (Semotilus) ; L., 19.
Length 2 to 3 inches; a small but rather robust species, the body less
slender and more compressed and the eye larger than in H. dissimilis;
depth 4 . 6 to 5 . 2 in length, being great-
est in the predorsal region ; caudal ped-
uncle rather slender, its depth 2 . 2 to 2 . 5
^ in its length. Color olivaceous, overlaid
above with translucent greenish and
with silvery on sides; scales above lat-
eral line everywhere finely punctulate,
FlG- 43 (inly indistinctly dark-edged; a dusky to
blackish lateral stripe continued for-
ward through eye to end of snout; no vertebral streak or caudal spot; fins
all plain ; males and females similarly colored. Head 3 . 6 to 3 . 9, broad and
flattened above; width of head 1 .9 to 2 in its length; interorbital space 3
to 3 .9 in head; eye large, usually longer than interorbital space or snout,
2 . 8 to 3 . 1 in head ; muzzle bluntly decurved, the nose 2 . 9 to 3 . 4 in head,
projecting sometimes as much as width of pupil beyond mouth; mouth
small, horizontal, inferior, the tip of the lower jaw little in advance of first
nostril; maxillary 3.6 to 4.6 in head, usually reaching to vertical from
front of orbit; barbel variable, usually rather small, sometimes scarcely
discernible, and as a rule not projecting below cheek; isthmus less than
pupil. Teeth 1, 4-4, 1, occasionally 4-4 or with the supernumerary tooth
absent on one side; teeth stoutish towards base, with a very small and
sharp hook; grinding surface not much developed; intestine shorter than
head and bodv; peritoneum coarsely specked with brown. Dorsal fin
with 8 rays, set as a rule almost directly over ventrals about equidistant
between muzzle and base of caudal ; longest dorsal ray 1 . 1 to 1 . 3 in head ;
anal rays 7 or 8; pectorals about f to ventrals; ventrals to vent. Scales
5, 35-38, 4 or 5; 12 to 15 rows in fronl of dorsal; lateral line nearly
straight.
(12)
166 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Males without tubercles or flushed coloration in spring. Females
much distended with eggs taken about first of June.
This is one of our Illinois species whose distribution in the state
presents an ecological problem which we have no present means of
solving. Ranging from Lake Erie to the Black Warrior and the
Alabama southward, and to Iowa and Arkansas on the west, it oc-
curs abundantly in southeastern Illinois, but has been taken by us in
only two neighboring localities additional, one on the upper Kan-
kakee and the other on the Mackinaw. It is one of the species, in
fact, which has the appearance of spreading over the state from the
south and east mainly by the branches of the Wabash, but reaching
adjacent waters as if by overland migration. It is notably a species
of creeks, for which its frequency coefficient rises to the unusual
figure of 3.97. We have found it relatively about half as abundant
in the smaller rivers, and of only occasional occurrence in rivers of
the larger class. None of our 51 collections has been taken from
stagnant waters of any kind.
HYBOPSIS STORERIANUS (Kirtland)
(storer's chub)
Kirtland, 1842, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., I. 71 (Rutilus).
]. & G., 213 (Ceratichthys lucens) ; M. V., 65; J. & E., I, 321; N., 46; J., 56
(Alburnops) ; L , 10.
A large species, known at once from our other species of Hybopsis
by the double-rowed dark edging of the scales above the lateral line.
Length 5 or 6 inches; body elongate, considerably compressed; back
often somewhat elevated ; depth 4.3 to 5.3 in length ; caudal peduncle
rather slender, its depth 2 . 2 to 2 . 6 in head. Color translucent greenish
above, with purplish reflections; brilliantlv silvery on sides and below; an
indistinct plumbeous lateral band, overlaid in life with emerald, below
which is a band of silvery to bluish blending with the silvery of belly; no
caudal spot and no vertebral streak ; scales above lateral line, except a few
along middle of back in front of dorsal fin, each with two subparallel
rows of dark dots near posterior border, between which is a crescentic
lighter space; cheeks and opercles bright silvery; fins plain, the dorsal and
caudal sometimes slightly dusky. Head 4.3 to 5.3 in length, compara-
tively short and compressed, cheeks nearly vertical; width of head 1 .8 to
2; interorbital space entirely flat or somewhat concave, 3.3 to 3.5; eye
2.9 to 3.4 in head; preorbital bone especially prominent, large, oblong,
and silvery ; nose 2 . 8 to 3 . 1 , a little longer than eve, moderately decurved,
the tip of the muzzle somewhat thickened and pad-like, though not pro-
jecting much beyond mouth; mouth rather small, inferior and horizontal,
tip of upper lip far below level of lower margin of orbit; maxillary 3 . 2 to
HYBOPSIS 167
3.7 in head, barelv reaching front of orbit; barbel evident, though
scarcely projecting; isthmus less than pupil. Teeth 1, 4-4, 1 or 0, stout
and little hooked, with grinding surface usually not much developed;
intestine about .9 of length of head and body; peritoneum silvery.
Dorsal fin with 8 rays, occasionally 9, more or less falcate, set a little in
advance of ventrals, and distinctly closer to muzzle than base of caudal;
longest dorsal ray 1 to 1 . 2 in head; anal rays usually 8, sometimes 7 or 9;
pectorals 3 or less to ventrals; ventrals to vent in young only. Scales 6,
37 to 40, 4; 14 to 16 rows in front of dorsal; upper longitudinal rows with
appearance of running out behind dorsal fin, as in Nolropis cornutus, this
appearance aided bv converging longitudinal lines forme 1 by connecting
cross-marks of light color on the scales of some of the rows; lateral line
gently decurved anteriorly.
Sexual differences slight ; upper surface of pectoral rays in spring males
with very fine pectinately disposed tubercles; no sexually mature females
in our collections; some rather young females with ovaries just beginning
to enlarge taken about May 20.
A fish of the larger streams and lowland lakes, widely distrib-
uted in Illinois, though rare with us throughout its range. Our
28 collections carry it from Cairo to Jo Daviess county and from
the Wabash to the Mississippi. None of them, however, are from
the lower Illinoisan glaciation. One collection is from the Rock
River near Milan, seven come from the Illinois and its larger trib-
utaries, an equal number are from the Mississippi and its neighbor-
ing lakes and bayous, five from the Wabash and its tributaries,
three from the Saline River, and two from the Ohio. Outside
Illinois it is generally distributed from Lakes Erie and Ontario to
Wyoming, Nebraska, and Arkansas, ranging southward also to
Tennessee.
HYBOPSIS KENTUCKIENSIS (Rafinesque)
(river chub; horny-head)
Rafinesque, 1820, Ichth. Oh., 48 (Luxilus)
G., VII, 178 (Ceratichthys biguttatus and C. cyclotis) and 17'» (C. stigmaticus and C.
micropogon); }. & G., 212 (Ceratichthys biguttatus and C. micropogon); M V .
65; J. & E.. [, 322; N., 45 (Ceratichthys biguttatusi , ]., 62 (Ceratichthys bigut-
tatus.) F. F., I. 6. 89 (Ceratichthys biguttatus); F. 75 (Semotilus biguttatus);
L., 1"
A large species, with a general resemblance in form to Semotilus,
but the snout more pointed, mouth less oblique, and with no caudal spot
(except in young) . Length 6 to 8 inches ; body subfusiform, very little com-
pressed, robust anteriorly, the body deepest in front of the dorsal fin ; pn i-
file scarcely declined from front, of dorsal to occiput in adults, the descent
from that point to muzzle rapid; depth 3.9 to 4.5; caudal peduncle less
than head, its depth 1.9 to 2.1 in its length. Color of top of head and
168 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
back a rich green, darkest at edges of scales; below this a narrow and more
or less indefinite band of much lighter green, extending forward on iris
above pupil and on opercle as yellowish; passing forward through pupil
and ending behind in a faint caudal spot, is a more or less indistinct dark
lateral band; lower part of sides and belly yellowish to pearly gray; sides
everywhere with coppery and greenish reflections; on each side of head
behind eye a spot of pale red about size of pupil, most brilliant in spring
males; a curved dusky bar behind opercle; dorsal and caudal fins with
membranes orange except at tips, the edges being bluish gray ; anal orange
in the membranes; other fins plain; breeding colors brighter, red spots on
sides of head accentuated in males; very young specimens with a promi-
nent black lateral stripe passing around snout forward and ending behind
in a pronounced caudal spot. Head 3 . 6 to 3 . 8 in length, conical, top of
head and cheeks quite rounded ; width of head 1 . 8 to 2 ; interorbital space
w
2.6 to 2.9; eye very small, 4.1 to S.6 in head; nose sharp, scarcely de-
curved, 2.4 to 2.9; mouth rather large, subterminal, not very oblique,
the tip of the upper lip about half way between lower margin of orbit and
lower edge of cheek; maxillary 3 to 3.6 in head, not quite reaching to
front of eye; lower jaw shorter than upper; breadth of isthmus nearly
equal to diameter of orbit; barbel as a rule evident, though usually not
projecting beyond cheek, occasionally discernible only with difficulty.
Teeth variable, usually 4-4 in our specimens, though not infrequently 1,
4-4, 1 or 0; on pharyngeal jaws from eight well-preserved specimens,
which were all carefullv examined for lost or broken teeth, the following
combinations were found: 1, 4-4, 1; 0, 4-4, 1; 1, 4-0, 3 ; 0, 4-1, 3 ; 0, 2-1, 4;
0, 2-1, 3; intestine 1.1 to 1.4 in length of head and body; peritoneum
dusky. Dorsal fin with 8 rays, placed almost exactly over the ventrals,
a little nearer base of caudal than muzzle; longest dorsal ray 1 .3 to 1 .4 in
head ; anal ravs 7 ; pectorals somewhat over § to ventrals; ventrals to vent
in males, short of it in females. Scales 6 or 7, 39 to 44, 5; 17 to 22 rows
before dorsal fin; lateral line complete or nearly so, gently decurved ante-
riorly.
This fish is of particular interest to us because of the peculiar-
ity of its distribution in thisstate. Although it occurs throughout
the Great Lakes from Michigan to Ontario, and from Wyoming to
HYBOPSIS 169
Pennsylvania and southward to North Carolina and Alabama, our
collections in the state of Illinois are limited to the more recently
glaciated areas, only one having been made by us below the south-
ern boundary of the Wisconsin glaciation. Against this single lo-
cality in southern Illinois (Union county) we have 122 localities in
the northern two thirds of the state, where the species is not only
abundant but is generally distributed, mainly in the smaller streams
and also in the glacial lakes of the northeastern section. We have
taken it from Lake Michigan at Chicago.
According to our 137 collections of the horny-head, it is almost
wholly a species of the creeks and smaller rivers, the frequency
coefficient for the first being 3.08 and for the second 2.47. It has
been so rare in stagnant waters that we have taken it but twice
in our 591 collections from lakes and ponds. From the larger
rivers we have obtained it 6 times in 293 collections. It seems to
be with us especially a fish of swift waters and a hard bottom, the
coefficient for the former class of situations being 1.38 and for the
latter 2.24. It is consistent with this fact that, although commonly
scattered throughout the Wisconsin glaciation, it stops short at
the southern boundary of this area , not entering the lower Illinoisan
at any point.
The spawning season of this species is late May and early June.
In spring males the top of the head is swollen to form a kind of crest,
which may be considerably higher than the level of the neck, and is
covered with large tubercles.
The length of ten inches which this fish sometimes attains, per-
haps accounts for the rather prominent appearance of crawfishes
in its food. Thirteen specimens from northern and central Illinois
had derived less than half their food from the animal kingdom,
about a fourth of it consisting of insects, largely case-worms and
other larvae of Ncuroptera, another fourth of crawfishes, eaten by
two of the specimens. The vegetable food was about equally di-
vided between thread algas and seeds of grasses. Although insects
appear in relatively small ratio, two of these fishes had eaten noth-
ing else, and another had eaten 95 per cent, of aquatic larvae. Two
other specimens had taken only vegetation, which also composed
80 per cent, of the food of three additional. It will be noticed that
the alimentary canal of this minnow is of more than average length,
a fact probably related to its vegetarian habit. As a game fish,
according to Jordan and Evermann, it is the most active and vigor-
ous of its tribe. 'Any sort of hook baited with an angleworm
or white grub is a lure the hornyhead can seldom resist, and he bites
170
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
with a vim and energy worthy of a better fish. The fight he makes,
though it would not wholly satisfy the veteran black bass angler,
is quite enough to fill the youthful Walton with unbounded joy and
pride. But as his experiences widen his chief interest in the horny-
head lies in the fact that it is one of the best of live baits for nobler
fish. For muskallunge, pickerel, wall-eyed pike, and black bass of
either species, as a live bait it is not surpassed ; large individuals for
muskallunge and increasingly smaller ones for the others, those for
the small-mouthed black bass being not over 3 to 5 inches in length.
A hardy, active minnow, and of an attractive color, as a live bait it
is unsurpassed."
Genus PLATYGOBIO Gill
Body elongate, somewhat compressed; head short, broad, and de-
pressed ; mouth subterminal; a well-developed barbel at back of maxillary;
teeth 2, 4-4, 2, with narrow grinding surface; dorsal 8; anal 8; scales 45 to
50; lateral line continuous. Length 6 to 12 inches. Species few, con-
fined principally to the east slope of the Rocky Mountains; one species
found in Illinois.
Fig. 45
PLATYGOBIO GRACILIS (Richardson)
(flat-headed chub)
Richardson, 1836, Fauna Bor. Amer., Fishes. 120 (Cyprinus).
G , VII, 240 (Leuciscus gracilis), 267 (Leucosomus communis) and 268 (Leucoso-
mus gulonellus), ]. &. G, 2\'>, also 220 (pallidus Forbes); M. V., 65; [. & E.,
326; F., 75 (pallidus); L., 20 (pallidus).
A silvery minnow with a broad, flat head, fine scales, and an evident
barbel terminal on the maxillary. Length of our largest specimens 3
inches; specimens 10 to 12 inches long known from the waters of the upper
Missouri; body rather elongate, the depth 5.1 to S . 4 in the length ; adults
much more slender than young ; caudal peduncle slender, its depth 2 . 1 to
PLATYGOBIO 171
2 .4 in its length. Color plain silvery, with a plumbeous luster along sides,
and traces of a dusky lateral stripe behind dorsal ; fins all plain ; young with
sides more or less punctulate with brown, suggesting the appearance of Hy-
bopsis hyostomus . Head 4 to 4 . 3, broad and depressed and flat above, its
width 1 . 6 to 1.7 in its length; interorbital space 2.2 to 2.5; eye small,
3.9 to 4.6*; nose 2 . 7 to 3 . 1 in head, blunt, the muzzle overhanging
the inferior mouth ; mouth rather large, nearly horizontal, tip of upper lip
below level of lower margin of orbit; barbel prominent, as a rule extend-
ing below cheek; lower jaw shorter than upper; isthmus narrow, scarcely
wider than pupil. Teeth 2, 4-4, 2, hooked and with masticatory surface;
peritoneum bright silvery. Dorsal fin with 8 rays, set a little in front of
ventrals and nearer muzzle than base of caudal ; longest dorsal ray 1 to
1 . 1 in head; anal rays 8, occasionally 9; pectorals long, pointed, f to f to
ventrals; ventrals nearly to vent. Scales 6, 50-55, 5, crowded forward,
21 to 23 rows before dorsal; lateral line complete, very little decurved.
Sexual differences not well known, probably not strongly marked.
A young male taken by us from the Ohio River had the snout tuber-
culate.
This is a northwestern species whose occurrence once within the
limits of this state is to be taken as little more than an accident.
Some 20 specimens were collected by us in 1880 from the Illinois
River at Cairo, but it has not been otherwise reported from any point
east of the Mississippi. Its territory of general distribution extends
throughout the Missouri River and its tributaries as far down as Kan-
sas City, and thence to the Saskatchewan, Assiniboin, Athabasca,
and McKenzie rivers, in the Dominion of Canada. A careful com-
parison of P. pallidits Forbes with specimens of the present species
obtained by Dr. Meek from the Missouri River at Sioux City, Iowa,
leads us to conclude that the two are identical, such differences as
are manifest being probably due to the immature condition of the
Ohio River specimens.
This is said to be a fish of the river channels, and is not known to
ascend small streams. It is especially characteristic of the shallow
alkaline creeks of the Northwest.
*Up to 6 in adults, according to Jordan and Evermann.
172 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Order NEMATOGNATHI
(the catfishes)
Skeleton bony; four anterior vertebrae coossified, modified, and fur-
nished with a chain of small bones (Weberian ossicles) connecting the air-
bladder (if present) with the auditory organ ; ventral fins abdominal ; dor-
sal and pectorals each with a single spine; pectoral arch suspended from
the skull; a mesocoracoid arch present; suboperculum wanting, or modi-
fied into the uppermost branchiostegal; premaxillary forming border of
mouth (except in the genus Diplomystes, of Chili), the maxillary being
often rudimentary and supporting the base of a barbel; air-bladder, if
present, with open duct (physostomous). A large group, comprising
some 1,200 species and ISO genera, found in the fresh waters of both
hemispheres and of all the continents, few species being marine; most
abundant in the Amazon region. Most species are naked-skinned,
although the numerous small forms of the South American family Lori-
cariidce* have the sides and back armored with rough bony plates.
Family SILURID.E
(the catfishes)
Body more or less elongate, naked or covered (in many South Ameri-
can forms) with bony plates; no true scales; lateral line usually present;
skeleton osseous; 4 anterior vertebra? modified, and furnished (in forms in
which air-bladder is developed) with a chain of small bones (Weberian
ossicles) connecting the air-bladder with the ear; -ventral fins abdominal;
anterior rays of dorsal and pectorals usually spinous; an adipose fin
usually present; tail not heterocercal ; mesocoracoid present; gill-openings
generally wide; suboperculum wanting, or modified into the uppermost
branchiostegal; margin of upper jaw formed by premaxillaries only;
teeth in jaws in broad bands; lower pharyngeals separate; air-bladder
usually present, simple, with open duct, connected (see above) with the
organ of hearing by Weberian ossicles.
'Phis family is very large and widely distributed, embracing
about 700 species, found chiefly in fresh water, in all parts of the
globe. Catfishes are most abundant in tropical and subtropical
regions. Some species grow to a very large size, and all except the
*Some tropical SiluridcB arc imperfectly mailed.
SILURID.-E THE CATFISHES 173
very small forms are of more or less value as food. The giant
"sheatfish," or "wels," of Europe, which is abundant in the Danube,
reaches a weight of 300 to 400 lb, being next after the sturgeons
the largest European fish. There are in the United States, Canada,
and Mexico upwards of 35 species of catfishes, three genera and
12 species of which are found in the waters of the Mississippi
Valley. It is a remarkable fact that no catfishes are found
indigenous to the waters of the United States west of the Rocky
Mountains, although several species have recently been introduced
there by the United States Fish Commission. No extinct forms of
importance are known. A few remains have been recovered from
the lower and middle Eocene and Tertiary. The evidence from
paleontology (chiefly the absence of fossils) and from the anatomy
of the living forms, indicates that the catfishes are a recent group,
derived doubtless from scaly ancestors, and probably related to the
Characinidtz or Cyprinidce.
The catfishes are mainly dwellers in more or less muddy water,
making their home most of the time upon the bottom and chiefly
feeding there. Agreeably to this habit, their eyes are small, ami
their cuticular sensory organs are highly developed. The family,
taken together, is nearly omnivorous in habit, and their alimentary
structures have a correspondingly generalized character. The capa-
cious mouth, the wide oesophagus, and the short, broad stomach
admit objects of relatively large size and of almost any shape. The
jaws, each armed with a broad pad of fine sharp teeth, are well cal-
culated to grasp both hard and soft bodies. The gill-rakers are of
average number and development, and the pharyngeal jaws —
broad, stout arches below and oval pads above, with their opposite
surfaces covered with minute, pointed denticles — serve well to crush
the crusts of insects and the shells of the smaller mollusks. The
indifference of several of the species to the past history or the present
condition of their food distinguishes them as the most important
scavengers among our common fishes. With the eel, they are to be
considered among the most destructive enemies of shad in the streams
of the Atlantic coast, as is proven by the contents of stomachs of
many specimens taken over the spawning grounds of that fish. Most
of the species are nocturnal, remaining more or less sluggish through-
out the day. In winter they appear to take little or no food.
Their extreme tenacity of life and omnivorous habit favor their
multiplication in almost any kind of situation, often enabling them
to survive through drought or other hardships to which all their
neighbors succumb.
174 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
All except the smaller catfishes, the stonecats, are used for food,
and the best of them rank well among river fishes for edible quali-
ties. The bullheads are mostly consumed locally, as pan-fish. The
larger catfish keep well in cold storage and may be shipped great dis-
tances in ice alive, frozen in the cake. Small quantities are smoked
in Chicago and St. Louis and at other points in the middle Missis-
sippi Valley, as a substitute for the higher-priced smoked sturgeon.
The smoked product was 50,000 tb in 1898. The larger species are
taken in seines and fyke-nets, while the bullheads are most com-
monly caught on set-lines. The larger catfishes, as well as the bull-
heads, will bite readily at the hook. The catfish catch, including
bullheads, for the state of Illinois was 1,500,000 lb in 1899, while
that for the Illinois River and its tributaries in 1903 was 999,000 lb.*
Statistics of the Illinois River Fishermen's Association for 1899
showed a catch of 241,000 lb of the larger catfishes (Ictalurus) and
of 499,100 lb of bullheads.
Catfishes are well adapted for stocking ponds and sluggish,
muddy streams. Their ready acclimatization has led to their suc-
cessful introduction into the streams of Europe and the Hawaiian
Islands. Local species have been introduced in the streams of the
Pacific coast and are now thriving there. The United States Com-
missioner of Fish and Fisheries has said (Rep. 1903, p. 83) that
"both commercial fishermen and anglers throughout the country
are showing increased interest in catfishes, and requests for stocking
public and private waters have recently been numerous." It is
thought that it will not be long before the government undertakes
the establishment of a breeding station for the purpose of supplying
the need indicated by such requests.
By looking to the numbers, food, habits, endurance, methods of
reproduction, and local and ecological distribution of our catfishes
and bullheads, and to their means of defense and offense, we may
form a more or less definite idea of their place, significance, and effi-
ciency in the general scheme of fresh-water life, and thus be enabled
to see something of the consequences which would necessarily follow
if they were to be generally destroyed.
By their ability to live contentedly in situations commonly
avoided by most other fishes, they organize into their fixing sub-
stance much food material which would otherwise disappear as a
SILURID^E THE CATFISHES 175
mere natural waste, and, in so far as they are themselves eaten by
other fishes, they thus increase the general supply of fish food in the
waters they enter and inhabit. By their services as scavengers,
they help to protect more sensitive fishes from the effects of the pol-
lution of the water through a decomposition of objects which they
are themselves very willing to devour, and in this way also they may
convert into a form acceptable to other fishes food substances other-
wise useless. As we have found them to be eaten more or less by
both our species of black bass, by the sand-pike (Stizostedion cana-
dense), and by the yellow bullhead and the mud-cat, their utility in
this sense seems appreciable.
On the other hand, it must be noticed that they have appeared
very rarely in the food of fishes, in comparison with their numbers
and general distribution. Only nine fishes out of more than 1,200
examined had eaten them, while 45 of these same fishes had eaten
more or less freely of a single species of another family — the
gizzard-shad. Reviewing the food of the catfishes themselves, it
seems to us clear, from our present data, that they devour other
fishes much more generally than others devour them — that whatever
tends to their multiplication and continuance tends rather to dimin-
ish the number of other species in our waters than to increase them.
Their partial immunity is doubtless due in considerable measure to
their remarkable defensive apparatus of stiff, acute, projecting,
poisoned spines in the pectoral and dorsal fins, weapons capable of
inflicting really painful punctures in animals as large as man. These
fin-spines are evidently an advantageous substitute for the defensive
armor of scales which our catfishes have lost in the course of their
evolution.
The nocturnal habits of catfishes must also contribute to their
protection from predaceous enemies, and the wide range of their
dietary enables them to exist in much larger numbers than would be
possible if their choice of food were more restricted. Where one
kind fails them for a time they may find an abundance of another.
Their power to crush the shells of many mollusks and to reject the
fragments gives them access to a means of subsistence very abun-
dant in many of the waters which they inhabit, and available to but
few other fishes, and their habit of leading and guarding their young
of course greatly increases their chances of survival.
Our catfishes are not by any means all of equal habit, or of similar
distribution and ecological relationship. The stonecats remain the
size of minnows and the channel-cats are among the heaviest of
the fishes of our great rivers. The former lurk, like darters, under
176 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
stones in small streams, and the latter spend their time in the deeper
waters of the Mississippi and the Illinois. The species of Ictalurus
prefer clear water and a strong current, while certain of the bull-
heads thrive in stagnant pools, exposed to the vicissitudes of the
overflow and retreat of the waters upon the river bottoms, and liable,
indeed, to destruction by the complete drying out of the ponds in
which they often become imprisoned. If they succeed in living
there, however, until the next overflow, they add by so much to
the average catfish population of the streams. Even these bull-
heads, so like that the species can be distinguished with difficulty,
diminish mutual competition by difference of ecological preference,
and a consequent different local distribution. The yellow and black
bullheads, for example, are commonest in creeks (frequencies, 2 . 22
and 2.25), and the brown bullhead in lakes and ponds (frequency,
1.36); and the first two, notwithstanding their similar situations,
have been taken together by us less frequently than either of the
other two pairs, indicating some difference of local preference within
the limits of their like more general distribution. The three more
abundant stonecats also plainly evade each other, Noturus flavus
and Schilbeodes miurus by a different general distribution within the
state, and both of these avoiding 5. gyrinus by a difference of eco-
logical preference, being most abundant in clear swift waters, while
gyrinus is found most frequently in quiet waters over a mud bottom.
By all these various characteristics of structure, habit, preference,
and capacity, the family is remarkably adapted to life in our interior
waters, and its predominance in them is thus easily understood.
Key to the Genera of SILURIDjE found in Illinois
a. Adipose fin with its posterior margin free.
b. Premaxillary band of teeth without lateral backward extensions; anal rays
17 to 35. including rudiments.
c. Bony bridge from occiput to dorsal fin complete ; tail deeply forked . . Ictalurus.
cc. Bony bridge from occiput to dorsal fin broken; caudal fin typically rounded,
truncate or slightly emarginate (forked in A. lacustris) Ameiurus.
bb. Premaxillary band of teeth with a backward extension on each side; anal
rays 12 to 15, including rudiments Leptops.
aa. Adipose fin adnate to the back, continuous with the caudal and separated
from it only by a notch.
d. Premaxillary band of teeth with lateral backward extensions, as in Leptops;
skin thick, tough, and villose, not translucent Noturus.
dd. Premaxillary band nf teeth truncate at I he ends, as in Ameiurus; skin thin-
ner than in d, smooth or very finely villose, sometimes translucent
Schilbeodes.
ICTALURUS CHANNEL-CATS
177
Fig. 46-49
Premaxillary teeth of (46) Noturus flavtts, (47) Leptops olivaris,
(48) Schilbeodes gyrinus, and (49) Ameiurus melas.
Genus ICTALURUS Rafinesque
(channel-cats)
Body elongate, slender, compressed posteriorly. Head typically
slender and conical; broad in a single species, anguilla, which approaches
the genus Ameiurus. Supraoccipital process produced backward, its
emarginated end receiving the acuminate anterior point of the second
interspinal, thus forming a continuous bony bridge from the head to the
-dorsal spine. Mouth small, terminal, the upper jaw longer. Teeth sub-
ulate, in a short band on each jaw. Anal fin long, with 2 5 to 3 5 rays.
Caudal fin elongate, more or less deeply forked, the lobes pointed. Color-
ation usually pale, bluish olive to silvery.
Fresh waters of North America ; 4 species known, all being large,
more or less active, species of the river channels.* These are the
true "catfishes," in distinction from the bullheads {Ameiurus) and
the mud-cat {Laptops). They are the best of the family as food.
Key to the Species of ICTALURUS found in Illinois
a. Anal fin of from 30 to 35 rays, including rudiments, its free margin nearly
straight; eye low, nearer lower than upper surface of head; color bluish or
silvery, usually without specks furcatus.
aa. Anal fin shorter, of 24 to 29 rays, including rudiments, its free margin
rounded; eye above median axis of body, nearer upper than lower surface
of head.
b. Head small, slender, subconic, its greatest width about (7|T of its length;
dorsal fin high and pointed, the longest ray about [; of head; color bluish
olive to silvery, always more or less spotted with darker punctatus.
bb. Head large, broad and heavy, its greatest width nearly ft of its length;
dorsal fin low and more or less rounded, its longest ray little more than
i of head; color slaty olive to yellowish anguilla.
*This statement is not well known to apply to /. anguilla.
178
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
ICTALURUS FURCATUS (Le Sueur)
(blue cat; chuckle-headed cat; fulton cat)
Le Sueur, 1840, in Cuv. &• Val.. XV, 136 (Pimelodus).
G.. V, 103 (Amiurus); J. & G., 109; M. V., 39; J. & E., I, 134; N., 50; J., 66 (Ich-
thaelurus furcatus, Amiurus nigricans [part] ) ; F., S2 and 83, (furcatus, pondero-
sus, nigricans [part] ); F. F., II. 7, 456; L., 9.
Body slender, somewhat compressed, the back elevated, depth 4 to
4. 5 in length; profile long, steeper than in the next species, the elevation
18° to 23° and the contour broken at the nape (the elevation from that
point to dorsal being greater than from snout to nape) . Size large, reach-
ing a weight of over 40 pounds. Color bluish or slaty gray above, shading
to silvery below and almost white on belly; fins, especially the anal, fre-
quently edged with dusky ; spots very few or entirely absent. Head small,
wedge-shaped, more angular than in the next species, its length 4 to 4.4,
its greatest depth 5 . 2 to 5 . 6 in body ; top of head and nape prominently
convex, the back subcarinate in front of dorsal, the skin thin and fitted
closely over the bones; mouth small, inferior, the lower jaw wholly
included; lips thin; maxillary barbels reaching past gill-opening; eve
small, oval, lying on the median axis of the body and nearer lower than
upper surface of head; diameter of orbit 7.2 to 7 . 8 in head. Dorsal fin
high, nearer snout than adipose, its distance from snout 3 to 3.5 in
length; the spine rather longer and more slender than in /. punctatus, its
length 1 . 5 to 1 . 7 in head ; the posterior edge usually furnished with well-
developed retrorse teeth. Caudal deeply forked, the lobes about equal.
Anal fin long, of 30 to 35 rays, including rudiments, its base about \
length of body, the free margin straight or very slightly rounded. Pec-'
toral spine a little shorter than that of dorsal; humeral process 1 . 3 to 1.6
in length of spine.
Fig. 50
Anal and caudal fins of Ictalnriis furcatus.
This species is found throughout the Mississippi Valley and the
Gulf states, being most abundant southward, and especially so in
the Atchafalaya in Louisiana, where one to two million pounds are
taken annually. It forms a large per cent, of the catch of eat fishes
ICTALURUS CHAX.NEL-CATS 179
at Alton, where the smaller channel-cat (I. punctatus) is known as
"fiddler," and fished for with special small nets. It is rare in the
Illinois River and the smaller tributaries of the Mississippi in this
state. It grows to a great size, specimens weighing as much
as 150 lb* being occasionally caught, although the average size of
the larger ones taken is only 15 to 20 lb. It is commonly known
as the "Fulton" or "blue cat" by Mississippi River fishermen. It is
called "white Fulton" by those who apply to the smaller species
(I. punctatus) the name "blue Fulton" ; and "Mississippi cat" is the
name given it by some Illinois River fishermen.
It frequents the deeper waters of the river channels, coming out
into the shallower sloughs and backwaters in spring. A speci-
men examined by Dr. Kofoid had eaten fragments of bark (twenty
per cent.), insect fragments and larvas (fifty per cent.), and miscel-
laneous organic debris. The senior author found fishes only in the
stomach of a specimen taken in 1887. The breeding habits of the
species are not known. It is caught on trot-lines baited with hick-
ory-shad, mooneye, or crawfish (Louisiana), and in fykes and bait
nets. In the words of Dr. Jordan : "The flesh is of excellent quality,
firm and flaky, of very delicious flavor, nutritious in a high degree,
and always commanding a high price. * * * It is of all the cat-
fishes the one most deserving of cultivation and popular favor, and
which could with profit lie introduced into other countries."
ICTALURUS ANGUILLA Evermann & Kendall
Evermann & Kendall, 1807, Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., 125.
J. & E.. III. 2788,
Body robust, head broad, the back little elevated, the contour from
occiput to adipose fin being almost straight and parallel with median axis;
depth 4. 7 in length; profile steep from snout to postorbital region, from
which point the elevation to dorsal is slight and gradual. Length of
single specimen obtained 24 inches; others of somewhat larger size, weigh-
ing 10 to 12 pounds, reported by fishermen about Henry, Illinois. Color
slatv olive, darker above, yellowish on sides; anal and caudal dark-edged.
Head large, broad, and heavy, much as in species of Ameiunts, the cheeks
and postocular portion unusually prominent; length of head 4.1; width
4.7 in length of body; interorbital space somewhat concave, a deep
groove extending backward to front of dorsal ; bones of top of head cov-
ered heavily with flesh and thick skin; mouth broad, upper jaw longer
than lower; maxillary barbels scarcely reaching gill-opening, other barbels
*These largo specimens were formerly thought to belong to another species
(Ameiurus nigricans, ponderosus, etc ), but have recently been shown by Dr Ever-
mann n< >1 to be distinct.
180 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
short; eye small, 8 in head, situated near upper surface of skull. Dorsal
fin low, its longest ray little more than \ of head ;- the spine short and
robust, about 3 in head; dorsal distance 3 in body. Caudal moderately
forked, the lobes not much pointed. Anal fin with 25 rays, its free margin
symmetrically rounded. Pectoral spine short and robust, with strong
retrorse teeth on its posterior edge; humeral process about 2\ in pectoral
spine.
This species is here described from a single specimen, obtained in
Senachwine Lake, near Henry, in August, 1903. Since then, several
specimens have been seen by us at Alton and Grafton, where it is not
rare in fyke-net catches made in May and June. H. L. Ashlock, of
Alton, says that fishes of this species weighing 26 lb are taken at
Alton and Grafton, where it is sometimes called "nigger-lips" by the
fishermen. Its flesh is said by Dr. Evermann to be firm and of ex-
cellent flavor.
ICTALURUS PUNCTATUS (Rafinesque)
(channel-cat; fiddler)
Rafinesque, ISIS, Amer. Month. Mag., 359, (Silurus).
G.,V, 102 (Amiurus caudafurcatus) ; J. & G., 108; M.V., 30; J. & E., I, 134; N., 50;
J., 66 (Ichthselurus punctatus and robustus) ; P., S2; F. P., II. 7, 456; L., 9.
Body slender, scarcely compressed, and the back very little elevated,
depth 4.2 to 5 in length, usually nearer 5 than 4; profile long and almost
straight, very slightly convex, the elevation 16° to 18°, that from nape to
dorsal somewhat less than elevation from snout to nape. One of the larger
catfishes, reaching a weight of 20 to 25 pounds. Head and upper parts
of body dark to lighter olive, with coppery luster on cheeks and sides
above lateral line; sides below lateral line light olive with much silvery
luster and with small spots of darker; belly pearl-gray in region of ven-
trals, more yellowish forward; maxillary barbels black, chin barbels
whitish or ashen; fins, except ventrals and pectorals, greenish, the anal
with a silvery band at base; ventrals and pectorals a smoky greenish
gray. Head small, slender, subconic, its length 3 . 6 to 4 in bodv, its
greatest depth less than in /. anguilla, 4 . 9 to 5 . 2 in body ; interorbital space
flat or slightly convex; occipital region and shoulders gently rounded and
covered with thin, close-fitting skin; mouth more nearly terminal than in
anguilla, the upper jaw only slightly longer than the lower; lips somewhat
thicker than in preceding species; maxillary barbels long and slender,
reaching past gill-opening; eye oval, lying above median axis of body and
nearer upper than lower surface of head ; diameter of orbit 4 to 8 in head.
Dorsal fin high, placed a little nearer snout than adipose, distance from
snout to dorsal 2.5 to 2.7 in length; dorsal spine usually rather more
robust and shorter than in /. furcatus, 1.4 to 2.2 in head, its posterior
edge usually almost smooth. Caudal fin deeply forked, the upper lube
longer and more slender than the lower. Anal fin short, composed of 24
ICTALURUS — CHANNEL-CATS
181
to 29 rays, including rudiments, its base from 3 . 4 to 3 . 7 in length of body,
the free margin rounded. Pectoral spine about equal in length to dorsal;
humeral process one half length of pectoral spine.
Fig. 51
Anal and caudal fins of Ictalurus pitnctatus.
This is the most abundant of our true catfishes. It is commonly
distributed throughout the state, occurring in 171 of our collections,
in all our river basins, and in all our principal classes of situation ex-
cept the glacial lakes of northeastern Illinois. The young of this
species have, however, a much wider range than the adults, and are
frequently abundant in headwater streams and creeks in which full-
grown individuals are never taken.
The channel-cat is about equally common in the three sections of
the state, and approximately so in the three classes of our streams.
The frequency coefficients for rivers of the first and second classes
and for creeks are 1 .02, 1 .6, and 1 .37 respectively. In lakes and
sloughs it is much less abundant, its frequency ratio in 549 collec-
tions from such situations being but .39. It has a decided prefer-
ence for clear swift waters, but not so general or so strong as to ex-
clude it to any appreciable degree from the lower Illinoisan glacia-
tion.
It is found throughout the Mississippi Valley, the Gulf and
Great Lake regions, and northward to Ontario and Winnipeg,
being especially abundant in the Red River at the latter place.
Southward it extends to the Alabama River and the Florida
peninsula, Louisiana, Texas, and the rivers of northern Mexico.
This fish is often known by fishermen as the "fiddler" or "blue
Fulton," but anglers on the upper Illinois and the Fox usually refer
to it as the "channel-cat." It is seldom taken of more than five
pounds weight, although specimens are occasionally seen weighing
from fifteen to twenty pounds. It is "a trimmer, more active fish
than any of the related species, * * * living in clearer, more
( L3)
182 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
swiftly flowing water," for these reasons being well esteemed by
anglers in many localities. Its flesh is likewise firmer, and perhaps
more flaky and better flavored than that of any of the other cat-
fishes.
Our knowledge of its food is based upon an examination of 43
specimens taken from the Illinois and the Mississippi rivers during
the spring, summer, and autumn months of 1878, 1880, and
1887. About a fourth of the food consisted of vegetable matter,
much of it miscellaneous and accidental. Three specimens, how-
ever, had eaten nothing but alga?, and fragments of pondweed
(Potamogeton) made 20 per cent, of the food of another three. A
single fish had fed on still-house slops ; and a dead rat, pieces of ham,
and other animal debris attested the easy-going appetite of this
thrifty species. Pieces of fish were found in all of this group, com-
monly, however, of so large a size as to make it certain that they were
the debris of the fishing boats. Occasionally fishes evidently taken
alive composed the whole food. Mollusks, about equally large water-
snails and large thin clams (probably in most cases Anodonta), were
a decidedly important element, being found in 15 of the 43 fishes.
They amounted to 1 5 per cent, of the food of the group, and several
specimens had taken little or nothing else. Notwithstanding the
number of bivalves eaten by this fish, no fragment of a shell was ever
found in their stomachs, but the bodies of the mollusks seem to
have been separated, while yet living, from the shells, as indicated
by their fresh condition and by the fact that the shell muscles
were scarcely ever present. Fishermen say that they are often
first notified of the presence of catfishes in their seines by seeing
the fragments of clams floating on the surface, disgorged by the
struggling captives. Still more interesting and curious is the fact
that the spiral-shelled mollusks found in the stomachs of these fishes
were almost invariably naked, the more or less mutilated bodies hav-
ing only the opercles attached. The shells are evidently cracked in
the jaws of the fish and rejected before the food is swallowed. As
many as 120 bodies and opercles of water-snails (Melantho and Vivip-
ara) were by us taken from the stomach of a single Illinois River cat-
fish. Insects were, however, a principal food of the specimens
studied, making 44 per cent, of all, and eaten by 28 of the fishes.
Five, in fact, had eaten nothing else, and others had taken 90 per
' < lit ., or more, of insects, mostly aquatic, although now and then a
fish had filled itself with terrestrial specimens. Most of the aquatic
insects were larva? of day-flies, dragon-flies, and gnats, to be found
ameiurus — bullheads; horned pout 183
only on the bottom. Our records indicate that this fish spawned in
May in 1898 (Craig) . The spawning season in the Wabash is said by
Dr. Jordan to begin in June.
The channel-cat is taken very frequently in bait nets and baskets,
the former being called by the fishermen "fiddler-nets." These are
baited usually with "dough-balls," made by mixing flour and water,
allowing the paste to sour, and then baking it ; or, in summer, with
"roasting ears" of corn which become sour after soaking in water
for a day or so. The sour smell of either the dough or the corn is said
to be especially attractive to this fish. Separate statistics of the
fisheries of this species are not available, although it may be said to
constitute the bulk of the catfishes (not including bullheads) of the
annual Illinois River catch, which was 241,000 lb in 1899.*
Genus AMEIURUS Rafinesque
(bullheads; horned pout)
Body moderately elongate, robust anteriorly, the caudal peduncle
much compressed. Head large, wide. Supraoccipital bone extended
backward, terminating in a more or less acute point, which is entirely
separate from the second interspinal buckler, leaving a gap in the bony
bridge from occiput to dorsal fin. Mouth large, the upper jaw in most
species the longer. Teeth on premaxillaries and dentaries in broad
bands, of equal breadth and without backward prolongations at the
angles. Anal fin of varving length, its rays 17 to 35. Caudal fin short,
truncate, or only slightly emarginate in typical species, more or less
deeplv forked in those species (as A. lacustris) which approach the genus
A talurus. Color various, usually darker than in Ictalurits, species found
in Illinois being yellow, brown, black, or mottled.
Species numerous, swarming in every pond and sluggish stream
in the central and eastern United States; one species found in China.
All of the local species except the one first described (/I. lacustris)
are smaller than the channel-cats, not often exceeding 12 inches in
length. All are of value as food fishes.
Key to the Species of AMEIURUS found in Illinois
a. Caudal fin deeply forked lacustris.
aa. Caudal fin rounded, truncate or slightly emarginate.
b. Anal rays 24 to 27, including rudiments, usually 25 or 26; caudal fin rounded
posteriorly; color waxy yellow to greenish, sometimes blackish above. . . .
natalis.
*Statistics of the Illinois Fishermen's Association.
184 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
bb. Anal rays 17 to 24, including rudiments, seldom more than 23; caudal fin
always evidently emarginate.
c. Anal rays 21 to 24, usually 22 or 23, including rudiments; pectoral spine in
young with 5 to 10 well-developed strong and sharp teeth on its posterior
edge, their length more than half the diameter of the spine, becoming
more numerous and relatively much reduced in size in adults, in which
they range from 10 to 25; black pigment on anal fin typically densest on
membranes near their free margin, in spots forming an obscure longitudi-
nal bar near base of fin, or in faint mottlings irregularly distributed on both
membranes and rays; in pale unmottled specimens both the membranes
and the rays about equally pigmented nebulosus.
cc. Anal rays 17 to 20, usually IS or 19, including rudiments; pectoral spine
at all ages entire or only slightly roughened behind, or (rarely) in adults
with 5 to 10 obscure weak and blunt teeth on its posterior edge; outer
§ of anal membranes uniformly pigmented, always darker than the rays,
the fin never mottled or barred or uniformly pigmented on both mem-
branes and rays as in c melas.
AMEIURUS LACUSTRIS (Walbaum)
(catfish of the lakes)*
Walbaum, 1702, Artedi Pise, 144 (Gadus).
G., V, 100 (borealis); T- & G., 108 and 882 (Ictalurus lacustris, I. nigricans, [part] ) ;
M. V., 30 (nigricans, part); J. & E., I, 137; J., 66 (nigricans, part); F., 83
(Ictalurus nigricans, part); L., 0.
Large fishes with the tail forked as in Ictalurus and with the occipito-
dorsal bridge nearly complete, but with the dark coloration and broad,
depressed head of Ameiurus; weight ordinarily 5 to IS pounds, some-
times 40 pounds. f Depth 4 . 5 in length ; caudal peduncle stout, its depth
1 .6 in its length. Color dark slaty to bluish black above, paler below;
without dusky spots; anal dusky-edged. Head broad and depressed,
3.8 in length; width of head 1.2 in its length; interorbital space flat,
1.8 in head; eye 8.3 in head, 4.6 in interorbital distance; nose 2.S;
upper jaw longer than lower; maxillary barbels to gill-opening. Dorsal
fin 1-6, inserted nearer snout than adipose; dorsal distance 2 . 7 in length;
spine short and bluntly pointed, about as long as nose, its posterior edge
not serrate; caudal deeply forked; anal rays 24; pectoral spine about
same length as dorsal, weakly serrate behind ; humeral process about J
pectoral spine.
Described from a single specimen taken at Green Bay, Wis., in
1904.
*Recent studies by Dr. Evermann (Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 47, III, 2788)
have shown that this species is probably confined to the Great Lakes and the St.
Lawrence basin, the specimens of "Great Mississippi Catfish" hitherto described
from the Mississippi under the names nigricans, ponderosus, and lacustris belonging
to L talurus furcatus.
fThe large size, 1 SO lb, assigned to the species by Jordan & Evermann (Bull. 47)
and by Bean, 1 c.,is due to inclusion with it of Bean's A. ponderosus. Jordan and
Evermann in the appendix to I't III oi Bulletin 47 state that the skeleton of A.
ponderosus is that of an Ictalurus.
ameiurus — bullheads; horned pout 185
This species is peculiar to the Great Lake basin, being common in
the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. It was long confused
by American ichthyologists with the great blue cat (Ictalurus fur-
catus) of the Mississippi River. Little is known distinctively of its
habits, commercial value, or edible qualities. M. Montpetit, writing
of the fishes of Canada, speaks enthusiastically of it as a food species,
and describes the methods of catching it in the St. Lawrence.
AMEIURUS NATALIS (Le Sueur)
(yellow bullhead)
Le Sueur, 1819, Mem. Mus., V, 154 (Pimelodus).
G.. V. 101 (Amiurus); J. & G., 105 and 881 (bolli); M. V., 40; J. & E., I, 139; X., 50
(cupreusi; I . 66 (Amiurus); F., 83 (Ictalurus); F. F., II. 7,459 (Ictalurus);
L.. 9.
Body stout, sometimes obese, rather short and thick and tapering but
little from dorsal to adipose fin, depth 3 . S to 3 . 9 in length ; profile low, the
elevation from snout to dorsal fin 10° to 14°; caudal peduncle deep. 1 . 7 to
2 . 2 in head; skin thick, the epidermis of belly very coarse; fleshy promi-
nences covered with thick and loose skin on either side of a median groove
through occipital region to base of dorsal. Length 12 to 18 inches, not
often found over 12 inches. Color of upper parts yellowish green to
blackish, the sides lighter, yellowish brown or waxv vellow; belly yellow;
nasal and maxillary barbels light brownish, lower barbels pinkish buff ; fin
membranes very weakly pigmented, the rays lighter. Head large, broad,
and somewhat depressed, its length 3 . 1 to 3 . 5 in body, its greatest width
through the cheeks, the breadth here about same as depth of body at
front of dorsal; nose short and broadly rounded; mouth wide, horizontal,
upper jaw usually slightly longer than lower; maxillary barbels reaching
about to posterior edge of opercles ; eye small, 7 . 2 to 8 . S in head. Dorsal
fin small and low; the spine rather short, 2.2 to 2.6 in body. Caudal
rather short, rounded posteriori)'. Anal fin of 24 to 2 7 rays, including
rudiments, usually 25 or 26, the longest rays somewhat less than depth of
caudal peduncle ; base of fin 3 . 5 to 4 in length of body, the free margin but
slightly rounded, almost straight from the fifth to the twentieth ray.
Pectoral spine strong, its length about same as dorsal spine, usually
smooth, but sometimes weakly serrate near tip; humeral process 1 . 8 to
2 . 2 in pectoral spine.
An abundant species thn tughout the state, but much less so than
the black bullhead (Ameiurus melas). Taken in 122 of our collec-
tions. It is commonest in creeks, and next in lowland lakes, the co-
efficients for these two situations being 2.22 and 1 . 18 respectively.
In local distribution it contrasts in an interesting way with the brown
bullhead, which is much the commonest in lakes and ponds, and
comparatively scarce in creeks, where its frequency coefficient is
186 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
only .28. These species resemble each other so closely that they
are not often distinguished by fishermen, and their food and habits
are virtually identical. Their mutual rivalries might hence result
to their common disadvantage except for a partial avoidance of
competition by a difference of local and ecological preference. Our
collection data indicate for this species a strong preference for muddy
water, its frequency coefficient for streams with a mud bottom
being 1 . 72. Consistent with this fact is its distribution in the lower
Illinoisan glaciation. We have found it in all our river basins, in-
cluding the Michigan drainage area and the northeastern glacial
lakes, but have not taken it in the extreme northwestern part of the
state. It has also been absent in our collections from the main
streams of the Wabash, the Ohio, and the Mississippi, and from the
short creeks of the Mississippi bluffs. It seems with us to be more
abundant southward, and has occurred with the greatest frequency
in the streams of the Wabash Valley.
It is generally distributed from Lakes Erie and Huron and the
smaller lakes of Ontario to North Carolina and the Florida penin-
sula, the Alabama River, and Texas. It occurs also in the Arkansas
River and up the Missouri to South Dakota. It is one of the com-
monest and best known bullheads throughout its range.
As illustrated by the food of a dozen specimens, this species has
the habits of a scavenger. One of these fishes had gorged itself with
the waste of a fish boat, and one had made the greater part of its last
meal from the remnants of a dead cat. Three of these specimens
had eaten fishes taken alive, and four others had eaten crawfishes.
May-fly larvas and a few water-snails were the only other objects
worth mentioning. Seven young specimens, from two to three and
a half inches long, had fed principally on Entomostraca, the remain-
der of their food being chiefly small mollusks and insect larvae.
This fish is distinguished from the brown bullhead (A. ncbulosus)
only by the more observant of our fishermen, some of whom call it
"greaser" or "slick bullhead," its skin being very thin, and the fish,
in consequent ■, particularly hard to dress. Its maximum weight
is 1£ to 2 lb.
The yellow bullhead spawned at Havana in May in 1898 (Craig).
Females with ripe spawn were seen in market at Meredosia on M.iv
24, 1900(Large). In the words of Dr. Jordan these fishes are "small,
1 nit good eating," as we have ourselves proven.
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ameiurus — bullheads; horned pout
187
depth from 3.5 to 4.3 in length.
AMEIURUS NEBULOSUS (Le Sueur)
(common bullhead; brown bullhead; speckled bullhead)
Le Sueur. 1819, Mem. Mus., V, 149 (Pimelodus).
J. & G.. 104 (catus): M. V., 40; J. & E., I, 140; N., 50 (albidus, arrarius, vulgaris);
J., 66 and 67 (catus, xanthocephalus ( '), marmoratus, vulgaris) ; P., S3 (Ictalurus
nebulosus, part); F, P., II. 7, 460 (Ictalurus); L., 10.
Body typically elongate, never more than moderately robust, rather
more compressed than in A. melas;
usually nearly or a little more than
4; profile long and almost straight,
the shoulders never prominent and
no groove before dorsal; skin thin,
fitting closely over top of head and
nape, that of belly consisting of a
very thin and delicate epidermal
layer over a thick layer of unpig-
mented connective tissue. Size rang-
ing larger than in the next species,
reaching 18 inches. Color variable,
usually a rather dark yellowish
brown faintly clouded, more strong-
ly mottled with darker in the nom-
inal variety marmoratus , sometimes
nearly black ; under parts, including
chin, breast, and belly, pale gray,
pinkish, or satin}' whitish ; nasal and
maxillary barbels of same shade as top of head ; lower barbels slaty to
pinkish white, sometimes faintly marbled with darker; fin membranes
less strongly pigmented than in A. melas, the black on anal typically
densest in the membranes near their free margin, in spots which form a
more or less faint longitudinal bar near base of fin, or in faint mottlings
irregularly distributed on both membranes and rays; in pale, unmottled
specimens both the rays and membranes weakly, but about equally pig-
mented. Head 3 . 2 to 3 . 6 in body, subconic, rather narrower and more
slender than in the next species and somewhat more depressed, its
length always considerably greater than its width, which is contained
1 . 2 to 1 . 3 in length of head in adults, in length of body from 3 . 9 to 4 . 7 ;
nose longer and the snout more sharply rounded than in ,4 . melas; upper
jaw usually distinctly longer than lower; maxillary barbel usually reach-
ing considerably beyond gill-opening, often beyond humeral process.
Dorsal spine variable, 1 . 8 to 2 . 5 in head, as a rule rather long. Caudal
typically somewhat more deeply emarginate than in the next species.
Anal fin of 21 to 24 rays, including rudiments, usually 22 or 23, its base
from 3.2 to 4.1 in length of body; tree margin of fin from about the
eighth to the fifteenth ray but little rounded, sometimes almost straight,
the rays rather slender and split usually less than a third of the wav to
base. Pectoral spine as a rule rather long, curved, and sharply pointed,
its length 1.8 to 2.4 in head, usually less than 2; the posterior edge in
Fig. 52
Caudal, anal, and pectoral fins of Ameiu-
rus nebulosus.
188 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
the young furnished with 6 to 10 well-developed retrorse teeth, whose
length is half, or almost equal to, diameter of spine, the teeth relatively
much smaller and more numerous in adults, in which their number ranges
from 10 to 25 ; humeral process longer and sharper than in A. melas.
The brown bullhead, distributed throughout the length of the
state, is nevertheless the least abundant of our common horned
pouts. As remarked under the preceding species, it is peculiar in its
preference for stagnant waters, of both lowland and upland lakes
and ponds, and it is next commonest in the larger streams. Our fre-
quency coefficients are 1 .46 for glacial lakes, 1 . 25 for lowland lakes,
and . 94 for the larger rivers. We have found it most frequently in
the immediate course of the Illinois River, and have not taken it at
all in the northwestern part of the state, nor at any point within the
lower Illinoisan glaciation.
Outside our area it is reported from lakes of New Brunswick to
those of the Saskatchewan system, including the Great Lakes in gen-
eral, and from thence southward to the Florida peninsula and to
Texas. It has been introduced also into many rivers of the Pacific
states, and into the small lakes of southern Oregon, in all of which it
has become excessively abundant. It is said by Bean to be the
commonest catfish in Lake Erie and its tributaries. It is the com-
mon bullhead or horned pout of New England and New York, but in
this state these names are much more likely to be applied to the
more abundant black bullhead (.4. melas), the commonest of its kind
in the smaller creeks. The present species is the principal bullhead
of the market catches from the larger rivers.
The food of 13 specimens examined by us was unusually simple
for that of a catfish, consisting chiefly of small bivalve mollusks,
larvae of insects taken upon the bottom, distillery slops, and acci-
dental rubbish. One of the specimens had eaten eighteen leeches,
leeches appearing in the food of four others, and a few had taken
terrestrial insects and univalve mollusks.
The adults are almost always more or less blotched or mottled,
all gradations between the well-mottled form (marmoratus) and the
typical brown nebulosus being found regularly in the same market
catches. These fishes have thick skin, and are easier to dress
than the yellow bullheads (.4. natalis). We have found both the
mottled and the brown forms, with occasional specimens of the
black bullhead (A. melas), indiscriminately referred to as "bull-
pouts" or "speckled bullheads" by the fishermen who were dressing
them.
ameiurus — bullheads; horned pout 189
The horned pout are "dull and blundering fellows," fond of the
mud, and growing best in weedy ponds and rivers without current.
They stay near the bottom, moving slowly about with their barbels
widely spread, watching for anything eatable. They will take any
kind of bait from an angleworm to a piece of tomato can, without
hesitation or coquetry, and they seldom fail to swallow the hook.
They are very tenacious of life, opening and shutting their mouths
for half an hour after their heads have been taken off. They spawn
in spring, and the old fishes lead the young in great schools near
the shore, caring for them as a hen cares for her chickens. "A
bloodthirsty and bullying set of rangers, with ever a lance at rest
and ready to do battle with their nearest neighbor." — Thoreau.
It is known that many pond-stocking experiments with this
species in France failed at first owing to the failure to se ect the
proper kind of situations.
These fishes will live where no others can survive, and when the
air supplyisbad farpast thepoint of supporting life in ordinary fishes,
they have merely to come leisurely to the surface and renew the
supply in their swim-bladders. In the late fall they become slug-
gish and cease feeding, often "mudding up," or burying themselves
more or less in soft leafy ooze along shore.* They will lie dormant
in the mud at the bottom of dried-out shallows for weeks at a time
without harm, and have even been found, according to some (Dean),
in cocoon-like clods of nearly dried mud, still alive. In pond culture
experiments in Georgia (Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., 1884, p. 32) they
were found to relish apples, persimmons, watermelons, and even
corn, wheat, and sorghum seed. They will take almost any kind
of bait. The charge of spawn-eating has frequently been preferred
against this fish, as well as its near relatives, especially by the white-
fish and shad culturists. The evidence for such a view is, however,
scanty, t
The brown bullhead spawns in spring, the time having been
May in 1898 at Havana (Craig). Their nests wrere found by Pro-
fessor Birge in shallow bays with sandy bottom, six inches to two
feet deep. The eggs are laid in masses similar to those of the frog,
and are of a beautiful cream-color. In aquarium experiments by
*Shallow lakes in Vermont are mowed in the spring by the farmers to allow
seining for them. — Evermann and Kendall. Rep. U. S. Fish Comm., 1894.
tit is interesting in this connection to note that Herr Fuhnnann, writing of
recent experiments carried out in France (Bull. Soc. Acclim., Vol. 51, p. 351, Nov.,
1904), states that this species does not eat the eggs of Coregonus except when they
are very fresh, that is, before they are hardened by the water, which occurs very
quickly after they are deposited.
190
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Smith and Harron (Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., 1902, p. 150) the
eggs hatched in 5 days, during which time both parents con-
stantly watched them, fanning them with their fins. At times
the male will take masses of eggs into his mouth, possibly to
clean them, as they are ordinarily soon ejected. The young are
watched by the male and are sometimes mouthed as are the eggs.
This species is of fair food quality, being perhaps somewhat infe-
rior to the yellow bullhead. It was successfully introduced about
twenty years ago into Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Eng-
land, and, in the continental countries especially, its flesh is much
esteemed. It has multiplied very rapidly since its introduction into
California, being in fact one of the readiest of fresh-water species to
undergo acclimatization. Separate statistics of the Illinois product
of this catfish are not available, though it may probably safely be
said that it forms by far the major part of the total bullhead catch,
which was 499,100 lb for the Illinois River in 1899.
AMEIURUS MELAS (Rafinesque)
(black bullhead)
Rafinesque, 1820, Q. J. Sci. Lit. Arts. Lond., 51 (Silurus).
J. & G., 104 and 881 (Silurus xanthocephalus and A. brachyacanthus) , M. V., 41; J.
& E., I, 141; N., 50 (confinis, pullus) ; ]., 67; F., 83 (Ictalurus nebulosus, part);
L., 10.
Body typically robust, shorter and deeper than in the preceding
species, but sometimes quite elongate, the depth 3.1 to 3 . S in length of
body in adults ; profile slightly convex
and hardly so long as in nebulosus;
top of head and occipital region cov-
ered with thick and rather loose skin ;
shoulders rather prominent on each
side of a median groove in well-nour-
ished adults; skin noticeably thicker
and tougher than in the last species,
that of belly consisting of a thick and
coarsely cellular epidermal layer over
a thin layer of pigmcntless connective
tissue. Size rather small, not often
over 12 inches in length. Color as a
rule very dark bn rwn < ir g n sen to black
above, the sides with more or less
luster of green or gold; under parts
of head and body greenish, plum-
beous, or yellowish as far hack as anal fin, never satiny white; lin mem-
branes dusky to black, the rays usually much lighter, thecontrasl in color
Fig. 53
Caudal, anal, and pec tc iral fins c ii 1 met
urus melas.
AMEIURUS — bullheads; horned pout 191
quite evident in the anal fin, which is never marbled or equally pigmented
on both membranes and rays as in ,4. nebulosus. Head heavy, 3 . 1 to
3 . 5 in length, rather short and much broadened behind, its greatest
breadth 3 . 5 to 4 in length of body, usually about 3.7, and sometimes
almost equaling its length, in which the width is contained 1.1 to 1 .2,
usuallv less than 1.2; mouth wide, the snout short and broadly rounded;
jaws about equal; maxillary barbels reaching to or only slightly beyond
opercular opening, seldom to tip of humeral process. Dorsal spine variable,
in typical specimens rather short and robust and quite or nearly straight,
but sometimes long and slender and considerably curved. Caudal slightly
emarginate. Anal fin short, of 1 7 to 20 rays, including rudiments, usually
18 or 19, its base from 3 . 9 to 4 . 4 in length of body, the free margin dis-
tinctlv rounded; anal rays rather stout, those about middle of fin split
almost half way to base. Pectoral spine rather shorter and blunter than
in .4. nebulosus, usuallv not much curved, its length 2.4 to 3.6 in head,
usually a little less than 3 ; the posterior edge usually entire or only slightly
roughened, or, more rarelv (in adults) with S to 10 indistinct weak and
short teeth; humeral process rather short, rugose, and bluntly pointed.
This species much resembles A. nebulosus, and is quite variable, but may
usuallv be distinguished by its smaller size, shorter and deeper anal fin,
and shorter pectoral spines.
This, the common bullhead of the Illinois boy, abundant every-
where in our smaller streams, is distributed throughout the entire
Length and breadth of the state. In the main features of its dis-
tribution it agrees with the yellow bullhead, being, like that species,
decidedly the most abundant in creeks, and least so in the larger
rivers. Its frequency coefficients for our 247 collections containing
it are as follows, in the order of their size : creeks, 2.25; the smaller
rivers, 1.26; lowland lakes, 1 . 00 ; glacial lakes, .55; the larger rivers,
.47. This species also shows a notable preference for the more
quiet and muddier parts of the streams it inhabits, as shown by our
ratios of 1 . 58 for a muddy bottom and 2.37 for stagnant water or a
quiet current. Notwithstanding the similar ecological distribution
of the black and yelli rw 1 mllheads, they show an observable tendency
to a local separation, as illustrated by a study of our collections of
tlic species in detail, 247 of the black bullhead and 122 of the yellow.
These represenl 319 separate collections of fishes, only 50 of which
contain examples of the two species together, the less numerous
species, natalis, occurring in 72 of these collections without the more
numerous one.* With reference to the different sections of the
♦Recurring to our detailed collection records, bringing into comparison as to
frequency of associate occurrence natalis and nebulosus on the one hand, and natalis
and melas <m the other, and computing the coefficients of association for each of
these two pairs of species, we get for the first pair a larger coefficient (3.07) than
for the se 1 pair (2.12). Since the spei ies of the lirsi pair differ widely in the
kinds of water bodies which they principally inhabit, and those oi the second pair
192 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
state, we find this bullhead most abundant in the creeks of the
Mississippi bluffs and in the valleys of the Wabash and the Kas-
kaskia, where its ratios of frequency, mentioned in the above-named
order, are 1 . 23, 1 . 58, and 1.71. We have found it least abundant
in the streams of the Michigan drainage.
Generally speaking, it is not distributed so far to the northward
or eastward as our other abundant bullheads. Its range extends from
the Genesee River in New York through the Great Lakes of Ontario,
Erie, and Michigan to the Missouri basin, which it seems to occupy
thoughout, and thence southward to Kansas, Alabama, and Texas.
It is especially abundant west of the Mississippi. It is said by Jor-
dan to thrive in small ponds, particularly in those with a mud
bottom.
When the studies on the food of fishes from which our informa-
tion on that subject is chiefly drawn, were made by the senior writer
in 1888, this species was not clearly distinguished from the brown
bullhead, nebulosus, and the statements made under the latter head
relate in part to the present species. The food of 36 specimens,
doubtless composed of these two species commingled, is distin-
guished by the fact that nearly a fourth of it consisted of aquatic
vegetation of various kinds, including distillery refuse eaten by one
of the fishes. Two of these bullheads had filled themselves with
other fish, a sunfish and a perch among them. Small bivalve mol-
lusks made a fifth of the food, and river snails and aquatic insects —
the latter somewhat more than a fourth of the entire quantity — to-
gether with crawfishes and other crustaceans, were the other more
important elements.
The habits of the species are, so far as known, very similar to
those of the brown bullhead. It is of smaller size, and, owing to its
local distribution, is not very common in the market catches, which
are usually made from the larger streams.
This fish was spawning at Meredosia May 4, 1899.
agree closely in this respect, we see in the distribution of these species evidence of
two methods of avoiding competition over the same territory, one by a difference
of preference as to size and kinds of waters inhabited (natalis and nebulosus) and
the other by a difference in the kinds of situations chiefly frequented (natalis and
melas). A similar computation for natalis and nebulosus gives us a still smaller
associative coefficient (1.9). In other words, of these three pairs of species, the
yellow ami the brown bullheads are found least frequently in the same kinds of
waters, and least frequently also in the same situations; the black and the yellow
bullheads are found most frequently in the same kinds of waters, but with medium
frequency in the same situations; and the yellow and the brown species are found
least frequently in the same waters, but most frequently associated in the same
situations.
LEPTOPS 193
Genus LEPTOPS Rafinesque
Bodv elongate, and much depressed anteriorly. Head large, wide
and depressed; skull covered with thick skin; supraoccipital bone en-
tirely free from head of second interspinal. Teeth in broad bands on pre-
maxillaries and dentaries, the band of teeth on upper jaw continued
backward on each side in an elongated triangular extension. Lower jaw
longer than tipper. Dorsal spine enveloped in thick skin. Anal rays
about 13. Caudal oblong, subtruncate, with numerous accessory rays.
One species known ; a large catfish, living in the muddy bottoms of deep
rivers.
LEPTOPS OLIVARIS (Rafinesque)
(mud-cat; yellow cat; goujon; morgan cat)
Rafinesque, 1818, Amer. Month. Mag.. 355 (Silurus).
G., V, 101 (Pimelodus punctulatus) ; J. & G., 102 and 881 (Pilodictis) ; M. V., 41; ].
& I-:.. I, 143; X., SO (Hopladelus); J., 67 (Pelodicthys) ; F.,83; F. P., II. 7. 462;
L..10.
Body elongate, depth 4.4 to 5.2 in length, back broad and flattened
as far back as origin of ventrals, the region between ventrals and front of
adipose very nearly cylindrical; caudal peduncle narrow and compressed,
2 . 5 to 3 . 1 in head ; pr< (file straight as far as nape, the elevation from nape
to dorsal somewhat abrupt. Size large, reaching a weight of SO to 75
pounds. Color usually dark olive, variously mottled in the young, the
mottling tending to become obsolete in adults; upper parts darker, belly
yellowish or grayish ; fins colored about as adjacent parts of body, usually
darker near margins ; dorsal and adipose fins marbled with darker in
young specimens. Head long and very broad, much depressed and ex-
ceedingly flattened above, its length 3.2 to 4, its width 3.7 to 4.4 in
length of body; intcrorbital space very wide and almost flat, 2 to 2 .4 in
head; lower jaw longer than tipper, lips rather thin; barbels short and
slender, the maxillary pair falling much short of gill-opening; eye very
small, 8 to 14 in head, situated far forward and high up on head and
directed obliquely upward. Dorsal spine very slender, its length about
i height of fin ; distance from snout 2 . 3 to 2 . 5 in length. Caudal very
little emarginate. Anal short, its rays 12 to 15. Pectoral spine short
and robust, 3 to 4.4 in head, much flattened dorso-ventrally, its anterior
and posterior edges roughened or weakly serrate; humeral process short,
its length less than J of pectoral spine.
This huge catfish, one of the argest of our river species, is com-
mon in the Illinois and the Mississippi rivers, and occurs in our
collections from the Rock and the Wabash. We have it also from a
branch of the Little Wabash, in Wayne county ; from Crooked creek,
in Brown county ; and from Spoon and Green rivers. Our frequency
o 'efficients are 3 . 25 for the larger rivers, 1 .29 for the smaller, . 5 for
lowland lakes, and .34 for creeks. It is perhaps best known to the
194 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
fishermen of the Mississippi Riveras the "Morgan cat," and less often
referred to as the "cushawn," a corruption of the French goujon.
Other local names are mud-cat, fiat-belly, and nigger-belly.
This fish frequently reaches a weight of 50 to 75 pounds, and is
said by Dr. Evermann occasionally to weigh as much as a hundred
pounds. It lives and feeds on or near the bottom, and fishermen at
Havana say that they frequently find it in hollow logs. Fishes are,
so far as known, its principal food. Among those eaten by it we
have observed a common river sunfish (Lepomis), several minnows,
and a bullhead. In the Southern States, fresh hickory-shad is
greatly valued as a live bait for the mud-cat, and crawfishes and cut
bait made from eels are also used. This fish is caught both on set-
lines and in fyke-nets, and is often taken by jugging, the bait being
attached to a jug filled with air, the effect of which is finally to bring
the worn-out fish to the surface. It is commonly regarded as one of
the very best of the catfishes for food, the flesh being of a fine texture
and an excellent flavor. The spawning time in Illinois is in May or
later, according to Havana fishermen. The species is found in all
suitable waters thoughout the Mississippi Valley, and in the Gulf
states, from Alabama west and south to Mexico. It is most abun-
dant in the lower courses of the larger streams, and in the bayous
and overflow ponds of the lower Mississippi Valley.
Genus NOTURUS (Rafinesque)
Form more or less elongate, the head broad and much flattened above,
the body behind dorsal nearly cylindrical. Skin thick and tough and
appreciably villose. Band of teeth in upper jaw with a backward pro-
longation on each side, as in Leptops. Adipose fin adnate to the back,
separated from the caudal by a notch, as in Schilbeodes. A poison gland
present at base of pectoral fin. The single species belonging to this genus
is similar in appearance and habit to the species of Schilbeodes, though it
grows to a much greater size and frequents large streams rather than
brooks. The broad flat skull of Noturus, the dentition, and the thick and
villose skin, are characters which ally the genus closely with Leptops.
NOTURUS FLAVUS Rafinesque
(stonecat)
Rafinesque, 1818, Amer Month. Mag., 41.
G., V, 104 (also platycephalus); |. & G., 100; M. V., 41; J. & E.. I, 1 14, \\, SO; J.,
67; P.. 84; L., 10.
Body moderately elongate, broad and flattened in front of dorsal, sub-
cylindrical behind it, the tail compressed; depth 4 to S in length. Length
<j
U
w
z
o
H
NOTURUS
195
9 inches.* Color above almost uniform olive-green, sometimes black-
ish; sides of head and body shading to yellowish brown or yellow, belly
whitish ; a saddle-like or crescentic blotch of yellowish or gray behind dor-
sal and usually a large but fainter squarish one in front of it; lips, chin,
and lower barbels yellow; fins of about same shade as adjacent parts,
with edges paler. Head very broad, much flattened above, its length
3 . 6 to 3 . 9, its width 4 to 5 in length of body ; upper jaw projecting, lips
thick and coarsely striate; maxillary barbels short, about half length of
head ; eye 4 . 6 to 6 in head, placed high and directed well upward. Dorsal
fin small, its distance 2 .4 to 2 . 8 in body, the spine very short, but little
more than J the height of fin. Caudal not quite symmetrically rounded,
the upper posterior margin usually truncate; notch between adipose and
caudal deep. Anal fin of about 1 6 rays. Pectoral spine with a few weak
retrorse teeth on its anterior edge near tip, the posterior edge entire or
very little roughened; humeral process very short.
This interesting little fish, commonest under stones in swift
waters in the larger creeks and smaller rivers, is rather abundant
and widely distributed throughout the northern half of the state, but
has not been once taken by us south of Douglas county. It is hence
wholly absent from the lower Illinoisan glaciation, and is confined to
the Mississippi drainage, in our experience, except for three localities
on the headwaters of the Big Vermilion and the Kaskaskia. The
frequency ratios of our 40 collections are 3 . 19 for the smaller rivers,
2.06 for creeks, and .58 for the largest streams. It has not once
appeared from stagnant waters of either highland or lowland lakes.
Its decided preference for a swift current and a clean bottom is
shown by our coefficients of 5.31 for the latter situation and 2.75 for
the former.
The peculiar limitation of the range of this fish in Illinois seems
entirely independent of its general distribution, which includes the
territory from Canada through tin- ( in at Lakes to Virginia and Ten-
nessee, and thence west and southwest to Montana, Wyoming,
Nebraska, and Texas. In Indiana it occurs, according to Hay, in the
Wabash and its tributaries, in the Kaskaskia, and in Lake Michigan,
the St. Joseph River, and the small lakes of northern Indiana.
The species has very little value as food on account of its small
size, which seldom exceeds a length of twelve inches. It is much
dreaded by fishermen because of the pain produced by the punctures
of its poisoned pectoral spines. It seems to have no common name,
being doubtless usually mistaken for a young bullhead. Together
with the other stonecats it may be easily distinguished from the bull-
heads (Ameiurus) by the fact that the long and low adipose fin is
•Largest one in our Laboratory collections. Jordan says it sometimes reaches
12 inches
196 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
continuous with the caudal except for a shallow notch, while these
fins are wholly separate in the other catfishes. According to Dr.
Jordan, it lurks habitually under stones and logs. Dr. Eigenmann
reports that the eggs of this species were laid, in Turkey creek, In-
diana, in the latter half of June, in depressions under boards, and
that they were apparently watched by the adult. The young re-
main for some time in the nest after hatching.
Genus SCHILBEODES Bleeker
Body more or less elongate, subcylindrical anteriorly, the tail com-
pressed. Head less depressed than in Noturus. Skin rather thin, very
finely villose or almost smooth. Supraoecipital bone free from head of
second interspinal. Teeth subulate, in broad bands, the band of upper
jaw abruptly truncated at each end as in Ameiurus (without lateral
backward extensions as in Leptops and Noturus). Adipose fin long and
low, connected with the accessory rays of the caudal, from which it
may or may not be separated by a notch. Caudal fin obliquely trun-
cated or rounded, with numerous rudimentary or accessory rays both
above and below caudal peduncle. Anal fin short, its rays 12 to 23.
Ventrals much rounded. A poison gland present beneath the epidermis
surrounding base of pectoral spine.
Key to the Species of SCHILBEODES found in Illinois
a. Pectoral spine entire behind or only slightly roughened near base;* adipose
fin continuous with caudal, the notch being absent or faint, never acute.
b. Jaws equal; anterior and posterior edges of pectoral spine entire, or the
anterior edge very slightly roughened near tip; < ilor purplish olive to dark
brownish, without noticeable specking; three dark streaks on sides
gyrinus.
bb. Lower jaw included; pectoral spine entire in fror^t or with 1 or 2 obscure
points near tip, entire or weakly toothed near base behind; color dark
brown to blackish, flecked rather coarsely with darker; dorsal, anal, and
caudal fins pale-edged nocturnus.
aa. Pectoral spine with distinct posterior serrae, which are recurved and in
length more than J the diameter of spine; notch between adipose and
caudal fins always more or less acute.
c. Pectoral spine short 3 in head, the posterior serrae not J diameter of spine;
notch between caudal and adipose fins usually shallow; color light brown,
sometimes faintly mottled; a iarge squarish spot of lighter color on back
before dorsal and a smaller crescentic one behind it exilis.
cc. Pectoral spine longer, less than 2 in head, its posterior serrae strong and in
length nearly equaling diameter of spine; notch between adipose and cau-
dal fins deep and acute; color grayish with black specks and larger
blotches; 4 saddle-like blotches "ii back, the last but one extending upon
adipose fin to its edge miurus.
♦Arkansas specimens of S. nocturnus have a lew short, sharp teeth near base
behind (Jordan).
Tadpole Cat, Schilbeodes gyrinus (Mitchill)
Freckled Stonecat, Schilbeodes nocturnus (Jordan & Gilbert)
Slender Stonecat, Schilbeodes exilis (Nelson)
Brindled Stonecat, Schilbeodes miurus (Jordan)
SCHILBEODES 197
SCHILBEODES GYRINUS (Mitchill)
(TADPOLE CAT)
Mitchill. 1818, Amer. Month. Mag., 322 (Silurus).
|. & G , 98 (Noturusi; M. V , 42 (Noturus); ]. & E., I, 14ft; [., 68 (Noturus sialis) ;
F., 84 (Noturus); F F. II. 7, 4ft2 (Noturus); L , 10
Form robust, the body shorter and deeper than in other species;
depth 3 . 8 to 4.4 in length. Length of adults 3 to 5 inches. Color oliva-
ceous to almost blackish, top of head darker; translucence of skin giving
rise to a marked light purplish or flesh color on sides in strong light; a
dark median lateral streak on side extending to base of caudal, a similar
fainter one near belly, and two higher up on side, the upper one extending
along base of adipose fin ; belly, breast, and chin yellowish ; pupil dull dark
blue, iris bluish, tinged with gold or coppery; fins plain, all except ven-
trals and pectorals a rather dusky olive. Head large and fleshy, broad
forward, short and flat, the contour from snout to dorsal steep and almost
straight; length of head 3.2 to 3.9, width 3 . 6 to 4 . 9 in length of body ;
interorbital space 1 . 6 to 2 . 1 in head, eye 6.3 to 7.6; jaws about equal ;
barbels barely reaching gill-opening. Dorsal fin placed well forward, its
distance 2.5 to 2.9 in length; the spine rather long, more than 3 the
height of fin, 2 . 4 to 2 . 9 in head. Caudal rather long, broadened mesially
and tapering slightly to its truncate end. Anal short, its rays 13 to 15.
Pectoral spine strong, its length 1 .9 to 2 .4 in head, tapering evenly from
the base to the sharply pointed tip, its upper surface strongly ridged and
grooved diagonally, not flattened as in 5. nocturnus; the anterior edge
entirely smooth or with 2 or 3 obscure points near tip; posterior edge
smooth; humeral process moderate, its length less than 4 in pectoral
spine. Lateral line developed anteriorly, much interrupted or alto-
gether wanting on posterior half of body.
This fish, although distributed throughout the state, is mi isl
abundant in our collections to the southward and eastward in the
branches of the Kaskaskia and the Wabash. The species enters
with special freedom the lower Illinoisan glaciation, avoided by
Noturus flavus. We have found it about equally common in large
rivers, creeks, and lowland and upland lakes, but for some unex-
plained reason only three of our 193 collections have come from the
smaller rivers. It is more abundant, relatively to the number of
collections made, in still and muddy waters than in those with a
rapid current and a clean bottom, our frequency coefficients for the
first and second of these situations being 1 .47 and 1 .45 respectively.
According to Professor Hay, it is accustomed to hide tinder stones
and logs.
Generally speaking, it is a species of wide range, from the Hudson
River on the east through the Great Lakes to the Dakotas and
Montana, and from this line southward to the Florida peninsula
1 Ml
198 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
and through the valleys of the Missouri and Ohio to the Tombigbee
River in Alabama.
Though the commonest of the stonecats in Illinois, it is neverthe-
less not usually distinguished by fishermen, and has no generally
accepted common name. Like the other species of this name, it is
provided with poison glands, placed just beneath the epidermis sur-
rounding the spines of the pectoral and dorsal fins, and the wound
from either of these spines is little less painful than a bee's sting.
These glands are ductless, and the poison which they secrete is only
liberated when the epidermis of the spine is torn.
The food of 13 specimens examined, consisted almost wholly of
amphipod and isopod Crustacea, of various forms of Entomostraca,
and of insect larvae (case-worms, day-flies, and gnats) of kinds likely
to be found on the bottom. A single specimen had eaten a small
fish, and another a planarian worm.
Males and females taken by us June 8 were already spent, and
the spawning season probably falls in May.
This little fish is too small to be used for any purpose except as
bait. It is said to be very tenacious of life, and to serve as an excel-
lent bait for black bass, against which its formidable defensive ap-
paratus evidently does not protect it.
SCHILBEODES NOCTURNUS (Jordax & Gilbert)
(freckled stonecat)
Jordan & Gilbert. 1886, Proc. U. S. Xat. Mus , 6 (Noturus)
1 & E., I, 146; L., 10.
Moderately robust, but less so than in S. gyrinus, the head narrower
forward and the profile less steep than in that species; depth 4 . 8 to 5 . 1 in
length. Size small, not found over 3 inches. Color a uniform dark
brown, thickly and rather coarsely flecked with black, except on breast
and belly; dorsal, adipose, caudal, and anal fins specked with black much
as body, but with narrow edgings of pale. Head short and moderately
broad, its length 3 . 8 to 4 . 1 in body ; its greatest width in opercular region,
narrower forward, 4.3 to 4.6 in body; interorbital space 1.9 to 2.4 in
head; eye moderate, 4.8 to 6 in head; upper jaw longer than lower; bar-
bels short and robust, the maxillary pair falling considerably short of gill-
openings. Distance from snout to dorsal 2 . 8 to 3 in length ; dorsal spine
short . scarcely half the height of fin, 2 . 4 to 3 . 4 in head. Caudal long and
somewhat tapered terminally. Anal fin short, of 15 to 10 rays. Pectoral
spine moderate, its length 2 to 2.1 in head, slender towards base and
widening outward, the tip acute; the upper surface comparatively flat
and the diagonal grooves inconspicuous; the anterior edge with 2 or i
w
o
Q
SCHILBEODES 199
obscure points near tip, posterior edge smooth or with a few weak teeth
near base (not found in Illinois specimens) ; humeral process about 4 in
pectoral spine. Lateral line usually complete.
This little species is rare in Illinois, having been taken by us but
eight times — twice from creeks near Havana, three times from creeks
near Lincoln, twice from tributaries of the Kaskaskia in Clinton
and Shelby counties, and once from Camp creek in Henderson
county. Outside our limits it is reported from sandy streams of
the lower Wabash basin in Indiana, from the Poteau, Washita, and
Saline rivers in Arkansas, and from the Sabine, Trinity, and Lam-
pasas rivers in Texas. It appears to be nowhere common, and
we have no information concerning its natural relations or special
habits.
SCHILBEODES EXILIS (Nelson)
(slender stonecat)
Nelson, 1876, Bull. 111. State Lab. Xat. Hist., I. 1, 51 (Noturus).
J. & G., 100 (Noturus); M. V.. 42 (Noturus); \. & E., I. 147; [., 67 (Noturus); F ,
84 (Noturus); L . 10.
Elongate, the slenderest of our stonecats, the body almost cylindrical
in region of dorsal, depth 4.9 to 6 in length, diminishing but slightly to
caudal peduncle; profile low. Length 3 to 4 inches. Color yellowish
brown, uniform on sides, but darker above with a crescentic spot of lighter
color on back behind dorsal and a larger squarish one on occiput; median
fins pale 6r slightly duskv with darker margins, the contrast in color most
marked in the dorsal. Head small, narrow and depressed, its length 3 .9
to 4.3 in body, its width 4.8 to 5.8; interorbital space 2 .2 to 2 . 9 in head;
jaws nearly equal, the upper very slightly longer than lower; maxillary
Uirbels not reaching gill-openings; eye 5.3 to 7.3 in head. Dorsal fin
small and low, placed well forward, its distance from snout 2 . 9 to 3 . 1 in
length; the spine short and sharp, scarcely half the height of fin. Caudal
symmetrically rounded posteriorlv ; its accessory ravs numerous and well
developed; the notch between adipose and caudal variable, usually
obscure, sometimes acute. Anal fin with 14 to 17 ravs. Pectoral spine
short and sharp, 2.7 to 3.1 in head, weakly serrate anteriorlv near tip,
the basal § of the posterior margin furnished with about 6 slender teeth,
whose length is about \ the diameter of the spine; humeral process
obscure.
This little stonecat was originally described in the first volume of
the Bulletin of the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History,
from specimens found in the Illinois River. We have since taken it
from the Pecatonica at Freeport, in Stephenson county ; from the
Du Page River in Will county; from Honey creek in Henderson
200 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
county; and from two creeks in Union county, in extreme southern
Illinois. It is also reported from Wisconsin, from the Tippecanoe
River in Indiana, from the Arkansas River, and from the streams
of the lower part of the Missouri basin as far west as Kansas.
SCHILBEODES MIURUS (Jordan)
(brindled stonecat)
Jordan. 1S77. Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y., Vol. XI, 371 (Noturus).
|. &. G., 99 (Noturus); M. V., 42 (Noturus); 1. & E.. I. US; N., 50 (Noturus mar-
ginatus); J.. 6S (Noturus); P., 84 (Noturus); L.. 10.
Body broad anteriorly, though scarcely robust; slender and com-
pressed posteriorly; depth 4.6 to 5.6 in length; profile rather steep and
nearly straight. Length 34 inches. Color grayish with black specks and
larger blotches; the back crossed by more or less definite saddle-like
blotches of black, one before dorsal, one behind it, one on adipose, and a
fainter one at base of caudal, the last blotch but one extending into adi-
pose fin to its edge; tip of dorsal, caudal, and anal blackish. Head wide
and extremely depressed anteriorlv, much higher behind; interorbital
space flat, 2 . 1 to 2 . 5 in head; length of head 3 . 5 to 3 . 9 in bod}-, width 3 .9
to 4.3; upper jaw a little longer than lower; maxillary barbels hardly
reaching gill-openings ; eye large, 4 . 3 to 5 in head. Dorsal fin higher than
long, its distance from snout 2 .6 to 2 .8 in length; the spine long, more
than half the height of the fin. Notch between adipose and caudal
usually deep and acute, the caudal tapering terminally. Anal short, the
rays 13 to 15. Pectoral spines long, 1 . 5 to 1 . 8 in head, much curved;
the basal § of anterior edge very finely serrate, the posterior margin with
6 to 8 strong hooks, whose length is more than half the diameter of the
spine; humeral process short.
In our Illinois collections this species has been taken but 30
times, and, with a single exception, from localities in the eastern part
of the state on the tributaries of the Wabash and the Ohio. It has
occurred once in the extreme headwaters of the Kaskaskia, in close
proximity to upper branches of the Embarras, in which we have
found it several times. It contrasts, however, in distribution with
Noturus flavus, occupying those parts of the state which the former
does not penetrate. Indeed, these two species have been taken to-
gether in only one of our collections. It agrees closely with flavus
in its ecological preferences, being, like that species, found only in
running streams (but most abundantly in creeks) and absent, so far
as our observations go, from standing waters. It likewise agrees
wilh flavus in its preference for a clean bottom and a swift current.
The relations of these two species to each other, and of both to
Schilbeodes gyrinus, offer an interesting example <>l (he methods bv
SCHILBEODES 201
which closely related species may avoid disadvantageous competi-
tion with each other, flavus and miurus occupying similar situations
in similar waters, but mainly distribued in different parts of the
state, while gyrinus, with its general distribution covering the area
of both the other species, is related differently from these both to
water bodies and to situations in them. Like both the other species
mentioned, miurus has a wide general range which offers no explana-
tion of its limited distribution in Illinois.
From the tributaries of Lake Mchigan on the north it ranges
south to Louisiana and west to the lower part of the Missouri basin.
Hay, in his list of Indiana fishes, mentions its occurrence in Minne-
sota and North Carolina.
202 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Order HAPLOMI
(pike-like fishes)
Skeleton bony; anterior vertebrae distinct, without Weberian ossicles;
ventral fins abdominal, rarely wanting; all fins soft-rayed, although the
first dorsal rav is in a few forms somewhat stiffened and spine-like ; no
adipose fin ; pectoral art;h suspended from the skull ; mesocoracoid want-
ing (this character constituting the only important distinction between
these fishes and the Isospondyli) ; opercular bones well developed ; air-
bladder with a distinct duct. Four families; species numerous and
widely distributed, chiefly inhabiting fresh or brackish waters of both
hemispheres.
Key to Families of HAPLOMI found in Illinois
a. Vent normal, not far in front of anal fin; eyes normal.
b. Lateral line present: jaws duck-bill-like Esocidae.
bb. Lateral line wanting.
c. Upper jaw not protractile Umbridae.
cc. Upper jaw protractile (the upper lip separated from the skin of the forehead
by an evident groove, which passes wholly across the muzzle)
Poeciliidae.
aa. Vent jugular, in front of pectorals and close behind gill-openings; eyes more
or less concealed by thick skin; ventrals ordinarily wanting, or much
reduced • Amblyopsidae.
Family UMBRIDjE
(the mudfishes)
Body oblong, broad anteriorly and compressed behind; head some-
what flattened; scales cycloid, covering head and body; lateral line want-
ing; skeleton osseous; anterior vertebra? simple; no spines in fins; ventrals
abdominal; dorsal fin posterior; caudal rounded; no mesocoracoid; gill-
membranes little connected; branchiostegals 6 to 8; pseudobranchias hid-
den, glandular; gill-rakers little developed; mouth moderate, premaxil-
lary not protractile; lateral margin of upper jaw formed bv the maxilla-
ries, which arc truthless and without distinct supplemental bone; pre-
maxillaries, lower jaw. vomer, and palatines with bands of villiform or
cardiform teeth; stomach without blind sac; no pyloric cseca; air-bladder
simple, with distinct duct; oviparous fishes.
UMBRA MUDFISHES 203
Fishes of small size and carnivorous habit, inhabiting muddy
weedy bottoms of fresh- water streams and ponds ; very tenacious of
life. One genus, with three species, one European and two Ameri-
can, one of the latter inhabiting local waters. The Umbrida repre-
sent an archaic type, older than the Esocida, and evidently charac-
teristic of an earlier fish fauna. Their survival in forms so widely
separated geographically is interestingly suggestive to the student
of distribution and descent.
Genus UMBRA (Kramer) Muller
(mudfishes)
Generic characters included in description of family. Size small;
species 3, inhabiting fresh waters of the United States and Austria; one
species known from Illinois.
UMBRA LIMI (Kirtland)
(mud-minnow; mudfish)
Kirtland, 1840, Bost. J. Xat. Hist., Ill, 277 (Hydrargira)
G., VI, 232; J. & G., 350; M. V., 87; J. & E., I, 623; N„ 43 (Melanura); ]., 52 (Mela-
nura); F„ 71; F. F. I. 6. 73; L., 21.
Length 4 inches; body oblong, compressed, caudal peduncle deep;
depth in length 3.9 to 5.3; greatest width of body about § its greatest
depth; depth caudal peduncle 1 .3 to 1 . 6 in its length. Color of upper
parts dull brownish olive mottled with black; sides with about 14 in-
definite narrow transverse bars of dark color, the interspaces bluish
forward; breast, belly, and under sides of head yellowish; a large black
blotch-like bar at end of caudal peduncle; a black stripe across cheek
and through eye to end of snout; fins plain olive-green, the caudal
somewhat darker at center. Head 3 . 3 to 3.8; width of head 1.7 to 1.9
in its length; interorbital space nearly flat, 4.3 to 5.4; eye 3.8 to 5.2;
nose 3 .9 to 5; mouth rather large, maxillary reaching to middle of orbit,
2.8 to 3.8 (usually about 3) in head; teeth on premaxillarv, lower jaw,
vomer, and palatines; gill-membranes free from isthmus. Dorsal fin 14,
sometimes 15, inserted behind ventrals and behind middle of body; anal
8 or 9; caudal rounded; pectorals short, broad and round, 1.6 to 2 in
head. Scales 35, transverse series 13 or 14; no lateral line; opercles
with large scales; scales on 'opercles embedded.
Mud-minnows are small fishes, few individuals exceeding five <>r
six inches in length. They arc frequently mistaken by fishermen
for the young of the dogfish, from which, however, they are very
readily distinguished by the shoii dorsal fin. They rest quietly
204 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
upon the bottom much of the time, and when disturbed first dart
away to a little distance, and then bury themselves, tail down-
wards, in the mud with one or two quick twists of the body. They
have also the singular habit of burrowing into the mud when the
water evaporates from a pond. Professor Baird says that a locality
which, with the water perfectly clear, will appear destitute of fish,
will perhaps yield a number of mudfish on stirring up the mud at
the bottom and drawing a seine through it. Ditches on the plains of
Wisconsin, or mere bog-holes containing nothing else beyond tad-
poles, may thus be found full of mudfish.
The intestine is short, less than the body in length, the gill-rakers
are thick and rather long, about half the length of the filaments, and
the pharyngeal apparatus is insignificant. The food of ten speci-
mens taken from six localities consisted largely of minute duckweed
(Wolffia) and unicellular algae, insects and crustaceans making, how-
ever, more than a fourth of the food. The latter were mainly Ento-
mostraca. Thin-shelled univalve mollusks (Physa) were taken from
two of the specimens, and amphipod Crustacea (Crangonyx) from
one. Dr. Abbott reports that he has seen mud-minnows leap out
of the water a distance greater than their length to catch insects
resting on blades of grass.
They apparently spawn in early spring, and Abbott reports that
in Mew Jersey he has found them appparently ripe on the 16th of
March, and that even earlier than this they were making their way
up stream in small brooks, leaping from eddy to eddy, evidently on
their way to their spawning beds. We have found ripe females dur-
ing the first week of April at Havana. Dr. Ryder says that their
adhesive eggs are laid singly upon the leaves of aquatic plants.
Those observed by him hatched on the sixth day.
This little fish is rather peculiarly distributed in Illinois, occur-
ring in our collections almost entirely in the extreme northern and
t 1n- extreme southern parts of the state. We have elsewhere taken
it only at Havana and Meredosia, on the Illinois River, where it has
occurred ten times in nearly, eleven hundred collections. Its fre-
quency coefficients are correspondingly unequal for the three sec-
lions of the state, those for southern and northern Illinois being 1.48
ami 1 . 28 respectively, while that lor central Illinois is hut .23. We
have found it most frequently in lakes and ponds, and next in the
smaller rivers.
Ii is a northern species, on the whole, ranging from Quebec and
Ontario throughout the basin of the Greal Lakes to the Ohio, and
southward along the Atlantic as^t'ar as New Jersey, and northward
ESOCID.E — THE PIKES 205
to the Minnesota River. We have found no record of its occurrence
in the Missouri basin. It is usually taken from grassy ponds and
clear creeks with a soft mud bottom.
Family ESOCIDjE
(the pikes)
Body elongate, more or less compressed posteriorly; scales cycloid,
covering body and portions of head, which is always naked above; lateral
line weakly developed; skeleton osseous; anterior vertebra? simple; n<>
spines in tins; ventral fins abdominal; dorsal posterior; caudal emargi-
nate; no mesocoracoid ; gill-membranes separate; branchiostegals 12 to
20; pseudobranchias glandular, hidden; gill-rakers tubercle-like, toothed;
mouth very large, its cleft half of head; premaxillaries not protractile,
most of margin of upper jaw formed by maxillary, which is furnished
with supplemental bone; premaxillaries, vomer, and palatines with bands
of strong cardiform teeth; lower jaw with strong teeth of different sizes;
tongue with a band of small teeth; stomach not caecal, without pyloric
appendages; air-bladder simple, with distinct duct; oviparous.
Fresh waters of northern parts of Europe, Asia, and North Amer-
ica. Size moderate or large. One genus with six species, all but
one confined to North America ; fossil remains found in Oligocene of
Europe. All are of carnivorous habit, being voracious and gamy.
The flesh is flaky and of sjood flavor.
Genus ESOX (Artedi) Lixweus
(PIKES)
Characters of the genus included above.
Key to the Species of ESOX found in Illinois
a. Cheeks entirely scaly; branchiostegals 11 to 16.
b. Opercles entirely scaly; dorsal rays 11 or 12; scales 105; color greenish,
barred or reticulated with darker;>fins without black spots; length 12
inches vermiculatus.
bb. Opercles with the lower half bare of scales; dorsal rays 14 to 16; scales 125;
color purplish gray to greenish, with many small whitish or yellowish
spots; dorsal, anal, and caudal spotted with black ; length 3 feet . . . . lucius.
aa. Lower half of both cheeks and opercles naked; branchiostegals 17 to 19;
dorsal rays 17; scales 150; color dark gray, sides usually with scattered
round black spots, sometimes without spots, ometimes banded with dart
tins spotted with black; length 4 to 8 feet masquinongy.
206 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
ESOX VERMICULATUS Le Sueur
(little pickerel; grass pike)
Le Sueur, 1846, in Cuv. & Val., Hist. Nat. Poiss., XVIII, 333.
G., VI, 230 (cypho); J. & G., 352 (salmoneus); M. V., 88; J. & E., I. 627 (Lucius);
N., 43 (salmoneus, cypho, and umbrosus); J., 53 ("salmoneus, cypho, and
ravenelli?); F . 71 (Lucius); F. F., II. 7, 435; L., 21 (Lucius).
Length 12 inches; body elongate, compressed, caudal peduncle slen-
der; depth 5 to 7 (5.2 to 6. 7) in length; greatest width of body about f
its greatest depth; depth caudal peduncle 2 to 2.6 in its length. Color
typically grassy to grayish green, with darker streaks, bars, and reticu-
lations, the lighter colored interspaces worm-track-like (hence vermicu-
latus) ; color variable, sometimes nearly plain ; centers of scales (sides)
brassy, blue, or green; a yellowish streak along middle of back; belly
white; head dark olive with light patches; a dark slaty blue streak
below eye; opercles grassy green; a dusky streak from eye across cheek
and opercle; pupil dull bluish black; iris with narrow inner ring of burnt
golden, rest brownish to blue and purplish; caudal mottled near base;
other fins dusky in the rays, otherwise plain. Head 3 to 3.4 (usually
greater than 3.2); width of head 2.8 to 3.2; interorbital concave, 5 to
6.2; eye 5.5 to 6.8, midway of head; nose long, duck-bill-like, shorter
than in the next species, 2 .4 to 2 . 7 in head; mouth large, maxillary past
front of orbit, 2 to 2.4 in head. Dorsal rays 12; anal 12; caudal well
forked; ventrals less than half to vent; pectorals short, 2.8 to 3.3 in
head. Scales 103 to 108; cheeks and opercles fully scaled; no supple-
mentary lateral line.
This little pike, never over 12 inches in length, but frequently
mistaken for the young of a larger species, is distributed throughout
Illinois, most abundantly, however, according to our experience, in
the southern part of the state, where its frequency coefficient rises to
1 . 73 as compared with . 69 for central Illinois and .88 for northern.
It is most abundant in creeks, but is also quite common in ponds and
the smaller rivers. It has a noticeable preference for quiet and
muddy waters, and the greater part of our collections have come
from the weedy branches of the Embarras, Little Wabash, and
Big Muddy, in eastern and central Illinois. It has also occurred
occasionally in the main stream of the Illinois, or in the muddy
overflow ponds of the bottoms. Indeed, large numbers of this fish
are annually destroyed by the drying up of such ponds after the
overflow.
Its general range includes the tributaries of Lake Erie and Lake
Michigan, extending thence southward to the Tennessee, Escanaba,
and White rivers, and, according to Evermann and Cox, to the
Neuse River on the Atlantic slope. From the fact that it is not con-
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ESOX — PIKES 207
tained in Evermann and Goldsborough's list of the fresh-water fishes
of Canada, we infer that it is not to be found north of the Great
Lakes.
In its feeding structures, this little species is a reduced copy of
the destructive and voracious common pike, and its food, as illus-
trated by eighteen specimens, seems to be purely animal. Two of
these had eaten frog tadpoles, and eight had taken fishes, one of
which wras a cyprinoid minnow, one a sunfish, and the other a com-
mon top-minnow (Gambit sia) of the southern part of the state. The
remaining food was mostly composed of the larger aquatic insects.
Amphipod and isopod crustaceans have been found in the stomachs
of other specimens, taken from Quiver Lake, near Havana.
The species apparently spawns early, and ripe individuals of
both sexes have been seen by us in March.
ESOX LUCIUS Linnaeus
(common pike; pickerel)
Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Xat., Ed X, 314.
G , VI, 228 & 229 (estor and depraudus); J. & G., 353; M. V., 89; J. & E.. I. 628
(Lucius); X., 43 (lucius var. estor, and ? boreus); ]., 53; F., 71; F. F., II. 7,
435; L. 21 (Lucius).
Length 3 feet ; elongate and compressed ; depth 5 to 7 ; greatest width
about I greatest depth; depth caudal peduncle 1 . 7 to 2 . 2 in its length.
Color of back and sides bluish or greenish gray with more or less of
purplish luster; yellowish below and white on belly; sides with irregular
rows of small roundish spots of yellowish or gold ; single scales of side each
with a broad V-shaped golden spot; top of head plain dark olive-green;
cheeks and opercles bluish gray or heliotrope with pale greenish spots;
iris light drab below with golden margin, brassy yellow above pupil
and forward; all fins wax-yellow in the rays; dorsal with 3 to 5 rows of
roundish black spots equal in length to the width of three membranes;
caudal and anal similarly marked; ventrals with faint traces of spots;
pectorals plain. Head 2 . 9 to 3 . 6 (usually less than 3.4); width of head
about 3 ; interorbital 4.3 to 6.2; eye 5.8 to 9.5, midway of head; nose
1.9 to 2.4; mouth very large, maxillary past front of orbit, 2 to 2 . 2 in
head. Dorsal rays 15 or 16; anal 14 or IS; ventrals half way to front of
anal; pectorals f to ventrals, 2.2 to 2 . 6 in head in adults. Scales 122
to 125; cheeks fully scaled; lower half of opercles naked; lateral line
irregular, supplementary lateral pores in short and broken series above
and below it, especially on caudal peduncle.
This noble fish, completely and almost ideally equipped for the
predatory life, has now nearly disappeared from the larger and mud-
dier streams of Illinois, but is still found in abundance in the head-
208 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
waters of the Kankakee and in the small glacial lakes of the north-
eastern part of the state. It is also occasionally caught in the clearer
sloughs and lakes (usually fed by springs) of the Illinois, Rock, and
Green rivers. Several specimens of good size have recently been
taken by us from the lock pond at Henry, on the Illinois.
It is a cosmopolitan species of the northern hemisphere, found in
the fresh waters of northern Europe, Asia, and North America, and
ranging as far south in Europe as Italy and Greece. In this country
it is abundant in suitable situations from Alaska southward through
Canada, and through the upper Mississippi Valley and the eastern
United States to the Potomac on the Atlantic slope and to the Mis-
souri and its branches in Iowa and Nebraska.
The average weight of the pike taken from our region is not over
5 lb, but a specimen weighing 26^ pounds is reported by Dr. Jordan
to have been caught in the Kankakee. The record weight for Eu-
rope is 145 lb — that of a specimen taken at Bregenty in 1862.
This fish is commonly called pickerel in Illinois, although its
more appropriate name of pike is also sometimes used. It prefers
clean, clear, cool water of a sluggish current, in which it remains
general y quiet by day. It is a strong and active swimmer, ex-
tremely voracious, and with senses remarkably acute. It launches
itself like an arrow upon its prey, seldom missing its aim, and fight-
ing courageously with others of its kind. It is purely carnivorous,
its food consisting of fishes among which we have noticed sunfish
and black bass, together with frogs, crawfishes, and the larger insects.
Mice, reptiles, and young ducks have been reported by various au-
thors to have been taken from the stomachs of pike.
It spawns in March in our latitude, selecting shore water about a
foot and a half in depth. Professor Benecke of Konigsberg says of
this species, as quoted by Goode, that "it lives a hermit life, only
consorting in pairs during the spawning season. The pairs of fish
then resort to shallow places upon meadows and banks which have
been overflowed, and, rubbing violently upon each other, deposit
their spawn in the midst of powerful blows of their tails." The
spawning time in east Prussia falls in the months from February to
April, occasionally beginning before the departure of the ice. A
single female may deposit as many as a hundred thousand eggs.
The young hatch in about fourteen flays, and may reach a length
of a foot by the end of the first year.
The flesh of the pike is of fairly good flavor, but is full of small
bones. It is not much prized in this country, but is generally more
esteemed in Europe. The voracity of this fish and its inferior
ESOX — PIKES 209
quality as food have led to attempts at its destruction in Europe and
in parts' of Canada. It is readily captured with minnow bait, or
with a trolling-spoon, and will also take a fly. It is often caught
with a hook through holes in the ice in winter, and affords a valual lie
food to many an Indian hunter in the Canadian woods.
This destructive fish has greatly decreased in numbers in this
state during the last twenty-five years. The older fishermen at
Havana remember when a thousand pounds were caught at a time,
while now scarcely as many will be taken during an entire year. In
1899, according to the report of the United States Fish Commissi' in,
21,000 pounds of pike were taken in the Mississippi and Illinois
rivers within the state of Illinois. The total catch from the Missis-
sippi Valley was 216,952 pounds, having fallen to that figure from
809,134 pounds in 1894.
ESOX MASQUINONGY Mitch ill
(mi-skallunge)
Mitchill, "Mirror, 297, 1S24".*
The muskallunge is sufficiently distinguished from other species of
the genus Esox in the key preceding.
Tins giant fish, reported to reach a weight of a hundred pounds
and to average three feet in length — specimens six feet long and
weighing eighty pounds have been caught — has not been taken by
us in Illinois, although it occurs in Lake Michigan and rarely in the
smaller lakes in the northeastern part of the state. It is said by
Jordan to be native to all the Great Lakes and the upper St. Law-
rence, to certain streams and lakes tributary to the Great Lakes,
and to a few of the lakes in the upper Mississippi Valley. It occurs
also in Canada to the northward. In Ohio, according to R. C.
Osburn, a variety of the species, okiensis, distinguished by narrow
irregular cross-bars formed by the coalescing of spots upon the
sides, is found in the Ohio River and its tributary streams. It is
equally esteemed for its game and food qualities.
♦Reference on authority of De Kay.
210 fishes of illinois
Family PCECILIIDjE
(the killifishes)
Body oblong or moderately elongate, compressed behind; head
broad and depressed; scales cycloid, rather large, adherent; head scaly,
at least above; lateral line wanting or represented by a few imperfect
pores; skeleton bony; anterior vertebras simple; fins without spines, or
(rarely) a rudimentary spinous dorsal, or a single spine (not in Illinois
forms); ventrals abdominal, rarely wanting; dorsal inserted posteriorlv,
about over anal ; caudal not forked ; no mesocoracoid ; gill-membranes
somewhat connected, free from isthmus; branchiostegals 4 to 6; pseudo-
branchia? wanting; gill-rakers very short; mouth terminal, small, the
lower jaw usuallv projecting; premaxillarv extremely protractile; mar-
gin of upper jaw formed by premaxillaries ; teeth incisor-like or villiform,
sometimes present on vomer, but usually on jaws only; stomach siphonal,
without pyloric appendages; air-bladder simple, often wanting; most
species oviparous; some forms ovoviviparous, the young well developed
at time of birth.
Fresh-water fishes of small size, widely distributed in Southern
Europe, As'a, Africa, and America, Some species occur in bays and
arms of the sea, in more or less brackish water. Genera about 35 ;
species about 200 ; 2 genera and 4 species found in Illinois.
Many of the species of this family are surface swimmers, "top-
minnows," inhabiting canals, ponds, swamps, and sluggish or stag-
nant streams, where they feed on insects and other life found swim-
ming or floating at the surface of the water. Other forms (not
found in Illinois) are free swimmers in the river channels, and still
others dwell in the mud of stream bottoms. Certain species are
especially valuable as mosquito destroyers.
Key to Genera and Species of PCECILIIDjE
found in Illinois
Fundulus. — Anal fin of the male similar to that of the female, not modified into an
intromittent organ; species oviparous.
a. Dorsal rays 13 or 14; scales 43-45; color olivaceous with numerous dusky
cross-bars diaphanus.
aa. Dorsal rays 7 to 9; scales 28 to 36
b. Scales 33 to S6
c. Sides with numerous narrow lengthwise streaks or rows of dots of dark
color, the males with dark cross- liars dispar.
cc. A single black lateral stripe from head to tail; males with obscure cross bars
notatus.
Gambusia. — Anal tin of males modified into a sword-shaped intromittent organ;
species viviparous
bb. Scales 2<s to 30; no evident stripes or cross bars affinis.
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FUNDULUS KILLIFISHES 211
Genus FUNDULUS Lacepede
(killifishes)
Body rather elongate, little elevated, compressed behind; head broad
and flat above; mouth moderate, lower jaw projecting; jaws each with 2,
or more, series of pointed teeth; preopercle, preorbital, and mandible
with conspicuous mucus pores; dorsal and anal fins rather similar in
size, either large or small, the anal slightly higher in males of some species
than in females, but not developed as an intromittent organ; scales
moderate.
Species very numerous, mostly American, inhabiting the fresh
waters of the interior and the arms of the sea, on both coasts. All
are oviparous. They are all carnivorous in greater or less degree.
The three species found in Illinois* are typical "top-minnows," feed-
ing on surface-swimming insects, etc.
FUNDULUS DIAPHANUS MENONA (Jordan & Copeland)
(menona top-minnow)
Le Sueur, 1817, J. Ac. Xat. Sci. Phila., 130 (Hydrargira diaphana)
Jordan & Copeland, 1877, P. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., f>8 (menona).
J. &G., 335 (menona); M.V.,85; J. & E., I, 645: N., 42 (diaphanus); | . 52 (menona);
F., 72 (diaphanus); F. F., I 6, 71 (diaphanus); L., 21
Length 3 inches; body rather slender and not much compressed, cau-
dal peduncle long; depth 4.5 to 5.3; greatest width about J of greatest
depth; depth caudal peduncle 2.2 to 2.4 in its length. Color (males)
light olivaceous, spotted with dusky on back and on sides above lateral
line; 15 to 20 dark transverse bars on each side, reaching from back
to belly, broader than the silvery interspaces; bellv silvery white; opercles
emerald, dusted with dark specks; an emerald-green spot behind opercle;
iris mingled iridescent emerald to lavender, with a narrow inner rim of
gold next to pupil; fins pale, dorsal with a faint longitudinal bar of duskv
near base ; base of caudal with a squarish golden spot. Females have dark
bars shorter and narrower than in males, and the interspaces wider than
the bars, olivaceous, without silvery luster; dorsal fin without dark bar.
Head quite flat above, 3.5 to 3.9; width of head 1.9 to 2.2 in its
length ; interorbital space 2 . 8 to 3 . 1 in head ; eye 3 to 3 . 5 ; ni >se 2 . 9 t< i
3.7, usually more than 3.3; mouth small, maxillary 3.6 to 4 in head,
mandible equal to eye, lower jaw slightlv projecting; teeth pointed,
curved, the outer ones scarcely enlarged. Dorsal inserted in front of
ventrals, its rays 13 or 14; anal rays 11; ventrals short of vent; pecto-
rals 1 .7 to 1.9 in head. Scales 43 to 45; transverse series 14 or 15; no
lateral line; cheeks and opercles covered with large scales.
*For ]<vy td species, see key to genera and species oi Past iliidce, preceding
212 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
This little top-minnow, rare in Illinois and taken by us but
twenty times, all in the northern half of the state, is, in fact, a north-
ern species in the United States, found outside Illinois in the lakes
and ponds of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and in the
Missouri basin as far south as the Kansas River. The typical f< >rm
(Fimdiilits diaphanus) occurs from the headwaters to the brackish
mouths of coastwise streams from Quebec, New Brunswick, and
Maine to Cape Hatteras, and in the lakes of New York State.
Our Illinois examples of menona have been mainly taken from up-
land lakes of the headwaters of the Fox and Des Plaines, from the
headwaters of the Rock River, from the lakes of the Calumet series,
and from pools near Bloomington, in McLean county. In Wolf and
Calumet lakes it was most frequent near shore among weeds and
rushes, in clear water and over a bottom of sand.
The food of eight specimens from the northeastern lakes com-
prised insects, both aquatic and terrestrial, amphipod Crustacea
(Allorchestes), various Entomostraca, especially those living upon the
bottom, a few thin-shelled univalves (Planorbis), and the seeds of
plants which had fallen into the water, these last taken in quan-
tity too large to have been accidental.
Females moderately distended with large eggs were taken by us
in Sand Lake Aug. 3, 1887, a fact which indicates a late spawning
period. Dr. Eigenmann, however, found the eggs of this species in
grassy bottoms of Indiana lakes June 24.
FUNDULUS DISPAR (Agassiz)
Agassiz, 1854, Anicr. J. Sci. and Arts. 353 (Zygonectes).
I & ()., 341 (Zygonectes); M. V . 86 (Zygonectes); j. & E., I, 658; N., 42 (Zygonectes);
J., 52 (Zygonectes); F., 72 (Zygonectes); F. F., I. 6, 72 (Zygonectes); L., 21.
Length. 21 inches; body rather short and deep, compressed, caudal
peduncle short; depth 3.5 to 4.3; greatest width about f of greatest
depth; depth caudal peduncle 1.5 to 1.9 in its length. Color (females)
light olive, with 9 or 10 wavy longitudinal lines of brown traversing
each side along the lower edges of the rows of scales; no distinct*
transverse bars; dorsal and anal with a few faint dusky spots; caudal
plain; adult males and females with a triangular bluish blotch below
eye, and a smaller blotch above and in front of it, the two blotches
more or less confluent with similar color in the eye itself, Males with
irregular longitudinal rows of reddish brown 'lots on sides, not COn-
♦Females 14 inches long taken in Wolf Lake, South Chicago, in August, 1903,
had taint vertical bars. These disappeared at times, and on one occasion when
apparenl in direct side view disappeared at other angles. These females were in all
other respei ts t ypical.
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FUNDULUS — KILLIFISHES 213
nected in wavv lines as in females, and with about 10 narrow transverse
bars of dusky olive; conspicuous reddish brown spots on proximal half
of caudal and fainter ones on dorsal and anal. Head 3.5 to 4.3, broad
and flat above; width of head 1 . 5 to 1 . 7 in its length; interorbital space
i.9 to 2.3 (usually about 2); eye 2.8 to 3.4; nose 2.8 to 3.7; mouth
small, maxillary 2.8 to 3.3, mandible less than diameter of eye; lower
jaw scarcely projecting; teeth pointed, those on lower jaw rather short
and weak. Dorsal inserted behind ventrals, its rays 7 ; anal rays 9 or 10,
the fin much longer in males than in females; ventrals to vent; pectorals
nearly to ventrals, 1 . 5 to 1 . 8 in head. Scales 34 to 36; transverse series
11 ; no lateral line; cheeks and opercles covered with large scales.
This little killifish although occurring in all parts of the state, is
peculiarly distributed. Nearly all our collections of it have been
made along the course of the larger rivers — not from the streams
themselves, however, but rather from the weedy lakes and ponds < if
the river bottoms and the upland lakes of northeastern Illinois.
Consistently with this statement, the frequency coefficient of this
species is 2 . 1 7 for lakes and sloughs, and but . 22 for creeks, and . 67
for the larger rivers. None of our 83 collections has been taken in
rivers of the second class.
The known general distribution of the species is rather limited,
extending from lakes and sluggish streams of northern Ohio west-
ward to Missouri and southward to the Pearl and Big Black rivers in
Mississippi.
This minnow swims habitually at the surface with the head and
back showing, in which position it may be easily identified by a
bright silvery spot on the top of the head. About half the food of
the specimens studied by us consisted of insects, fully half of these
land insects which had fallen into the water. Mollusks and crusta-
ceans, with a small amount of the more delicate aquatic vegeta-
tion, were the other objects of the food.
Ripe fishes of both sexes were obtained by us at Havana on the
29tb of May, 1896.
FUNDULUS NOTATUS (Rafinesque)
(top-minnow)
Rafinesque, 1820, Ichth. Oh., 86 (Semotilus).
G, VI, 314 and.315 (Haplochilus pulchellus ami aureus); ]. & G., 339 (Zygonectes) ;
M.V.,86 (Zygonectes); J. & E., I, 650; X., 42 (Zygonectes) ; | . 52 (Zygonectes);
I' ., 72 (Zygonectes); F. F., I. 6, 71 (Zygonectes); L„ 22.
Length 2\ to 3 inches; body moderately elongate, flattened above,
little compressed anteriorly; depth in length 4.4 to 5.3; greatesl width
more than \ greatest depth; depth caudal peduncle 1 5 to 2.1 in its
(IS)
214 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
length. Color (females) brownish olive with a purplish black lateral band
continued forward across cheek and opercle and through eye to end of
snout; belly pinkish white; median fins more or less specked with dusky,
anal faintly so and only near base; males with sides crossed by 16 or 17
rather obscure bars of dusky, and with edges of lateral band somewhat
serrate; anal with two or three rows of prominent dark specks. Head
much depressed and rather elongate, 3.5 to 3.9 in length ; width of
head 1.6 to 2 ; interorbital space 2.2 to 2 . S ; eye 3.3 to 3.9; nose 2 . 8
to 3.4, noticeably longer than eye; maxillary 2.8 to 3.3 in head, man-
dible greater than eye; jaws subequal, the lower scarcely so long as
upper; "teeth in a broad band, the outer series considerably enlarged,
canine-like" (J. & E.). Dorsal inserted behind ventrals, its ravs 9; anal
rays 11. the fin noticeably longer in males (longer than head) than in
females (about f head) ; ventrals to vent ; pectorals almost or quite to
ventrals, 1.4 to 1.9 in head. Scales 33 to 34; transverse series 11;
cheeks and opercles and top of head covered with large scales.
This is much the most abundant Illinois species of its family, and is
the one to which the name of top-minnow has been most generally at-
tached. It occurs in great abundance throughout the state in waters
of all descriptions, most frequently, however, in the smaller streams
and headwaters of southern and eastern Illinois. Its condensation
southward is illustrated by our frequency coefficients for the three
sections of the state — 2.13 for southern Illinois and .42 and .44
for central and northern Illinois respectively. By far the greater
part of our collections have been taken from the basins of the Kas-
kaskia and the Wabash, and the ponds and creeks of the extreme
southern part of the state.
Outside Illinois it occurs from Michigan, and Wisconsin south-
ward throughout the entire lower Mississippi Valley to Louisiana and
the rivers of Texas. It is reporte< 1 1 ly c< Electors to be most abun< lant
in ponds, creeks, and canals, and along the margins of sluggish
streams. It is a surface swimmer, as its common name implies, and,
like Fundulus dispar, it is easily distinguished in the water by a sil-
very occipital spot.
Nearly the whole food of the species consists of insects, as illus-
trated by our examination of 17 specimens taken from various places
in centra] and southern Illinois. The 10 per cent, of vegetation
eaten by these fishes was almost wholly filamentous algas, taken in
such quantities by some as to make it certain that their presence in
the food was not a matter of accident. In one fish, fi >r example, I he
entire intestine was crammed with these algag, and in three others
they made more than half the food. Insects were the major part
of the remainder, although Entomostraca and amphipod Crustacea
(< 'rangony.x i were likewise common.
GAMBUSIA
215
Dr. Eigenmann found ripe females in Turkey creek, Indiana,
June 2 7 ; and we have taken specimens greatly distended with eggs
between the 16th and the 27th of the same month.
Genus GAMBUSIA Poey
Body moderately elongate, becoming deep in the adult female; head
flat above; mouth moderate; lower jaw projecting; both jaws with bands
of pointed teeth; dorsal and anal fins rather short and small, the anal
more or less in advance of the dorsal and in the male much advanced and
modified into a long intromittent organ; scales as in Fundulus.
Female
Male
Fig. 54
GAMBUSIA AFFINIS (Baird & Girard)
(viviparous top-minnow)
Baird and Girard, 1853, Proc Ac Nat Sci. Phila . 390 (Heterandria).
<i , VI, 534, 335, 536 (holbrooki. humilis, and affinis); J. & G., 345, 346 (patruelis.
humilis. affinis). 340, 341, 892 (Zygonectes atrilatus. brachypterus, inurus) ;
M. V., 87 (patruelis); (. & E., I, 680; [., 52 (Zygonectes menalops); F., 71
(patruelis); L., 22
Length H to 2 inches; body robust and not much elongate, con-
siderably compressed; depth 3.7 to 4 .3 in length; greatest width of body
aboul ; of its depth; depth of caudal peduncle 2.1 to 2.4 in its length.
Color "light olive, each scale edged with darker; a very narrow dark
streak* along sides; top of head dusky; a more or less distinct triangular
bluish black bar below eye; sides and belly anteriorlv dusky with dark
dots; a black blotch on each side of belly, caused by the black internal
ids showing through the skin; young specimens often uniformly yel-
lowish ; (ins dusky ; the caudal usually wil h en >ss series of d< its". 1 lead
short, broad, and flat above, 3.7 to 4 in length; width of head I .4 to
'Not evident in our preserved material. — R. E. R.
216 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
1.6 in its length; interorbital space 2 to 2 . 5 in head; eye 2.6 to 3.2;
nose 2 .8 to 3 .6; maxillary 2.8 to 3 .4; mandible equal to eye; lower jaw
slightly longer than upper; teeth in broad villiform bands. Dorsal rays
6 or 7, the fin inserted behind ventrals ; anal rays 8 (females) or 6 (males) ;
anal fin of males inserted nearer muzzle than base of caudal (vice versa
in females), its anterior rays modified into a long, blade-like intromit-
tent organ; ventrals reaching to vent; pectorals past front of ventrals,
1.2 in head. Scales 28 to 30; transverse series 8 or 9 ; top and sides
of head covered with large scales.
G. affinis lives along the southern coasts, in brackish as well as in
fresh water, from the Potomac and Delaware to the St. Johns and
the Escambia rivers in Florida, and' down the Mississippi to New
Orleans and thence to the rivers of Texas and Mexico.
Specimens examined by Dr. H. M. Smith were found to have fed
on algae, diatoms, and fragments of mosquitoes.
Sexual dimorphism is strongly manifested in this species, the
nudes being very small in comparison with the females and fur-
nished with a long intromittent organ, the modified first ray of the
anal fin. The males are much fewer than the females, 68 out of
69 specimens counted by Dr. Smith having been females. The species
is viviparous, and a specimen taken by us in Running Lake, Union
county, Julv 15, 1883, contained embryos with prominent eye-spots.
Dr. Smith found females with large eggs July 1 in Maryland, ami
Aug. 11 obtained others containing young apparently ready for
extrusion. Dr. Evermann found specimens containing well-devel-
oped embryos at San Antonio, Texas, in November and December,
and observations by A. A. Duly, reported by Dr. J. A. Ryder, in-
dicate that more than one brood may be produced in a season.
This little top-minnow, fairly common in extreme southern Illi-
nois, has been taken by us outside that region only from Ouincy,
Meredosia, and Pekin. Our 1 8 collections are too few to give us data
of local distribution, but when treated with reference to the joint
occurrence of this species with others more abundant and more
widely scattered through the state, they disclose an interesting situa-
tion, illustrating the methods by which closely related species occu-
pying the same territory come to evade an injurious competition
with each other. Bringing into comparison the collection records
lor the four species of this family, and taking note of the relative
frequency with which the same species have been taken together in
the same collection, we find that Gambusia affinis occurs with our
most abundant and most widely distributed top-minnow (Fundulus
notatus) witli nearly three times the relative frequency of the joint
occurrence of F. notatusand /•'. dispar, and that i1 occurs jointly with
AMHLYOPSIDvE-— THE BI.INDFISHES
217
the less abundant species, F. dispar, with one and a third times that
frequency — facts which are to be understood only when the general
distribution of all these species is taken into account. G. affinis
finds in southern Illinois the northern limit, of its range, its occur-
rences beyond that boundary being evidently merely accidental.
In its general distribution it goes southeast to Florida and southwest
to Mexico, while the three other species are so distributed that Illi-
nois is in the midst of the area occupied by them. These general
occupants of our area have come to avoid each other locally in great
measure, as shown by their relatively small coefficients of associa-
tion— an adjustment forced upon them by the competitive relations
in which they otherwise would live — while G. affinis, entering the
territory of these three species only at its southern border, has not
become ecologically adjusted to them, and is consequently to be
found in their favorite haunts more frequently than they are in
those of each other. These various relations may be more clearly
shown by the following table.
Table of Associate Relations of Fundulus dispar,
f. notatus, and gambusia affinis
Species
Collections
Joint occur-
rences
Frequency
coefficients
83
2KI
17
1 47
F dispar. .
83
IS
2
2 HI
F. notatus .
G. affinis
210
IS
1 1
4 37
Family AMBLYOPSIDjE
(the blindfishes)
Body moderately elongate, compressed behind; head long and de-
pressed; bodv with small cycloid scales, irregularly placed, and more or
less imbedded, so that the body appears naked; head naked, the surface
sometimes crossed by papillary ridges; lateral line wanting; skeleton
osseous; anterior vertebrae simple; ventral fins small or wanting, abdom-
inal; no spines in tins; dorsal nearly opposite anal; caudal truncate or
21S FISHES OF ILLINOIS
rounded; no mesocoracoid; gill-membranes more or less completely
joined to isthmus; branchiostegals about 6; pseudobranchiae concealed;
gill-rakers very short ; eyes in typical genera very rudimentary and hid-
den'under the skin, in such forms the body being translucent and color-
less; mouth rather large; lower jaw projecting; premaxillaries scarcely
protractile, forming entire margin of tipper jaw; jaws and palatines with
bands of slender villiform teeth; stomach caecal, with one or two pyloric
appendages; air-bladder present; ovary single; some (and probably all)
of the species ovoviviparous; vent jugular.
Fishes of small size, living in or about subterranean streams,
caves, and swamps of the southern United States. Four genera
and six species known, the majority being blind, with pale, almost
pigmentless, bodies, and with the eyes covered with thick skin,
inhabiting the cave region of southern Indiana, Kentucky, and
Missouri. The single species found in Illinois retains the use of its
eyes, and has the color of ordinary fishes. The group Amblyop-
sidce is a very ancient one, as indicated by many points in their
anatomy. The forward position of the vent, though not peculiar to
these fishes, is found in only one other fresh-water family (Aphredo-
Jcridic), likewise a relict of a family all but extinct.
Genus CHOLOGASTER Agassiz
Eyes well developed; ventral fins wanting; body not translucent,
the skin having more or less pigment, and the color being much as in
ordinary fishes; p\ loric casca 4; characters otherwise those of the family.
Swamps of the southern United States; a single species f und in Illinois,
at the mouths of caves in Union and Pope counties.
CHOLOGASTER PAPILLIFERUM Forbes
(cave-fish)
Forbes, Ann ■ Nat., 1882, 2.
J. & G , 325, 890 (papillifen, M V . 83; J. .V E., I. 704; F., 72; I.., 22.
Length 2 A inches ; elongate, .little compressed, caudal peduncle deep;
head with rows of tactile papillae, as in the true blindfishes (Amblyopsis
and Typhlichthys) ; depth 5 too, greatesl width § of depth ; depth caudal
peduncle 2 in its length. Color dark brown above, paler below; ^idcs
with 3 narrow longitudinal stripes, the upper and lower ones black, and
the middle one of the ground color or paler (not black, as in ( '. C01
nut us ); caudal fin dark brown, with several vertical rows of white specks
running across the rays; anterior portion of dorsal similar in color bu1
paler. Mead short, broad, and exceedingly depressed, -I in length; width
of head 1 . 5 in its length ; interorbital space Hat , 3.4 in head; eyes 2 .8 in
CIIOLOGASTER 219
head, mostly on its upper surface; nose broadly rounded, 3.5; mouth
rather large, maxillary not reaching eye; lower jaw projecting; sides and
top of head with numerous mostly short and broken and chiefly single
rows of small sensory papilla;; a prominent double row on outside of each
lower jaw, sunk in a groove extending from back to front of mandible,
and within this a parallel irregular row of smaller papillae on the lower
surface of the jaw; especially conspicuous papillae about the nostrils; the
latter conspicuous, tubular, projecting forward, with expanded openings.
Dorsal and anal fins thick and fleshy, their height about equal to their
length ; developed dorsal rays 6, the fin inserted behind the middle of
the body and slightly in front of the anal ; developed anal rays 5 ; caudal
broadly rounded; ventrals wanting; pectorals 1 . 7 in head. Scales very
small, cycloid, covered with thick skin.
Known at present only from a cave spring in Union county a lin-
ing from the foot of a Mississippi River bluff, and from a cave on the
( >hio River near Golconda, in Pope c< itinty. This species was origi-
nally described from material sent the senior author in 187° and
again in 1881 by F. S. Earle.of Cobden, 111., and specimens have since
been repeatedly taken from the Union county spring by various
assistants of the State Laboratory. The occurrence of the species
in Pope county was reported to me by Dr. Meek in 1908.
Especial interest attaches to this little fish as intermediate be-
tween the true blindfishes of the caves (Amblyopsis and Typh-
lichthys) and earlier described species of Chologaster. The sensory
structures of C. papilliferus correspond in character to its situation
as a partially subterranean species. Studies recently made by Dr.
Eigenmann show that the optic nerve and all of the important ele-
ments of the eye are present, but that the choroid is very thin and
its pigment scanty, and that the retina is much degenerated.
The food and feeding habits of tins species have not been espe-
cially studied, although it is km >wn t< > 1 ie carnivorous. Dr. Shufelclt,
quoting a note from Eigenmann. says that it detects its prey
by its cutaneous sense-organs and not by its eyes, illustrating this
statement by Eigenmann's observation of the behavior of a fish in
capturing, by an instantaneous movement, aGammarus which was
appn m chine, it from behind and below, where it could not have been
seen by its captor. This does not, however, preclude the usefulness
under other conditions of such eyesight as it has retained, especially
when tin fish is lurking under stones in the neighborhood of the out-
lei of its subterranean resort.
220 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Order ACANTHOPTERI
(the spiny-rayed fishes)
Skeleton bony ; the anterior vertebrae unmodified and without Weberian
ossicles; ventral fins more or less anterior (thoracic) in nearly all forms,
being abdominal in a few of the more archaic families; ventrals typ-
ically with 1 spine and 5 soft rays; anterior rays of dorsal and anal
typically simple (unsegmented) and spinous; shoulder girdle attached to
the skull by a post-temporal; no mesocoracoid, so far as known; hyper-
coracoid usually perforate; opercular apparatus complete; border of
mouth formed by the premaxillaries alone, which are usually dentiger-
ous; maxillary always present and toothless, normally distinct from the
premaxillary ; air-bladder typically without duct in adult; scales usually,
though not always, ctenoid.
T( i this group belong the great majority of existing marine fishes,
as well as numerous families more or less peculiar to fresh water. At
least 5 more or less distinct suborders of Acanthopteri are represented
in the waters of Illinois, by far the greater number of the species be-
longing to the perch-like or bass-like families of the group Percoidei.
Key to Families of ACANTHOPTERI found in Illinois
a. Ventral fins abdominal, i. e., inserted nearer first (soft) rays of anal than to
the angle under throat formed by the union of the free gill-membranes
(which definition does not include some members of the families Gasteros
teidcB and Percopsida: found outside of Illinois).
b. Dorsal fin with a single spine or preceded by 4 or more free spines.
Suborder Hemibranchii.
c. No adipi ise tin . di irsal tin preceded by 4 or more free spines. . . . Gasterosteidae.
Suborder Salmopercae.
cc. An adipose tin; dorsal, anal, and ventral tins each with a weak and rather
indistinct spine Percopsida;.
Suborder Percesoces.
bb. Dorsal fin preceded by a finlet of .i to 8 slender spines Atherinidae.
aa. Ventral fins thoracic, i. e., inserted nearer to angle of gill-membranes than
to the first anal spine, except in the deep bodied genera Centrachides (which
have dorsal spines 6 to 13 and anal spines .1 to 9 and ventrals nearer to
throat than to first soft ray of anal).
Group Percoidei.
d. Ventral rays usually I. 7 (I, 6 or 7), never I . 5 ; vent jugular. . Aphredoderidae.
dd. Ventral rays I, 3 to I, 5. typically I, 5.
e. i 'iiin without barbel.
f. Mi "I v sealed.
CAVE-FISH, < hologaster papilliferus i-orbts
BROOK STICKLEBACK, Eucalia inconstans (Kirtland)
■ « — ■—
BROOK S1LVERSIDE, Labidesthes sicculus (Cope)
cASTEROSTEID/E THE STICKLEBACKS 221
g. Anal spines 3 to 1 1 1
h. Lateral line wanting Elassomida;.
hh. Lateral line present.
i. Dorsal fins confluent, the spinous portion low or high; in forms with the
notch deep, approaching separation, the highest dorsal spine is but little
more than i height of the highest ray Centrarchida.
ii. Dorsal fins either (1) separate and with soft and spinous portions about
equally high, or (2) barely confluent, with the notch very deep and with
the highest dorsal spine as high or higher than the highest soft ray (which
definition does not include marine genera) Serranida.
gg. Anal spines 1 or 2, never more than 2.
h. Lateral line not extending on rays of caudal fin . . . Percidas.
hh. Lateral line extending on rays of caudal fin Scisnidae.
Suborder Loricati.
ff. Body naked, or variously armed with prickles or bony plates .... Cottidas.
Family GASTEROSTEID^E
(THE STICKLEBACKS)
Bodv more or less fusiform, somewhat compressed, tapering behind t< >
a slender caudal peduncle; skin naked or with vertically oblong bony
plates; no true scales; skeleton osseous; four anterior vertebras more or
less enlarged; middle and sides of belly shielded by the pubic bones;
ventral fins abdominal or subabdominal, consisting of a stout spine and
one or two rudimentary rays ; dorsal fin preceded by 2 or more free spines ;
caudal lunate ; no mesocoracoid ; gill-membranes broadly joined, free from
isthmus or not free; branchiostegals 3; gill-rakers moderate or rather
long; mouth-cleft oblique; premaxillaries protractile; maxillary bent at
right angles and overlapping premaxillary at corner of mouth; teeth
sharp, in a narrow band on each jaw; no teeth on vomer or palatines;
pvloric caeca present, few in number; air-bladder simple.
These are small fishes, inhabiting fresh waters and arms of the sea
in northern Europe and America. Genera 5, species about 12 ; two
species, representing two genera, found in Illinois.
The fresh-water sticklebacks are very similar in their habits. All
are active, pugnacious, and greedy, and. in spite of their small size,
they are known to be very destructive to the fry of other fishes. In
certain localities along the Atlantic coast they occur so abundantly
as to be a nuisance to the fishermen, clogging the nets used for smelt.
Certain European species will bear with impunity transplantation
from fresh water into salt water, and vice versa.
Most or all of the sticklebacks build nests, constructing them
out of sticks which they fasten together by silk-like threads formed
from the secretion of a gland, found only in the males. The
substance* secreted by this gland, which is in reality the kidney, is
*See Mobius, Arch. f. Mikr. Anal , Vol. 25, p. 554.
222 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
much like the mucin secreted by the vineyard snail, Helix pomatia.
The nest is built, by the exertions of the male alone, among the stems
of aquatic plants where there is some current.* It has two open-
ings, which are "as smooth and symmetrical as the hole leading into
a wren's nest, and not unlike it." The male induces the female to
enter the nest and lay her eggs, after which he enters and deposits
his milt. The holes in the nest are in the direction of the current, so
that a stream of water passes through it continually. The pugna-
cious male watches the nest and wards off all intruders.
Key to the Genera of GASTEROSTEIDjE found ix Illinois
a. Pubic bones firmly united, forming a lanceolate plate with a single strong
median keel; tail without keel, deeper than broad; dorsal spines 4 or 5,
the spines in a right line, non-divergent Eucalia.
aa. Pubic bones weak and feebly united to form an elongate plate with a
median longitudinal groove, on each side of which is a raised edge; tail
broader than deep, with lateral bony keel; dorsal spines S to 11, divergent
from right to left at various angles Pygosteus.
Genus EUCALIA Jordan
(five-spined sticklebacks)
Sticklebacks of typical form, feebly armed, the skin not mailed, and
the dorsal spines few (not more than S) and non-divergent; tail deeper
than broad, without keel; pubic lmnes firmly united, forming a lam
late plate with a single strong median carina. Fresh waters of N< rth
America; one species known.
EUCALIA INCONSTANS (Kirtland)
I BROOK STICKLEBACK)
Kirtland. 1841, Bost. Journ. Nat Hist., 111. 27.^ (Gasterosteus).
| & (',.. 394 (Gasterosteus l ; M. V, "7; I & E. I. 744; X . 42 (inconstans and
pygma:a); J . 51 ; V .. 70 (Gasterosteus). F F . 1 6, 68; I. , 22
Length 2\ inches; body rather deep and moderately compressed;
. audal peduni le rather stout and not keeled ; depth 3 . 8 to 4 . 4 ; greatesl
width about ; oi greatesl depth; depth of caudal peduncle 1.8 to 2.9
in its length, rotor (females and young) olivaceous, with faint lighter
mottlings and with many line dots of black-; upper part of sides and
caudal peduncle with about lo dark cross-bar-like bands more or less
confluenl in ring-like pattern; lower parts silvery; upper pari of cheek
full description oi nest building of Gasterosteus cataphractus, see I K. Lord,
as quoted by Dr Jordan in "Guide to the Study of Fishes," Vol. [I., p 230.
EUCALIA FIVE-SPIXED STICKLEBACKS 223
and opercle crossed by a splash of bright green; median fins more or
less dusky; spring males said to be jet-black, tinged with red anteriorly.
Head 3.2 to 3.8; width of head 1.9 to 2.3 in its length; interorbital
space 4.6 to 5.7; eye 3.2 to 3.4; nose 4 to 5; mouth small and very
oblique, the maxillary considerably short of front of orbit, 4 to 4.8 in
head. Dorsal V (or VI), 9-10, the spines in a right line, not divergent;
caudal subtruncate (scarcely lunate in our specimens) ; anal rather large,
I, 9 or 10, the spine shorter than the anterior rays; ventrals with a short
but strong and sharp spine with minute serratures, its length 3 . 5 to 4
in head ; pectorals 1 . 7 to 2 in head ; post-pectoral plate present ; thoracic
processes slender and covered with skin, widely separated; pubic bones
firmly united, forming a lanceolate, keeled process which extends back-
ward from between ventrals. Skin smooth, destitute of dermal plates.
This little stickleback, one of the hardiest, most combative, and
most individual of our smaller fishes, has been confined, in our col-
lections, to the lakes of northeastern Illinois, the Calumet River at
South Chicago, and clear brooks in La Salle county. It is a northern
species, ranging through the Dominion of Canada from New Bruns-
wick to Calgary on the branches of the Saskatchewan, and thence
through the St. Lawrence, Lake Champlain, and the Great Lakes
from Ontario to Superior, to central Ohio and the basin of the Mis-
souri as far south as Kansas. It is confined to fresh waters, and pre-
fers clear cool brooks. This species builds nests, like the others of
its family. In the aquarium it is quarrelsome, and destructive even
to fishes of larger size.
Its mouth is small, its gill-rakers are long and slender, about half
the length of the corresponding filaments, and its pharyngeal appa-
ratus is insignificant. The intestine is short and simple, not longer
than the head and body together. Notwithstanding this equipment
for a carnivorous life, five specimens examined by us were found to
have fed on plants and animals in equal quantities — the former
wholly filamentous alga?, which had been taken by four of the speci-
mens in quantities to make it certain that they were purposely eaten.
Tin- animal food was about equally insects and crustaceans, the lat-
ter chiefly Entomostraca and the former largely Chironomus larvae.
These and specimens of Cypris taken by one of these fishes are evi-
dence that it feeds, in part at least, upon tile bottom.
224 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Genus PYGOSTEUS Brevoort
(nine-spined sticklebacks)
Dorsal spines 9 to 11, divergent from right to left at various angles;
tail broader than deep, with a lateral bony keel; pubic bones weak and
feebly united, forming an elongate plate with a median longitudinal
groove, on each side of which is a raised edge*; characters otherwise as
in Eucalia. Species two, in the waters of northern regions, one of them
native in China; a single species, cosmopolitan in distribution, found in
the waters of Illinois.
PYGOSTEUS PUNGITIUS (Linnaeus)
(nine-spined stickleback)
Linnaeus, 17 5S, Syst. Xat., Ed. X, 296 (Gasterosteus).
G., I, 6 (Gasterosteus); J. & G., 393 (Gasterosteus) ; M. V. 97; J. & E., I. 745; \\,
42 (nebulosus); J., 51 (occidentals var. nebulosus); F. F., I. 6, 69.
Length 3 inches; body quite slender, considerably compressed, the
caudal peduncle verv long, slender and tapering, broader than deep, and
with lateral bony keel; depth 5.1 to 5 . 6 ; greatest width about j} of great-
est depth; depth of caudal peduncle 4.3 to 6.2 in its length. "Color
olivaceous above, profusely punctulate, irregularly barred with darker;
silvery below"(J. & E.). Head 3 .3 to 3 . 7 ; width 2 . 4 to 3 ; interorbital
space 4 . 5 to S . 1 in head ; eye 3 ; nose 3.3 to 3.8; mouth somewhat less
oblique than in the last species, the maxillary nearly to orbit, 3.3 to 4.4
in head. Dorsal IX (or X), 9 or 10, the spines promiscuously divergent
to right and left at various angles; caudal scarcely lunate; anal rather
low, the spine nearly as long as anterior rays; ventrals with a long finely
serrated spine, which is less than 3 in head; pectorals 1 . 7 to 1 . 9 in head;
post-pectoral plate well developed; thoracic processes prominent, form-
ing a U-shaped figure; pubic bones thin and feebly united, lanceolate,
with a median groove between two raised edges. Skin naked except for
small bony plates along bases of dorsal and anal and on caudal keel.
This little species has been taken by us but once, and then from
the lower Calumet River and from Lake Michigan near the mouth of
that stream. It inhabits both fresh and brackish water, and is
found throughout northern Europe, and in North America as far
southward as the Great Lake region. It is thus a strictly northern
species.
Our only hint of its food was given us by the examination of tw< >
specimens which had fed wholly on the larvae of gnats (Chironomus
and Simulium) and on various Entomostraca.
*No1 verified for P, sinensis, of Chini
percopsid.'e — the rrout-perches 225
Family PERCOPSIDjE
(the trout-perches)
Body moderately elongate, somewhat compressed; caudal peduncle
rather long and slender; scales with edges strongly ctenoid; head naked;
lateral line developed; skeleton bonv; anterior vertebrae simple; ventral
fins abdominal, somewhat anterior; dorsal fin with 2 spines; ventrals
with 1 rudimentary spine and about S rays; anal with 1 or 2 spines;
caudal forked; an adipose fin present; no mesocoracoid ; gill-membranes
separate, free from isthmus; branchiostegals 6; pseudobranchia? pres-
ent; gill-rakers short, tubercle-like; opercle with entire edges; mouth
small, horizontal; premaxillaries not protractile; teeth very small, villi-
form, on premaxillaries and lower jaw only; stomach siphonal, with
about 10 well-developed pyloric caeca; air-bladder present, with an open
duct I Boulenger) ; ova large, not falling into the abdominal cavitv before
extrusion.
Small fishes of the fresb waters of North America ; 2 genera
known, each containing a single species ; one species found in Illini >is.
This family "shows the remarkable combination of true fin-
spines, ctenoid scales, and a percoid mouth, with the adipose fin,
abdominal ventrals, and naked head of the Isospondyli" (herring-
like forms). It is doubtless a surviving remnant of a fauna which
marked the transition from the soft-rayed herring-like forms to the
later-appearing groups of aeanthoptervgian fishes.
Genus PERCOPSIS Agassiz
(trout-perch )
Characters in the mam as above, differing from the single other
known genus of the family (Columbia Eigenmann, recently described
from the Pacific slope) in the weaker dorsal spines, the more translucent
body, and the relative absence of serration of the preopercle. Atlantic
slope and Great Lake region, in clear cold waters; one species
PERCOPSIS GUTTATUS Agassiz
(trout-perch)
Agassiz, 1850, Lake Superior, l*t<
G.. VI. 207; J. & G , .<2 2; M V., 82; J. & E., I, 7S4; X., 4.?; J., 53; F.. 72; L . 12.
Length 6 inches; body elongate, nol much compressed, strongly
tapered posteriorly, tin- caudal peduncle slender; depth 3 . (> to 4.5;
greatesl width § greatest depth; deptli caudal peduncle 2 . 7 to 3.2 m its
226 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
length. Color of upper parts pale olive-buff, the scales with faint edg-
ings of black; 8 or 9 black spots on each side anterior to adipose fin and
above lateral line; a dusky median lateral band, more or less broken
into spots; lower portion of sides and belly silvery; entire fish trans-
lucent ; the cerebral membranes showing olive underneath skin of head ;
peritoneum silvery; cheeks, opercles, jaws, and chin silvery with em-
erald luster; iris silvery white with faint luster of rose; fins plain, trans-
parent. Head slender, conical, 3.2 to 3.7; width of head 1 . 8 to 2 in its
length ; interorbital space 3 . 5 to 4 in head ; eye . 9 to 1 . 2 in interorbital
space, 3.3 to 4. in head; nose 2.4 to 3; mouth moderate, subinferior,
maxillary short of orbit, 3 to 4 in head; lower jaw included. Dorsal I
(occasionally II), 9-11; the spine very weak, the fin inserted much nearer
muzzle than base of caudal, almost exactly over ventrals; caudal deeply
forked; anal I, 5-7 ; ventrals abdominal, nearer anal than angle of union
of gill-membranes; pectorals reaching past front of ventrals, 1.2 to 1.5
in head. Scales 6, 47-54, 7, ctenoid, being most distinctly so on caudal
peduncle; lateral line developed, nearly straight.
This interesting and graceful little fish, a distinctly northern
species in its main range, has been found by us chiefly in clear spring
waters at various points along the Illinois River from Meredosia to
Hennepin. We have taken it also once from a small stream near
Lincoln, in Logan county, and once from Lake Michigan, off Chicago.
It is a wide-ranging species, known from the streams of New England
and Quebec, thence west to Kansas and northward to Hudson Bay
and the Saskatchewan Valley near Medicine Hat. It is common in
the Great Lakes, but rare south of them.
It spawns in spring, and females greatly distended with eggs
were caught by us at Havana on the 10th of March. Surface says
that in Cayuga Lake, New York, females captured in May were in
ripe condition.
Family ATHERINID^l
(the silversides) "
Body rather elongate, somewhat compressed ; scales generally cycli iid ;
head usually scaly; lateral line absent or represented by only a few rudi-
mentary tubes; skeleton osseous; anterior vertebra? simple; ventral fins
abdominal; two dorsal fins, well separated, the first consisting of 3 to 8
slender flexible spines, and the second of soft rays; anal with a weak
spine; no mesocoracoid; gill-membranes not connected, free from isth-
mus; branchiostegals 5 or 6; pseudobranchias present; gill-rakers usu-
ally long and slender; opercular bones without spines or serrature; pre-
maxillaries protractile or not; teeth usually present on jaws, sometimes
on vomer and palatines ; no pyloric caeca ; air-bladder present .
LABIDESTHES BROOK SILVERSIDES 227
"Carnivorous fishes, mostly of small size, living in great
schools near the shore in temperate and tropical seas ; a few
species in fresh water." A single genus and species found in Illinois
waters. The presence in all the species of a silvery band along the
side, often underlaid by black pigment, gives the common name to
the family.
Genus LABIDESTHES Cope
(BROOK SILVERSIDES)
Body elongate, more or less compressed; belly rounded before ven-
trals; head oblong, compressed; mouth small, the cleft curved, oblique,
the jaws being prolonged into a short depressed beak; premaxillaries
freely protractile, broad behind; lower jaw longer than upper; no teeth
on vomer or palatines; both dorsals short; scales with entire edges.
Eastern North America to Texas; confined to fresh waters; a single
species known.
LABIDESTHES SICCULUS (Cope)
(brook silverside)
Cope. 1865, Proc. Ac. Xat. Sci. Phila., SI (Chirostoma).
J. & G., 406; M. V.. 100; J & E., 1, 80S; X , 42; J., 51; F., 70; F. F. I. 6, 69; L., 22.
Length 3 inches; bodv quite slender and elongate and considerably
compressed; depth 6 to 8; greatest width about § in greatest depth;
depth of caudal peduncle 2 .3 to 3 in its length. 'Color pale olive-green,
translucent; a very distinct lateral silvery band, scarcely broader than
pupil, bounded above by a dark line; back dotted with black' (J. & E.,
slightly emended) ; dorsal of males tipped with black. Head long and
pointed, flattened, and broader above than below, 4.1 to 4.6; width of
head 2.1 to 2 . 5 ; interorbital space 3.5 to 4 ; eye 3 . 5 to 4 ; nose long and
slender, the jaws prolonged into a short depressed beak, whose length
is nearly twice the eye; mouth large, maxillary to front of orbit, cleft 2 _'
to 2.6; jaws equal, edge of upper jaw strongly concave. Dorsal IV-I, 9
to 1 1 ; first dorsal inserted slightly behind front of anal; caudal forked;
anal I, 21 to 24; ventrals abdominal, much nearer front of anal than
throat; pectorals nearlv to ventrals, 1.3 to 1 . 6 in head. Scales cycloid,
IS 16, 7 5 70; lateral line represented by a few isolated pores (as a rule
only on caudal peduncle); cheeks and opercles scaled.
This delicate and exquisite little fish, slender as a pike, semi-
translucent, and decorated with lateral stripes of brilliant silver, is
distributed through the northern, central, and eastern parts of the
state, but is wanting in all our collect inns from the Kaskaskia, the
Big Muddy, the Saline, and the waters of extreme southern Illinois.
228 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
It evidently avoids the lower Illinoisan glaciation. It is more
abundant north than south, the frequency ratios of our 121 collec-
tions of it being approximately as 1, 2, and 3, for southern, central,
and northern Illinois respectively.
It occurs in a great variety of waters from Lake .Michigan and the
northeastern glacial lakes of Illinois to the borders of the main
stream of the Illinois River and the muddy lakes of the Illinois
bottoms, commonest, however, in the quieter and clearer parts of
the waters which it inhabits. We have found it somewhat most
abundant in the smaller rivers (coefficient 1.67), and next in the
glacial lakes (1.13) and in lowland lakes and sloughs (1.01). It
is not infrequent, however, in our collections from creeks and the
larger rivers ( . 76 and . 77) .
Outside the state, it is present in all the Great Lakes, and ranges
thence southward to Florida and southwestward to Missouri,
Arkansas, and Texas.
It seems to live wholly on the animal plankton, apparently
catching its minute prey one by one, as a pike captures fish. Its
mouth, though small, is well equipped with teeth, and its gill-rakers
are unusually well developed, being numerous, slender, armed with
minute denticles, and longer than the gill-filaments. Corresponding
to its predaceous habit, its intestine is uncommonly short, the whole
alimentary canal being considerably shorter than the body without
the head. The food of twenty-five specimens, obtained from widely
scattered localities, was wholly animal, and consisted mostly of
minute larvae of gnats (Chironomus) and many species of Entomos-
traca, both copepods and Cladocera. Land insects and spiders,
washed or fallen into the water, were also frequent in its food, in-
cluding forms as small as plant-lice, chalcids, springtails, and thrips.
One specimen had taken a very small unrecognizable minnow.
Family APHREDODERIDiE
(THE pirate-perches)
Body oblong, elevated at base of dorsal, compressed behind; caudal
peduncle thick; scales strongly ctenoid; sides of head scaly; lateral line
imperfect; skeleton osseous ; anterior vertebrae simple; ventrals thoracic,
with a small spine and more than 5 soft rays; dorsal fin single, with 3 or
4 small spines; anal with two slender spines; caudal rounded; no meso-
i oracoid; gill-membranes slightly joined to isthmus anteriorly; branchios-
tegals 6; pseudobranchiae obsolete; gill-rakers tubercle-like, dentate;
preopercle and preorbital with free edges sharply serrate; opercle with a
APHREDODERUS PIRATE-PERCHES 229
spine; mouth somewhat oblique; premaxillary not protractile; maxillary
without evident supplemental bone; teeth in villiform bands on jaws,
vomer, palatines, and pterygoids; pyloric ca?ca about 12; intestinal canal
ending at throat in the adult, the vent more posterior in the young, mi-
grating forward, with growth, from just behind the ventral fins; air-
bladder simple, large, adherent, the duct probably obsolete.
Fresh waters of the United States ; a single living genus and spe-
cies; several fossil genera. While the structure of the skeleton is
essentially that of percoid fishes, the character of the forward posi-
tion of the vent leaves the Aphredoderidcc singularly isolated, without
close relationships with the true perch-like forms.
Genus APHREDODERUS Le Sueur
(pirate-perches)
Characters of the genus included above.
*)
Pig. 55
APHREDODERUS SAYANUS (Gilliams)
(pirate-perch)
Gilliams, 1824. J. Ac. Xat. Sci. Phila., IV, .si (Scolopsis).
J. & G., 460; M. V., 113; T. & E., I. 7S6; N., 39 (A. sayanus and Sternotremia
isolepis); J., 48 (Aphododerus isolepis) ; F., 70; L.. 22.
Length 2 to 4 inches; body robust, rather deep and considerably
compressed, the caudal peduncle stout; depth 3 . 1 to 3 . 5; greatest width
scarcely more than h greatest depth ; depth caudal peduncle 1 . 6 to 1 . 9
in its length. Color dark olivaceous over transparent pinkish to laven-
der, the head and body everywhere profusely specked with black, ap-
pearing bluish over the ground color; under side of head and sometimes
fore part of breast and belly yellowish; two blackish bars at base of
caudal; fins, except ventrals, dusky with a more deeply pigmented band
around bases; ventrals yellowish; median fins with a narrow marginal
fringe of white. Breeding males and females show much iridescent
color, the predominating lusters being violet and purple; light coppery,
230 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
green, and silvery sometimes visible; the entire bodies of breeding males
often almost black. Head broad below, depressed, the profile concave,
2.8 to 3.2; width of head 1.5 to 1.8 in its length ; interorbital space
3.3 to 4 ; eye 1 . 4 to 1 . 8 in interorbital, 4 . S to 5 . 3 in head ; nose 2 . 8 to
3.4 (usually less than 3.2); mouth moderate, oblique, maxillary nearly
to front of orbit, 2.7 to 2.9; lower jaw projecting ; sides and top of head,
chin, and lower jaws with rows of sensory papillae, as in Amblyopsidce.
Dorsal III, 9-12 (usually 10 or 11), the fin nearer muzzle than base of
caudal, behind ventrals; caudal fin broadly rounded, with a slight notch;
anal II, 6; ventrals jugular in adult*, nearer angle of gill-membranes
than front of anal; pectorals 1.4 to 1.8 in head, reaching more than
half way to anal. Scales 9-13 (usually 11-12), 49-59, 12-14, strongly
ctenoid; lateral line developed anteriorly; cheeks and opercles fully
scaled.
This obscure but peculiar little fish lias been found by us in
muddy pools and streams throughout Illinois, much the most abun-
dantly southward. It is indeed so rare in northern Illinois that only
one of our hundred collections of it has been taken in that part of the
state, giving us a frequency coefficient of less than 5 per cent., while
that for central Illinois is . 72 and that for southern Illinois is 2 . 23.
We have found it most abundant in creeks (coefficient, 2.51), and
about half as common in large rivers (1.1) and in lowland lakes
(1.24). The streams and situations it most affects are those in
which there is little or no current and a muddy bottom, our coeffi-
cient of the species for quiet water being 3.26, and that for a muddy
bottom, 3 .26.
The general distribution of the pirate-perch carries it from Long
Island around the coasts of the Atlantic and the Gulf to Texas, and
northward up the Mississippi basin to South Dakota and Minnesota
and through the Great Lakes at least as far east as Lake Erie. It
has not been reported from Canada.
It was named the "pirate-perch" by Dr. C. C. Abbott, because it
ate only fishes when confined in his aquarium. Studies made by us
in Illinois show, however, that fishes form only a small part ot its
ni 'final food. The intestine is short and simple, less than the Length
of the head and body without the tail; the gill-rakers are short,
thick, blunt, and few, and covered with short spinules; and the
pharyngeal jaws are small plates covered with short, sharp, minute
teeth, similar to those of the sunfishes. The mouth is large, but not
remarkably protractile. Judging from 1(» specimens dissected, the
fond is virtually all animal. Small fishes had been eaten by bu1 two,
< in variability in position of venl with age. see [ordan (Bull. Ill State Lab.
X.ii llisl . No 2, L878, p. 48), and Jordan and Evermann (Bull. 17. I' S. Nat
\lu , P1 I . p. 787).
ELASSOMID-* THE PIGMY SUNFISHES 231
the only one recognizable being a minnow {Cyprimdce). Insects
formed the major part of the food, all of them of aquatic species
except a few gnats, accidental in the water. Nearly half of the food
consisted of larvae of gnat-like insects (Chironomus and Corethra), and
the remainder was mostly larva' of May-flies, water-bugs, and larvae
of aquatic beetles, together with a few amphipod and isopod crusta-
ceans. One of these fish had eaten a water-worm (Lumbriculus)
allied to the earthworms, and Entomostraca had been taken by a few.
A comparison of the food of specimens of various ages, beginning
with those in which the vent was just in front of the ventral fins and
ending with those in which it had moved far forward on the throat,
gave no hint of the reasons for this extraordinary step in develop-
ment, these fishes all having eaten substantially the same food.
Dr. Abbott says that the pirate-perch builds a nest which is
guarded by both parents, who likewise protect the young until they
are about a third of an inch long. The species spawned in the hatch-
ery troughs at Meredosia May 1, 1899, and males running with milt
were taken in Meredosia Bay on May 23 .
Family ELASSOMID.E
(THE PIGMY SUNFISHES)
Rod\' oblong, compressed, covered with large cycloid scales; head
scaly; lateral line obsolete; skeleton osseous; anterior vertebrae simple,
ventrals thoracic, I, 5; dorsal fin single, with 4 or 5 spines; anal with
3 spines; caudal rounded; no mesocoracoid ; gill-membranes broadly
united, free from isthmus; branchiostegals S; pseudobranchiae small,
glandular, covered by skin; gill-rakers tubercle-like; preopercles, preor-
bitals, and opercles with edges entire; mouth terminal; upper jaw pro-
tractile; each jaw with strong conical teeth, in few series; vomer with a
few weak teeth; palatines toothless; no pyloric caeca; vent normally
placed; air-bladder without duct, so far as known.
Very small fishes, inhabiting the swamps of the southern United
States. A single genus, with 2 species. The Elassomidce differ from
the ( 'entrarchidce chiefly in their small size. Cycloid scales, while not
normal to C entrarchidce, are found in some forms.
Genus ELASSOMA Jordan
(PIGMY SUNFISHES)
Characters of the genus included above.
232 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Two species: E. zonatum, widely distributed in the southern
United States ; and E. evergladei, confined to the swamps of south-
ern Georgia and of Florida.
ELASSOMA ZONATUM Jordan
(pigmy sunfish)
Jordan, 1877, Bui!. U. S. Nat. Mus., X, 50.
J. &G., 461; M. V., 113; B., I, 34; J. & E., I, 982; J., 47; F., 70; L., 23.
Length li inches; body oblong, deep and compressed, the profile
convex ; depth 3.3 to 3.6; greatest width about i greatest depth ; depth
caudal peduncle 1 . 8 to 2 in its length. "Color olive-green, everywhere
finelv punctulate; sides with about 11 parallel vertical bands of dark
olive, about equal in width, narrower than the eye, about as wide as the
pale interspaces; a conspicuous roundish black spot, nearly as large as
the eye, on the sides just above the axis of the body, under the be-
ginning of the dorsal; soft fins faintly barred; a blackish bar at base of
caudal. Head 2.9 to 3, its width in its length 1.8 to 1.9; interorlntal
space 4 to 4.3 in head; eye 3 to 3.5; nose short, blunt, 5.3 to 5.8;
mouth terminal, oblique, maxillary past front of orbit; jaws equal. Dor-
sal IV to V, 9 to 10; caudal rounded; anal III, 5; ventrals past vent;
pectorals 1 . 8 to 1 . 9 in head. Scales 18-19, 37-39, cycloid; no lateral
line; cheeks and opereles scaled.
This little fish, rare in our waters and not abundant anywhere,
has been taken by us in only six collections, all from southern Illi-
nois, four of them from the Wabash Valley, one from Running Lake,
and one from a bluff spring in Union county. The Wabash locali-
ties are Little Fox River at Phillipstown, Wabash River at Wabash
station, Drew pond in White county, and Swan pond near St. Fran-
cisville. It is a southern fish, reported from North and South Caro-
lina, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas.
Family CENTRARCHIDjE
(the sunfishes)
Body ni' ire or less shortened and compressed, the regions above and
below the horizontal axis about equally developed; scales usually not
very strongly ctenoid, in rare cases cycloid; sides of head scaly; lateral line
present ; skeleton osseous, anterior vertebrae simple; abdominal vertebras
from 3d or 4th to last with transverse processes; ventral fins thoracic,
typically with 1 spine and 5 rays; dorsal fins confluent, the spines 6 to
13 (usually 10); anal spines 3 t<> 9; caudal slightly emarginate or weakly
furcate; no mesocoracoid ; gill-membranes separate from isthmus;
CENTRARCHID.€ — THE SUNFISHES 233
branehiostegals 6, rarely 7 ; pseudobranchiae small, nearly or quite covered
by skin; gill-rakers variously formed, always armed with small teeth;
preopercle entire or somewhat serrate; opercle ending behind in two flat
points or prolonged in a black or partially black flap at the angle; mouth
terminal; premaxillaries protractile; maxillary typically with a supple-
mental bone, which is obsolescent or wanting in some small-mouthed
forms; teeth in villiform bands on premaxillaries, lower jaw, and vomer,
and usually on palatines; tongue sometimes with teeth; no canine teeth;
lower pharyngeal bones separate, with conic or paved teeth; intestinal
canal short; pyloric ca^ca 5 to 10; air-bladder without duct in adult; color-
ation usually brilliant; the young more slender than the adults and in
most species marked by broad transverse bars.
Fresh waters of North America; genera about 12, species about
30. Seven genera and 13 species found in the waters of Illinois.
This family includes the crappies and black bass in addition to the
smaller forms more commonly referred to under the name of "sun-
fishes." The species range in size from the smaller sunfishes, some
of which seldom exceed 3^ inches in length, to the rock bass and the
crappie, which reach a weight of more than 1 lb, and the black bass,
the large-mouth form of which occasionally weighs 12 to 14 lb.
The typical deep-bodied sunfishes, taken together as a group of
species, are about equally frequent in lowland lakes, creeks, and the
smaller rivers, and about half as common in upland lakes and in
rivers of the larger size, our general coefficients being 1.13 for each
of the first three situations and . 6 and . 55 respectively for the last
twi i.
All the family are spring spawners so far as known. Most of the
species build nests, which consist of holes scooped out in alluvial,
leafy, or sandy bottom about the margins of the waters they inhabit.
Sexual differences in form or coloration are not much developed.
All except the very small species are valued as food, the sunfishes
and crappies being among the best of pan-fishes. The output of
sunfishes, not including crappie and bass, for the states of the
Mississippi Valley in 1899 was 910,963 lb. Of the total, 507,680 lb
were furnished by the Illinois River alone.
The sunfishes proper — that is, the Centrar chides exclusive of the
black bass — are a well-marked and homogeneous group of species as
to form and external structure, but a diverse assemblage as to eco-
logical relationships. Some of the species, for example, prefer run-
ning water, and others quiet; some a clean hard bottom, and others
a bottom of mud; some turbid water, and others clear; some creeks
and rivulets, and others the larger rivers. They also form a diverse
group in respect to the disposition of the several species to avoid each
234 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
others' company, some of the species having been found together in
our collections with more than twice the average frequency, and
others with less than a third that average. The family affords,
indeed, an excellent illustration of the disposition of species closely
allied in structure and in classification and inhabiting the same area
to evade the mutually injurious competition to which their similar
natural endowments expose them, by avoiding each others' company
- -1 >y choosing, as a rule, different feeding grounds and different places
of resort. If we compare, for example, the proportionate frequency
with which the closely similar species of the genus Lepomis have been
taken together in our collections — in the same haul of the net, or from
the same situation at the same time — with the frequency of associate
( incurrence of the widely dissimilar species of the other genera of the
family, we find that the unlike species have been taken together
much more frequently than the like — in a ratio of Hto 1; that the
species of Lepomis have, indeed, been taken in company with species
of other genera considerably more frequently than with each other.
The sunfishes. consequently, are not an associate group, but tend to
disperse themselves over a large variety of ecological situations,
those least like each other being most likely to meet on common
ground, where their unlike capacities enable them to live together
in a non-competitive way.
Of our fifteen species of sunfishes proper, including the crappies
in this number, eleven are abundant enough in this state to play a
significant part in the life of the family. Three of these species have
a more or less limited general distribution within the state. The
round sunfish (Centrarchus macropterus) is confined to extreme south-
ern Illinois; the pumpkinseed (Eupomotis gibbosus) is found almost
wholly in the northern half of the state, and, except in northern Illi-
nois proper, only along the main streams of the largest rivers ; and
the long-eared sunfish (Lepomis megalotis), which is distributed
throughout the state, is so concentrated in southern and eastern Illi-
nois that its competitive relations are strongly affected by this fact.
The warmouth (( 'hcenobryttus gulosus) is, indeed, somewhat similarly
distributed, the contrast being, however, less marked than in mega-
lotis. The rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris) is sharply separated
from most of the other sunfishes by its strong preference for swift,
clear streams; the bluegill (Lepomis ptillitlits), the warmouth, and
Lepomis miniums are rather strongly distinguished by their greater
frequency in lakes and ponds; while the warmouth and Lepomis
humilis are especially noticeable because of their high frequencies
over a muddy bottom. The principal species of the larger rivers are
CENTRARCHID^E — THE SUNFISHES 235
the two crappies (especially sparoides), and the bluegill; those of the
smal er rivers and creeks are the rock bass, the long-eared sunfish
and Lepomis humilis; and a special creek species is the green sun-
fish (L. cyanellus), the usual sunfish of the smaller prairie streams of
central Illinois.
These differences of local situation and affiliation are most evi-
dent in our miscellaneous collections distributed over the minor
waters of the state, and such distinctions disappear largely in the
Illinois River, which seems to serve as a kind of reservoir or metrop-
olis for the fish population of the country, in which its various ele-
ments unite and mingle in a relatively indiscriminate way. This
fact appears especially on a comparison of the data of the collections
made at Meredosia and at Havana — about a third of our whole num-
ber— with those made outside. Thus, 76 of our 170 collections of
the pale crappie were made at either Havana or Meredosia, and 94 of
them came from other places. Fifty-five per cent, of these 76 Illi-
nois River collections contained also the bluegill, while only 27 per
cent, of the 94 collections outside these points contained both
species. That is, local differences of distribution, signifying ecolog-
ical distinctions, were twice as evident in the collections made from
the smaller waters as from those made from the Illinois.
In addition to these distinguishable differences of local prefer-
ence, the sunfishes are more strongly differentiated than usual with
respect to their feeding structures — the mouth, the gill-rakers and
the pharyngeal teeth. Those with large mouths have a large ratio
of fishes and crawfishes in the food, those with long gill-rakers take
more Entomostraca, and those with broad and heavy pharyngeal
bones, bearing stout blunt teeth, live more largely on mollusks.
Additional details on this topic will be found in the discussion of
the several genera and species.
Key to Genera of CENTRARCHID.E found in Illinois
a. Dorsal fin little longer than anal, if any, its length 1 to 1.4 times length of
anal base; anal spines 5 to 8 in number.
b. Dorsal spines 5 to 8 (occasionally 9 or even 10) Pomoxis.
bb. Dorsal spines 11 to 13.
c. Anal spines 7 or 8 (occasionally 6), the rays 13 to IS Centrarchus.
cc. Anal spines 6 rays in or 11 Ambloplites.
aa. Dorsal more than twice length of anal; anal spines 3.
d. Body comparatively short and deep, depth in adults as a rule more than g
of length, dorsal tin not deeply emarginate, the shortest spine behind
middle of tin more than 5 height of longest; operculum entire behind, no1
emarginate. more or less prolonged in a bony process or flap with a
round''- 1 1 11 istei ii U margin.
236
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
dd.
Tongue and pterygoids* with teeth; maxillary reaching past pupil
Chsenobryttus.
Tongue and pterygoids toothless ; maxillary in most species short of middle
of orbit (to middle in L. cyanellus).
Lower pharyngeals (Fig. 64 and 65) narrow, the width in the length of
toothed portion about 3, outer margin straight or weekly concave, the
teeth long, slender, and acuminate; pectorals never reaching beyond
vertical from base of anal; opercular flap without red. or if red is present,
with the color forming a border and not a roundish spot Lepomis.
Lower pharyngeals (Fig. 66 and 67) broad, the width in the length of the
toothed portion about 2, the outer margin a double curve; teeth short,
bluntly rounded or paved; opercular flap with a conspicuous roundish
red spot on its lower posterior corner or (in case the red spot is wanting)
the pectorals reaching past front of anal (to a vertical from last anal ray)-.
Eupomotis.
Body comparatively elongate, depth about J length; dorsal fin deeply
emarginate, the shortest spine behind middle of fin from J to i height of
longest; operculum ending in two flat points Micropterus.
.uph
Fig. 57
Roof (56) and floor (57) of mouth of Amblopliies rupestris to show dentition
of a typical sunfish: dn, dentary; ecp, ectoptervgoid; enp, entoptervgoid
hy, hyoid; Iph, lower pharyngeal; pi, palatine; pmx, premaxillary ; tn
tongue; uph, upper pharyngeal; vo, vomer.
*See Fig. 56 and 57 for illustration of full dentition of a sunfish.
POMOXIS — CRAPPIES 237
Gexus POMOXIS Rafinesque
(CRAPPIES)
Bodv moderately elongate, deep and strongly compressed; opercle
emarginate behind; preopercle and preorbital finely serrated; mouth
large; maxillary with a large supplemental bone; teeth on vomer, pala-
tines, entopterygoids, and tongue; lower pharyngeals narrow, with sharp
teeth; gill-rakers long and slender, numerous; dorsal spines 6 to 8; anal
spines 6; caudal emarginate; scales feebly ctenoid.
Eastern United States and Canada ; two species, which are very
similar in habit, ecological relationship, and food, scarcely avoiding
competition, on the whole, in any way clearly discernible in our data.
A tendency to geographical separation is shown by the fact that
annularis is the more abundant southward in the general area of the
genus, and sparoides northward, — the latter, indeed, also ranging
somewhat the farther to the north. That these two species are
similarly related ecologically, and thus drawn into each others' com-
pany by their relations to their environment instead of being sepa-
rated as competitors, is shown by a comparison of the coefficients of
association of the two crappies, on the one hand, and of one of these
crappies and the common bluegill (Lcpomis pallidus) on the other.
With 167 available collections of Pomoxis annularis and 178 of
sparoides, we find 66 joint occurrences, giving us a frequency of
association of 2 . 53 Comparing, < >n the other hand, Pomoxis annu-
laris and its 167 collections with the widely and similarly distributed
bluegill, taken 220 times, we find them taken together in the same
collections 56 times, equivalent to a coefficient of association of 2 . 13.
The larger number of collections of the two unlike species gives us
a relative frequency of joint occurrence distinctly less than that i if
the smaller numbers of collections of the closely similar crappies.
The species of this genus diverge from the other sunfishes in
respect especially to their numerous, long, and finely-toothed gill-
rakers, which make the most effective straining apparatus to be
found among the sunfishes, excepting only the comparatively rare
round sunfish (Centrarchus macroptcrus). The mouth is also large
for a sunfish, its opening being considerably increased by the unusual
length of the lower jaw. These characters of the feeding structures
are represented in the food by the presence of fishes, and by the
quantities of Entomostraca taken in spring.
238 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Key to Species of POMOXIS found in Illinois
a. Dorsal spines typically VI, rarely V or VII; dorsal distance 1.7 to 1.9 in
length, a line drawn from back tip of maxillary at right angles with an-
terior margin of premaxillary crossing back in front of first dorsal spine;
body more slender and profile more strongly S-shaped that in P. sparoides
color light, the dark markings tending to form rings annularis.
aa. Dorsal spines typically VII or VIII, rarely VI, or IX, or X; dorsal dis-
tance 1.8 to 2, the line from back of maxillary crossing behind third or
fourth, or even fifth or sixth, to last dorsal spine; color dark, spotted, the
dark markings not forming rings sparoides.
POMOXIS ANNULARIS Rafinesoue
(white crappie)
Rafinesque, 1818, Amer. Month. Mag., 41.
J. & G.. 464; M. V.. 115; B . I. 7 (sparoides, part); J. & E., I, 987; N., 37; J., 47;
F., 6"; F. F. I. 3, 56; L., 23.
Length 12 inches; body elongate, compressed and back elevated;
the profile long and quite strongly S-shaped ; depth 2 . 2 to 2 . 6 in length ;
greatest width about 2.75 in greatest depth; depth caudal peduncle 1 . 1
to 1.3 in its length. 'Color silvery olive, mottled with dark green, the
dark marks chiefly on the upper part of the body and having a ten-
dency to form narrow vertical bars ; general color much lighter than in
the next species; dorsal and caudal fins marked with green (rather than
blackish, as in the next species) ; anal pale, nearly plain; a dusky opercular
spot' (J. & E. with emendations). Head long, 2 .8 to 2.9; width of head
2.5 to 2.8 in its length ; interorbital space 4 . 3 to 5 . 6, convex ; eye 4 . 5
to 5 in head; nose 3.2 to 4.2, noticeably longer than in the next species and
also visibly longer than eye; mouth large, oblique, maxillary past mid-
dle of orbit, 2.1 to 2.3 in head. Dorsal typically* VI, 15, the fin in-
serted further from muzzle than in the next species, the dorsal dis-
tancef in the present species being 1.68 to 1.88 in the length; caudal
lunate; anal VI (occasionally V), 17-19; ventrals past first anal spine;
pectorals 1 .3 to 1 .7 in head. Scales 6. 43-48, 12; lateral line developed
on most or all scales.
The white crappie and the species billowing are commonly re-
garded in this state as the best for food of the sunfish family, witli
the exception of the black bass. The present species occurs in all
parts of the state, most abundantly in lakes, ponds, and bayous, but
commonly also in the smaller rivers and in creeks. It seems to ha\ e
no marked local or ecological preferences to embarrass its entrance
upon any waters containing its means of subsistence. It enters
ii! J37 specimens of the present species examined, 318 had VI dorsal spines,
IS had Y. and I had VII; i if 315 specimen! oi Pomoxis sparoides, 266 had YII
spines. 46 had VIII, 2 had VI, 1 had [X, and 2 had X.
tin two typical specimens "I exactly the same length(6 inches), one annularis
and one sparoides, the dorsal distance dilTcrcd s tenths of one centimeter. This
d iff err in e may be said to be due to difference in A ngth of fins, the dorsals in both
specie; terminating at the same distance from the in<l oi the last vertebra.
w
Oh
w
POMOXIS — CRAPPIES 239
freely, for example, upon the lower Illinoisan glaciation, is found in
the clean glacial lakes of the northeastern part of the state, and is
reported from every river basin of our entire area.
From the Great Lakes, excepting Ontario, it ranges southward
through the Mississippi Valley to Alabama and Texas, and westward
to Kansas and Nebraska. It has reached the Potomac by way of
connecting canals, has entered the Erie canal in New York, and is
reported also from Pamlico and Great Pedee rivers, on the south
Atlantic coast. It is said by Jordan to be generally abundant in
ponds, lagoons, bayous, and all sluggish waters, and to be much
more common in the southern parts of its range. "In the lower
Mississippi Valley the young of this species literally swarm in the
overflow ponds and bayous, and vast numbers perish every year
when these waters dry up."
A fish of so wide a range has, of course, many local names. In
Illinois the name of crappie is commonly applied indiscriminately to
this fish and the one next described. When separately mentioned,
the present species is often called the pale crappie, or the white crap-
pie, or the ringed crappie, the last by reason of the more conspicuous
vertical bars upon the sides.
The maximum weight of the fish is about 2| pounds, but the aver-
age of the Illinois River market specimens weigh less than a pound.
This crappie is strictly carnivi >rous, living mainly on insects, crus-
taceans, and fishes. Four fifths of the food of fifteen specimens ex-
amined by us consisted of various aquatic insect larva?, while fishes
made but 11 per cent, of the entire food.
Observations made on market specimens at Havana indicate
that the species spawns in May.
This is an excellent fish with which to stock artificial ponds. It
was introduced into the Potomac in 1894, and has now become
abundant there. It takes the hook well, and is held in high esteem
as a game fish in the Southern States and in some parts of Illinois.
Dr. Jordan says that it will take a minnow bait as promptly as will
a black bass, but that it is not very pugnacious, and, owing to its
tender mouth, requires considerable skill in handling the tackle.
The State and the United States Fish Commissions are doing much
to maintain the supply of this fish in this state by collecting the
young from overflow ponds along the Illinois and the Mississippi,
and transplanting them into other waters.
The annual catch of crappie, including the next species with the
I >n ■si iii . varies from 800,000 to 1,300,000 pounds for the Mississippi
Valley. The Illinois Rncr alone furnished 294,000 pounds in 1899.
240 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
POMOXIS SPAROIDES (Lacepede)
(black crappie; calico bass)
Lacepede, 1802, Hist. Xat. Poiss.. Ill, 517 (Labrus).
J. & G.', 465; M. V.. 115; B., I, 7 (part); J. & E., I, 9S7; N., 37 (hexacanthus) ; J.,
47 (nigromaculatus) ; F. F., I. 3, 56 (nigromaculatus) ; F., 69; L., 23.
Length 12 inches; body oblong, less elongate than in the last species,
deep and compressed; profile shorter and less prominently S-shaped than
in P. annularis; depth 2.1 to 2 .4; greatest width 2 . 75 in greatest length;
depth caudal peduncle 1.1 to 1.4 in its length. Color of upper parts
olivaceous, silvery whitish to yellowish below and on belly; body every-
where spotted with very dark green or blackish; much iridescent color
everywhere, chiefly emerald and bluish; cheeks and opercles slaty; a
dark spot at back of opercle above and a smaller one, looking like
a spinous extension of opercle, below it; pupil a bright deep blue; iris
brown, lavender, and purplish with a narrow inner ring of gold; median
fins reticulated (or barred unevenly) with dusky to black, when partly
folded having the appearance of dark fins spotted with lighter. Head
2.8 to 3; width of head 2.3 to 2.7 in its length; interorbital space 3.8
to 4.4, convex; eve 4 to 4.5 in head; nose 3.7 to 4.3, little longer
than eve; mouth oblique, maxillary 2.1 to 2.5. Dorsal typically* VII
(or VIII), 15, the fin inserted nearer muzzle than in last species, the
dorsal distance 1.8 to 2; caudal lunate; anal VI, 16-18; ventrals past
second anal spine; pectorals 1.4 to 2.1 in head. Scales 6, 38-44, 12;
lateral line complete.
This crappie is a darker, "deeper, and more handsome fish than the
preceding one, and, like it, is highly valued for food, especially as a
pan-fish, if taken where the water is not too muddy or too warm. It
is found throughout the state, frequently in company with the pre-
ceding species of the same genus, from which it scarcely differs appre-
ciably in local distribution, in habits, or in food. According to our
data, derived from 183 collections, it is less common than annularis
in creeks, and has perhaps a noticeably stronger preference for water
with a hard bottom. We have also found it more abundant in the
glacial lakes of northeastern Illinois, from some of which, indeed, we
have not taken annularis at all.
Its general range carries it northward beyond the preceding
species, and it is reported from the Ottawa River, in Canada, and
from the Lake of the Woods.
Its food, according to our observations, is substantially identical
with that of annularis, except that 1 1 specimens examined had taken
a larger percentage of both Entomostraca and of fishes, and a smaller
one of aquatic insects. These differences of ratio are, however, very
likely local and seasonal.
*See note on preceding species.
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CENTRARCHUS — ROUND SUNFISH 241
The common names of this species most used in Illinois are black
crappie, calico bass, and strawberry bass, the first in central Illinois
and the others in the northern part of the state.
It does not reach as large a size as the white crappie, the largest
specimens taken weighing not much over 1-^ pounds.
The species spawned in May at Havana in 1898, and specimens
taken as early as April 19 yielded eggs and milt under pressure.
This crappie has been successfully introduced into France. Its
hardy endurance of both heat and cold, and also of foul water, is
especially favorable to its transportation and acclimatization. The
statistics of the catch of the black crappie from the Mississippi and
the Illinois are included under those of the preceding species.
Genus CENTRARCHUS Cuvier and Valenciennes
(round sunfish)
Body short and deep, compressed; opercle emarginate behind; mouth
large; maxillary with a supplemental bone; teeth on vomer, palatines,
entopterygoids, ectopterygoids, and tongue; pharyngeal teeth sharp;
gill-rakers setiform, very long and finely dentate, 20 to 30 in the lower
angle of the arch; dorsal spines about 12; anal spines about 8; caudal
emarginate; scales not strongly ctenoid. Southern and southeastern
United States; one species. The genus is closely allied to Pomoxis,
from which it is separated only by a greater development of the spinous
dorsal and anal tins, and by the presence of teeth on the ectopterygoids.
CENTRARCHUS MACROPTERUS (Lacepede)
(round sunfish; flier)
Lacepede, 1802, Hist. Nat. Poiss., III. 447 (Labrus).
| & G.. 46.3; M. V., 114; B., I. 8; [. & E., I, 988; \\, 37 (irideus); [., 47 (irideus) ;
P., 70; L., 23; F. P., 1. 3, 56 (irideus).
Length 4 inches (occasionally 6) ; body ovate, strongly compressed,
profile angled at nape; depth 1.9 to 2. 1 in length; greatest width more
than 3 in greatest depth; depth caudal peduncle 1 to 1 . 2 in its length.
Color green, with series of dark brown spots on sides below lateral line,
fi irming interrupted longitudinal lines; a dark spot below eye; soft dorsal
and anal reticulated; young with a black ocellus at base of soft dorsal.
Head rather small, 2 . 7 to 3 . 1 in length; width of head 1.9 to 2.1 in
its length; interorbital space 2.9 to 3.5, concave; eye 3.3 to 4; nose
pointed, scarcely as long as eye, 4 to 4.7 in head; mouth small, oblique,
maxillary nearly to middle oi '.rlnt. 2.S to 2.8 in head; opercular flap
broad and thin, not prolonged; gill-rakers Xi 30, setiform, Dorsal XI
242 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
or XII (or rarely XIII), 12-14, its longest spine about 2 in head; length
of dorsal about 1 . 2 to 1.3 times length of anal; caudal lunate; anal VII
or VIII (occasionally VI), 13-15; ventrals past fourth anal spine; pec-
torals to 7th or 8th anal spine, 1 to 1 .2 in head. Scales 6 or 7, 41-43,
13 or 14; lateral line complete; scales on cheeks in 6 or 7 rows.
Fig. 58
This little fish, found by us only in extreme southern Illinois fn mi
Hamilton county southward, is a distinctly southern species, occur-
ring in lowland streams and bayous of the lower Mississippi Valley,
and in the south Atlantic region from Florida to Virginia. In this
state we have taken it in only thirteen collections, all from creeks
and sloughs tributary to the Little Wabash, the Big Muddy, and the
Cache.
The species is said by Jordan to reach a length of six inches.
Owing to its small size and comparative scarcity, except here and
there in the South, it is of no commercial importance.
Gents AMBLOPLITES Rafinesque
(rock bass)
Body oblong, moderately elevated, compressed, but robust; opercle
ending in two Hat points; preopercle serrate .it its angle; mouth large;
supplemental maxillary well developed; teeth (Fig. 56) on vomer, pala-
tines, tongue, entopterygoids, and ectopterygoids, a single patch on the
tongue (Fig. 57), pharyngeal teeth sharp; gill-rakers rather lung and
strong, dentate, less than K) in number; dorsal spines 10 or 1 1 ; anal
spines normally 6; caudal emarginate; scales somewhal i tenoid Central,
eastern, and southern United State ;, and Canada ; one specie
H ////'
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AMBLOPLITES — ROCK BASS 243
AMBLOPLITES RUPESTRIS (Rafinesque)
(rock bass; redeye; goggle-eye)
Rafinesque, 1817, Amer. Month. Mag., 120 (Bodianus).
I & G., 466; M. V., 115; B., I, 10; J, & E., I, 990; X.. 37; J., 44; F., 60; F. F.. I.
3, 44; L.. 23.
Length 8 to 10 inches; body oblong, rather robust and only moder-
ately compressed; profile scarcely angled at nape; depth 2.2 to 2.5;
greatest width about 2 in greatest depth; depth caudal peduncle 1 . 12 to
1 .20 in its length. Color of upper parts olive, with black mottlings and
brassy reflections; each scale of sides with a central squarish black
spot on band, these forming longitudinal stripes traversing length of
fish, being most prominent below the lateral line; belly bluish white with
darker punctulations, forming a spot on each scale; breast specked with
fine black dots and with some blue, green, or reddish ; cheeks and opercles
with brassv luster; a dark opercular s] » it ; iris maroon before and behind
pupil, plum-colored above and below, and edged with gold; median fins
amber with brown mottlings (in handsome irregular bars) and faint edg-
ings of black; ventrals opaque whitish with brown specks; pectorals trans-
parent amber, duskv in males; young irregularly barred and blotched
with black. Head' rather large, 2.6 to 2.8, the profile little angled
above eye; width of head 1.9 to 2.13 in its length; mtcrorbital space
3.7 to 4.3 (usually under 4) ; eye 3.5 to 4 ; nose 3.4 to 4.1; mout h
large, oblique, maxillary past middle of orbit, 2.1 to 2.4 in head; a
single patch of teeth on tongue; operculum emarginate, the flap not
prolonged; gill-rakers few, 7 to 10, rather long, strong, and stiff. Dor-
sal XI (occasionally XII), 10-12 (usually 10), rather long and low. its
longest spine 3.25 'to 3 . 5 in head; length of base of dorsal about 1 .4
times length of anal; caudal emarginate; anal VI, 10-1 1 ; ventrals to vent
or somewhat past it, sometimes nearly to first anal spine in males; pec-
torals to first anal spine, 1.8 to 2 in head. Scales 6 or 7, sometimes
8, 39-43, 11 or 12 (or 13); lateral line usually complete; scales on cheeks
in 7 or 8 rows.
This large and handsome member of the sunfish family reaches a
length of a foot and a weight of a pound to a pound and a half,
although its average we'ght probably does not exceed half a pound.
I I is, with us, mainly a northern species, having been taken from but
four localities in southern Illinois, and not at all in the lower Illi-
noisan glaciation. This limitation of its range is accounted for by
its decided preference for clear rocky streams, its coefficient for
swift water (3 .66) being the largest in our list of sunfishes. It has
occurred to us most abundantly in rivers of medium size (2.06),
and about half as frequently in creeks (144), its frequencies in
other situations being comparatively insignificant. This peculiarity
of local preference tends I" separate it from the other members oi
244 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
its family generally, with the exception of the small-mouthed black
bass, with which it is found more frequently in company than are
any other two species of this entire family.
It has been taken, to the northward, from Lakes Huron, Erie, and
Ontario, from the St. Lawrence River and Lake Champlain,and from-
northwestern streams and lakes as far as Minnesota and South Da-
kota. It ranges southward to the James and the Chattaoochee riv-
ers on the Atlantic coast, to the Alabama and the Tombigbee in the
Gulf district, and westward to the Des Moines and Kansas rivers
It is said by Jordan and Evermann to occur also in Louisiana and
in Texas.
According to Dr. Jordan, it spawns in spring, constructing a nest
on a gravel bed where the water is moderately swift, or on a bar if in
a lake, the parent fish defending the nest with great vigor. Spent
females were taken by us at Havana June 26.
"This species," says Jordan, "is pre-eminently a boy's fish,
t hi >ugh it is by no means despised by anglers of maturer years. * *
* * As a game-fish it is rather disappointing. It takes the
hook with vim and energy, and begins a most vigorous fight which,
however, it usually fails to keep up. It can usually be caught at
any season and at any time of day ; good fishing may be had even at
night. Any kind of bait may be used, but small minnows, white
grubs, and angleworms are best. It will take the trolling spoon quite
readily, and the spinner and the bucktail also are successful lures.
Minnows may be used either in still-fishing or in trolling. During
the summer grasshoppers are a good bait, and pieces of fresh-water
mussel or yellow perch are excellent. In the fall still-fishing with
small minnows usually meets with success. Casting with the arti-
ficial fly is not a common method for catching the rock bass, yet we
have had many good rises and have taken some fine examples in that
way ; we have also taken it on the artificial frog. Small crawfish also
are a tempting bait."
As a pan-fish it is above the average but not among the best, its
flesh being somewhat soft and having a muddy flavor. The fish is
taken in rather cool clear water.
It feeds, so far as we know, mainly on insects and small crusta-
ceans, with a moderate allowance of fishes. Its food, however, has
not been sufficiently studied to give us a lair average for the species.
The rock bass has been used to sonic extent .successfully as a fish
lor artificial ponds, and it has been successfully introduced mi<>the
waters of the Pacific states.
CH.-ENOBRYTTUS- WARMOUTH BASS 245
Gems CHjENOBRYTTUS Gill
(warmouth bass)
This genus has the form and dentition of Ambloplites, with the opercle
convex at the angle as in Lepomis, not ending in two points; preopercle
entire; mouth large; a supplemental maxillary present; dorsal spines 10
and anal spines 3, as in Lepomis; caudal emarginate; scales weakly-
ctenoid. United States, east of the Rockies; one species.
Vte'
A
Fig. 59
CILENOBRYTTUS GULOSUS (Cuvier & Valenciennes)
(WARMOUTH BASS)
Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1829, Hist. Xat. Poiss., III. 498 (Pomotist.
|. & G . 468; M V., 115; B.. I, 13; J. & E.. I, 992; N., 37; J., 45; F., 69; F. F., I
3, 44; L., 23
Length 6 to 8 inches; body robust, elongate, becoming much deeper
with age; profile only slightly angled at nape; depth 2 to 2.6; greatest
width 2 to 2 . 5 in greatest depth ; depth of caudal peduncle 1 . 2 to 1 . 6 in
its length. Color "livaeeous to grayish, clouded, mottled, and some-
times indistinctly barred, with slate to bluish black; sides with golden
and emerald reflections, producing over the ground colors a rich golden
. n effect; breast and belly greenish to yellowish, sprinkled with dark
dots and finely dusted with gold or emerald; four or five light grayish
to lavender streaks (sometimes reddish) running from eye to back of
opercle; snout, cheeks, and opercles sprinkled with dusky and finely
punctulate with gold; forehead a moldy velvety-slate, characteristic of
fish; bony portion of open alar flap very dark, brownish in front to
bluish behind, the membranous portion coppery above to lavender be-
low; a narrow line of crimson about pupil; resl of iris crimson to purplish
with streaks of emerald above and below; dorsal and anal tins lighl
(17)
246 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
grayish to olive, with darker mottlings, the spots forming irregular rows.
Head rather large, 2.4 to 2.6; width of head 1.9 to 2 . 1 in its length
interorbital space 3 . 9 to 4 . 3 ; eye 4 to 5 ; nose longer than eye, 3 . 3 to 4 . 4
mouth very large, maxillary nearly to back of orbit, 2.2 to 2.4 in head
operculum prolonged backward and rounded behind as in Lepomis and
Eupomotis, the membranous flap narrow; gill-rakers 8 or 9 + rudiments,
rather long and stiff. Dorsal X (occasionally IX or XI), 9 or 10 (or 11) ;
long and low, longest spine 3 . 5 to 4 in head ; base of dorsal twice length
base of anal; caudal lunate; anal III, 8-10; ventrals short of vent in
females, to vent in males; pectorals short of front of anal, 1 . 5 to 1 .8 in
head. Scales 6 or 7, 39-43, 11 or 12 (occasionally 13); lateral line usu-
ally complete; 6 to 8 rows of scales on cheeks.
The warmouth is a heavy, wide-mouthed, red-eyed sunfish, dark
and mottled like the rock bass, but with less of bronze or other
showy color. This fish, the rock bass, and the green sunfish form a
group of abundant- Illinois species, all with large mouths, and all
feeding almost wholly on fishes and insects. Notwithstanding this
similarity of food, they seem to have learned to inhabit the same area
without serious mutual competition by establishing different rela-
tions to their environment. The rock bass, as already shown, lives
by preference in clear waters flowing over a rock bottom, while the
present species is the most of a mud lover of all of our sunfishes, as
shown by its preference for a muddy bottom, represented in our col-
lections by the surprising coefficient of 7 .33. Other factors of this
adjustment will be considered in the discussion of the green sunfish.
The warmouth is essentially a species of lakes and ponds and the
smaller rivers, occurring also, but less generally, in creeks and in
rivers of the largest class. It is distributed throughout the state —
in the southern section mainly in the smaller streams, but in the
northern half chiefly along the Illinois River It is abundant in the
lacial lakes of northeastern Illinois, and has come to us also from
Lake Michigan. In the southern part of the state it is common in
the lower Illinoisan glaciation, to an extent to indicate a deliberate
preference for muddy water over pure. It is seemingly a southern
species by preference in this state, the frequency ratios for the three
sections being 44. . 78, and 1 . 78, from north to south.
Lakes Michigan and Erie seem to mark its most northerly dis-
tribution, and from these it is found to the Florida peninsula on the
southeast, and to Louisiana, Texas, and Kansas on the south and
west . It is said to be common in South Carolina, but is most abun-
dant west of the Alleghanies It is everywhere a fish of the bayous,
mud-bottomed ponds and lakes, and lowland streams.
.->
LEPOMIS SUNFISHES 247
It reaches a length of about 10 inches, and is a fair angler's fish,
in that respect something like the rock bass. Owing to the char-
acter of the water from which it is most frequently taken, its flesh is
apt to taste of mud, and it is not abundant enough on commercial
fishing grounds to make it a species of any considerable importance
Nearly half the food of half a dozen specimens examined by us
many years ago was found to consist of fishes, and the remainder of
insects — mostly of water-bugs and larva? of May-flies, with which,
however, some terrestrial insects were commingled.
Genus LEPOMIS Rafinesque
(SUNFISHES)
Bodv oblong, deep and compressed; operculum ending behind in a
convex bonv or osseo-membranous process or flap; preoperculum entire;
mouth large or small; supplemental maxillary developed in large-mouthed
forms; teeth on vomer and usually on palatines; none on tongue or ptery-
goids; lower pharvngeal teeth conical, more or less acute, the bones nar-
row and weak, flattened or hollowed out underneath, and with the outer
margin straight or concave, the width of the toothed portion being
about 3 in its length; gill-rakers various, never very long; dorsal spines
10; anal spines 3; caudal emarginate.
Fresh waters of the eastern United States, Canada, and Mexico;
species about 15; 8 species found in Illinois.
The genus Lepomis, as here understood, includes Apomotis ol
various authors. The forms that have been known under these two
names agree in their pharyngeal dentition,* which is remarkably
different from that of the genus Eupomotis (see Fig. 64-67). The
fact that the opercular flap is usually cither entirely black or black
with a definite border above, behind, and below, serves as a useful
distinction of the species of this genus from the single commonly dis-
tributed species of Eupomotis (E. gibbosus), in which there is always
a conspicuous roundish spot of red at the lower posterior corner of
i In' opercular flap.
The species of this genus and the next constitute the true sun-
fishes, as distinguished from the crappies, rock bass, warmout lis, and
black bass. In the southern half of the state, where the yellow
*We have not found the "complete gradation in the character of pharyngeals
between Lepomis * * * and Eupomotis, both as to the width and form oi
the bones themselves and the form of the teeth" dial was described by McKaj
(Pro, U S. Nat. Mus., 1881, p. 88i. (See Richardson, 1^04, Bull. Ill State Lab.
X.ii Hist., Vol. VII., on. 27 -32 )
248 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
perch (Pcrca) is practically unknown, the name of perch is commonly
given to these sunfishes — most frequently, however, under the dia-
lectic form of "pearch."
Key to the Species of LEPOMIS found in Illinois
a. Black opercular spot borne by the stiff bony upper posterior angle of the
operculum, which is plainly distinguished from a flexible (fleshy or mem-
branous) border of different (usually lighter) color. (Fig. 60.)
b. Mouth large and cheek not very deep, the maxillary 1 to } longer than the
distance from the lower margin of the orbit to the lower posterior corner
of the preopercle; in life with blue spots and vertical bars of dusky; mar-
gin of ear-flap coppery to purplish ; cheeks with wavy blue lines . . cyanellus.
bb. Mouth smaller and cheek deeper, maxillary about equal to or less than dis-
tance from lower margin of orbit to lower posterior corner of preopercle.
c. Sides without longitudinal rows of spots formed by differently colored squar-
ish areas (bronze or purplish in life) at centers of scales.
d. Gill-rakers long, the longest A diameter of eye; not mottled.
e. Scales 41 to 49 in lateral line; margin of ear-flap pale blue to pinkish in
life ischyrus.
ee. Scales 32 to 37 in lateral line; in life green, barred with darker; small coffee-
colored specks on body and fins symmetricus.
dd. Gill-rakers shorter, the longest scarcely more than J diameter of eye, usu-
ally less; mottled, the appearance being much as in the pumpkinseed
sunfish (Eupomotis gibbosus); some red or coppery on ear-flap behind. . . .
euryorus.
cc. Many scales of sides with squarish light-colored areas (bronze or purplish in
life), these forming more or less distinct longitudinal rows; rest of body
dusky olive miniatus.
aa. Portion of opercular flap bearing black spot very thin and flexible.
f. Bony portion of operculum terminating in front of the middle of the black
opercular spot, which is confined chiefly to the broad pale (pinkish in life)
membranous (not osseous)border; in life olive with orange spots; cheeks and
opercles with wavy broken lines of rusty orange; no Mack blotch at base
of last dorsal rays. (Fig. 63) humilis.
ff. Bony portion of operculum continued backward as a thin and flexible
osseo-membranous flap, which is all or nearly all black, the longitudinal
bone-striae being visible through its ensheathing epidermis. (Fig. 62.)
g. Gill-rakers short and weak, their length ni >t i iver J; eye; no black spot at base
of last dorsal rays; olive with blue and orange spots and wavy vertical
streaks of emerald; cheeks with wavy lines of emerald megalotis.
gg. Gill-rakers rather long and slender, their length nearly i of eye; a black blotch
at base of last dorsal rays; life-color olive, with purplish luster. . pallidus.
LEPOMIS CYANELLUS Rafinesque
(lU.UE-SPOTTED SUNFISH; GREEN SUNFISH)
Rafinesque, 1819, Jour, de Physique, 420.
J. X- C, . 173. M V , 117; B., I, 21 (Apomotis); J. & E., I. 996; X . 37 (Telipomis
cyanellus and T. microps); ]., 45 (Apomotis); 1\ P . I 3. 47 (Apomotis); F.,
69; L., 25 (Apomotisi; R., 27-32.
Length 4 to 7 inches; body elongate robust, becoming somewhal
shorter and deeper with age; dorsal outline rather more curved than
X
z
w
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o
LEPOMIS- -SUNFISHES
249
ventral; depth 2 . 1 to 2 . S in length, usually about 2.2. Color olivaceous,
taking on a yellowish or coppery tinge below; each scale with a spot of
emerald-green, the spots forming more or less distinct rows, most evident
on the caudal peduncle; sides marked with seven or eight vertical bars of
dusky, gradually fading backward; two spots of emerald-green in front of
eye and one just behind it; three or four wavy lines of same color on
cheek below eye, two or three of them continued backward across opercle ;
iris red; bony portion of gill-flap very dark green to blackish, with poste-
rior edging of darker; membranous margin of flap coppery to purplish,
the color strongest on lower posterior portion; fins all dusky, pectorals
least so; soft dorsal and anal with large black blotch at base of last rays,
the former with a very narrow outer margin of whitish ; anal very dark
at base, paler outward, and edged below with rich yellow or orange;
ventrals dusky near base, paler behind. Head 2 .4 to 3 in length, broad
and flat above; the profile rather long and usually quite straight, becom-
ing slightly angled above eye in old speci-
mens; eye 3 . 8 to 5 . 2 in head, usually about
5 in adults; mouth very large, lower jaw
projecting be\7ond upper; maxillary ex-
tending to middle of orbit, 2 to 2.5 in
head; supplemental maxillary well de-
veloped; teeth present on vomers and
palatines; lower pharyngeals narrow but
strong, the teeth long and bluntly acumi-
nate; flexible margin of opercular flap
fleshy, broad behind and below, narrower
above; gill-rakers long and stiff, the longest
fullv i diameter of eye. Dorsal IX or X,
10 to 12, spinous less than half the height
of soft portion ; longest dorsal spine 3 to 4 . 2
in head, usually about 4 in adults; anal III,
9 or 10, the spines short and strong; pec-
torals short, rounded behind, 1 . S to 1 . 7 in
head ; ventrals reaching to or a little past
vent, never to first anal spines. Scales 6 or
7, 45-49, 15 or 16; those on cheeks in 7 to
10 rows.
Fir
Opercular flaps of Lepomis cy-
anellus, one figure entire, the
other showing flap denuded
of epidermis and fleshy or
membranous border.
This beautiful little sunfish is much
the commonest of its family in our smaller streams, and is, indeed,
often almost the sole sunfish product of the net in the prairie creeks.
Contrasting with the warmouth, it is most abundant in creeks
(1.56), and is next so in the smaller rivers (.76). In the larger
rivers and in the lowland lakes it occurs sparingly, but it has not
been taken by us at all from the clear upland lakes of the glacial
deposits, nor from any of the waters of the Michigan drainage. It
has occurred in no less than 315 of our collections; that is, in about
a fifth of the whole number made. Its preference is for a quiet cur-
rent, in which respect it agrees with the next two species. It is
250 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
evidently not afraid of mud, as is shown by its general distribution
over the lower glaciation of southern Illinois.
While the warmouth and the rock bass avoid each other in great
measure by their strikingly different relations to water and bottom,
the former being a mud-loving fish and the latter found mainly in
clear rocky waters, the green sunfish avoids the other two by its
strong preference for the smaller streams, into which they enter
much less freely. The advantage of this avoidance of each other's
company is evident when we take into account the similar food
habits of these three species — all neglecting mollusks and crusta-
ceans and depending for food on fishes and insects. Owing, how-
ever, to their different ecological and local distribution, their coeffi-
cients of association are much below the average for their family—
1.17 for the rock bass and the warmouth, 1.51 for the rock bass and
the green sunfish, and 1.19 for the green sunfish and the warmouth —
or a general average of 1.29 for the group, to be compared with a
general family average of 1 . 86.
This sunfish is, according to our data, about twice as abundant in
southern Illinois as in either central or northern, our frequency ratio
for the first division being 1.5, and . 7 1 and . 78 f< >r the other two. In
general range it is a fish of the Mississippi Valley, distributed from
the Great Lakes to Mexico, and occurring everywhere in small slug-
gish brooks. It is not reported from Canada and is not found east
of the Alleghanies.
It is an excellent pan-fish, although small, weighing usually not
more than a quarter of a pound. It takes the hook readily with
worm bait, and is a sprightly little fighter for so small a species. The
food of the species, as illustrated by that of eight specimens, was
more than a third fishes, and the remainder insects and crawfishes.
It was found by Mr. Surface spawning at Meredosia as late as
August 14, 1899.
LEPOMIS ISCHYRUS (Jordan & Nelson)
Jordan & Nelson, 1877, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., X, 25 (Lepiopomus).
J. & G.. 474; M. V.. 117; B., I, 22 (? Apomotis cyanellus [part]); J. & E., I, 997
(Apomotis); X , 37 (Icthelis aquilensis); J., 45 (Lepiopomis) ; 1\, 68; L., 24 (Apo-
motis cyanellus) ; R , 27-32.
Length 5 to 7 inches; robust and rather elongate, the back consider-
ably elevated, the form resembling that of Lepomis pallidas; depth J to
2 in length. Life colors no1 known; in spirits dusky olive with mottlin^s
<>f orange and blue; faint blue1 bands on cheeks; dorsal and anal tins with
dtiskv spot on last ravs; belly and lower fins coppery yellow. Head 2.6
to 2 . 7 in length, its top short and much flattened; profile conspicuously
LEPOMIS SUXFISHES 251
angled above eye; eye small, 4.7 to 5 in head; mouth large, the lower
jaw slightly longer than the upper; maxillary extending to middle of eye,
2 . S to 3 in head; a well-developed supplemental maxillary bone; teeth
on palatines; lower pharyngeals narrow but strong, the teeth heavy and
bluntly pointed, as in L. cyanellns; flexible margin of opercular flap
broad and rather thick and fleshy ; gill-rakers long, stiff, and rough, -\
diameter of eye. Dorsal X or XI, 12; the spines strong and low, the
longest scarcely reaching from snout to middle of orbit, 3.1 to 3.4 in
head; anal III, 9 or 10; pectorals short, 1 .4 to 1 . 7 in head; ventrals ex-
ceeding vent, not reaching anal. Scales 7 or 8, 43-49, 14 or IS; 6 or 7
rows on cheek.
Described in 1877 from a single specimen, taken in the Illinois
River, the exact locality unknown. Not again taken until 1899,
when two excellent adult specimens were obtained from the Illinois
River at Meredosia. Not known outside of Illinois. Here descril led
from 3 specimens, of which one is the original type.
LEPOMIS SYMMETRICUS Forbes
Forbes, 1883, Jordan and Gilbert's Synopsis, 473.
B , I, 21 (Apomotis); J. & E., I, 998 (Apomotis); F„ 6S; L., 24 (Apomotis); R., 33.
Length 2A inches; body robust, rather short and deep; dorsal and
ventral outlines about equally curved, giving the fish a distinctively
symmetrical appearance; profile almost straight, the angle at nape usu-
ally inappreciable; depth 1.9 to 2 in length. Color in life green, with
darker bars; in spirits light to darker brown; each scale with a basal
spot of darker, the spots appearing as indistinct rows from before back-
ward, 12 or 13 in number^ body and fins with numerous small coffee-
colored specks; tips of ventrals dusky; a black ocellated spot at base of
last dorsal rays in young specimens. Head 2.7 to 2.8 in length; eye
2.8 to 3.3 in head; mouth moderate, maxillary reaching to middle of
orbit, 2 . 4 to 2 . 6 in head; a well-developed supplemental maxillarv bone;
teeth on vomers and palatines; lower pharyngeals narrow, as in other
species of Lepomis, the teeth conical, but rather heavy and bluntly
pointed; operculum short, very broadly rounded behind, its membra-
nous margin not very broad; gill-rakers rather long and slender, but firm,
the longest more than A diameter of eye. Dorsal IX or X, 10 or 11; the
spines moderate, not very short, the longest reaching from snout to
pupil, 2 to 2.5 in head; anal III, 9 or 10; pectorals 1.1 to 1.3 in head;
ventrals short, hardly exceeding vent. Scales large, S or 6, 32 to 37,
12 to 14; lateral line incomplete; 4 or 5 rows of scales on cheeks.
This symmetrical little species is rather rare in Illinois, which is
the northern boundary of its area of distribution. It has been taken
by us, in fact, but nine times, all but two of the collections— made
from the Illinois River at Pekin — coming from localities in extreme
southern Illinois, as follows: Anderson's branch and Running Lake
in Union county; and Drew pond, a pond near Hawthorne, and the
252 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Little Wabash River in White county. Elsewhere it is reported
from the Mississippi Valley southward as far as New Orleans, and
Houston, Texas. Jordan and Evermann say that it is not infre-
quent in the lower Mississippi Valley, and that in Texas it is a com-
mon pan-fish.
Fig. 61
LEPOMIS EURYORUS McKay
McKay, 1881, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 89.
f. & !G.. 481; M V., 119; B., I, 24 (? Lepomis auritus [pan]). I & E., I, lens
(Eupomotis). R ., 32
Length 6 to 8 inches; body rather robust and somewhat elongate;
depth 2 to 2.3 in length. Color in life not very well known; in spirits
dusky olive mottled with darker, the general appearance very much as
in E. gibbosus; fin-membranes dusky, darker tessellations behind on soft
dorsal and anal and near base of caudal; opercular spot black, the mar-
gin paler, with some red or coppery behind in life. Head 2.6 to 2.9 in
length; eye 3.8 to 4.3 in head; mouth large, oblique, maxillary reaching
considerably past front of orbit, 2.6 to 2.9 in head; jaws about equal;
supplemental maxillary well developed; teeth on vomers and palatines:
lower pharyngeals narrow, but strong, teeth conical, heavy and bluntly
pointed; opercle produced backward, sharply rounded posteriorly, the
margin wide; gill-rakers well developed, the longest \ diameter of c\ e,
rather stiff and rough. Dorsal X, 11 or 12; the spines low, slightly
longer than from snout to eye in young specimens, 2.2 to 2.7 in head;
anal III, 9 or 10; pectorals short, 1 .3 to 1 .4 in head; ventrals reaching
slightly past vent. Scales 6 or 7, 43-45, 14 or 1 5 ; those on cheeks small,
in 6 to 8 rows.
One i>f the rarest of our sunfishes, and known in this state only
by nasi hi i >f 1 w< i v< iung specimens taken by us in Crooked creek, near
La Harpe, Hancock county, in 1900. It was originally described
LEPOMIS SUNFISHES 253
from the lower part of Lake Huron. It has been taken sparingly in
northern Indiana and Ohio, in Minnesota, and in southern Michigan.
Nothing is on record concerning its habits or its life history.
LEPOMIS MINIATUS Jordan
Jordan, 1877, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., X, 26.
J. & G.. 476; Forbes, Bull. 111. State Lab. Nat. Hist., II. 2, 135 (garmani); M V ,
119 (garmanil; B . I. 24 (auritus [part]), 27 (garmani); J. & E., I. 1002 (also
garmani); L . 24 (garmani).
Length 4 inches; body rather short and deep, usually more or less
regularly elliptical ; variously robust or rather thin ; depth 1.8 to 2 in
length, usually about 2 in adults. Color dark olive; sides below lateral
line striped with rows of bronze or purplish spots, the rows about 7 or 8
in number; under parts light, with some brassy luster; upper part of
head almost black; cheeks dark bluish green; ear-flap black, its upper
and lower margin silvery, sometimes a posterior edging of pale; outer
third of soft dorsal and anal reddish brown with narrow edging of paler;
caudal reddish behind, with faint pale edging; iris red before and behind
pupil. Head 2 . 9 to 3 . 1 in length; profile usually with a more or less
decided depression at nape, sometimes almost straight; eye 3. 9 to 4.3 in
head; mouth smaller than in preceding species, maxillary 2.5 to 3 in
head, usually about 2.7, reaching but a little past front of orbit; a small
supplemental maxillary bone; teeth present on vomers and palatines;
lower pharyngeals narrow but heavy, the teeth long but blunt; oper-
culum short and broadly rounded behind, its membranous margin broad
and fleshy ; gill-rakers stout and short, about £ diameter of eye. Dorsal
X, 10 or 1 1 ; the spines variable, usually rather low, longest 1 . 9 to 2 . 7 m
head; anal III, 8 to 10; pectorals variable, always considerably shorter
than head, sometimes but slightly longer than to back of cheek in adults ;
their length 1.2 to 1.6 in length of head; ventrals always extending to
vent, sometimes to anal. Scales 5, 34-41, 13 or 14, the number in the
lateral line usually nearer 40 than 34; 4 or 5 rows on cheek.
A comparatively rare sunfish, taken by us but twenty-four times,
and mostly from the bottom-land lakes and ponds of the Illinois
River. We have collected it also from two localities on the Wabash,
from one on the Mississippi in Hancock county, and from one on a
branch of the Kankakee. It is evidently a southern species, rang-
ing to Florida and Louisiana, and it is not reported by Hay or Osburn
in listing the fishes of Indiana or Ohio. It is said to be common in
some streams of Texas. Specimens taken by the senior author in
1880 and 1885 from the Little Fox River at Phillipstown, in White
county, and from the Wabash River and Drew pond, near Carmi,
were described under the name of Lepomis garmani.
Females with mature ova, and spawning or about to spawn, were
caught by Dr. Kofoid May 18, 1896, and Craig reported it appar
ently spawning between the 20th and the 30th of Mav, 1898.
254
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
LEPOMIS MEGALOTIS (Rafinesque)
(long-eared sunfish)
Rafinesque, 1820, Ichth. Oh., 29 (Ichthelis).
J. & G., 477; M. V., 118; J. & E.. I, 1002; B., I, 26; X., 3S (Ichthelis megalotis and
sanguinolentus); ]., 46 (Xenotis megalotis, inscriptus, and peltastes) ; F. F.,
I. 3, 53 (Xenotis peltastes, etc.); F., 68; L., 24; R., 34.
Length 3£ to 6 inches; body short and deep; back much elevated
and profile steep, sometimes excessively so in adults; angle at nape
usually rather prominent; depth 1.8 to 2.3 in length. Color light to
darker olive; sides irregularly spotted with orange and emerald, spots
of latter color often forming somewhat in-
distinct wavy vertical streaks; belly pale to
bright orange; cheeks light olive to orange,
with wavy streaks of emerald ; opercular flap
entirely black or with a very narrow pale
margin, pinkish to light crimson behind;
iris reddish before and behind pupil ; mem-
branes of soft dorsal and anal pale orange;
pectorals dusky, usually less so than in
females. Head 2.8 to 3.3 in length; eye 3
to 4 in head; mouth moderate, 2.4 to 2.7
in head in adults, maxillary extending almost
to middle of orbit ; no supplemental maxil-
lary bone and no palatine teeth ; lower phar-
yngeals narrow and weak, the teeth slender
and acutely pointed ; opercular flap variously
developed, in adults generally very long (al-
ways much shorter in young), often li times
snout, usually rather broadened behind, with
or without pale margin; gill-rakers short, not
over J diameter of eye, very soft and weak.
Dorsal X, 11, the spines usually low, the
longest reaching from snout to middle of eye.
2.1 to 2.8 in head in adults, usually over
2.6; pectorals short, 1 to 1.2 in head; ven-
trals usually reaching somewhat beyond first
anal spine. Scales 5. 3 7-39, 14, those on
cheeks in about 5 rows.
I'h
Opercular flaps of Lepomis
megalotis, one figure en-
tire, the other showing
flap denuded of epidermis
and fleshy or membranous
border.
This is a very showy sunfish, one i if
the most brilliant, in its breeding colors, of our fresh-water fishes.
Its distribution in Illinois is peculiar in the fact that it is extremely
abundant in the southern and eastern parts of the state, occurring
everywhere in the smaller streams, including those of the lower
glaciation, and often likewise in the larger rivers, while in the
remainder of the slate, although generally distributed, it is com-
paratively scarce, and is to be found mainly along the principal
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LEPOMIS SUNFISHES 255
streams, and not widely distributed through the country at large.
Our frequency statistics, derived from 151 collections, show that
this is a sunfish of the creeks and smaller rivers, where its coefficients
are 2.98 and 2.35 respectively, the corresponding figures for the
larger rivers and for lowland lakes being . 17 and .14. In the up-
land lakes we have not taken it at all.
Northward this species grades into a smaller dwarfish variety,
probably Xenotis lythrochloris, which has been taken only in the
clear swift water of the Fox at Ottawa, Lacon, and Algonquin ; in the
Du Page at Naperville ; in the Vermilion at Pontiac and Fairbury : in
a small creek in Du Page county ; and in Indian creek, La Salle county.
These small forms have the ear-flaps red and the scales of the cheek
smaller than typical megalotis. Their size is alone sufficient to dis-
tinguish them, gravid females having been found only If inches
long, and no specimen exceeding three inches.
Found outside our limits in Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan ; i in
the south Atlantic coast in Georgia and the Florida peninsula ;
through the Ohio and Missouri basins to Iowa and Minnesota, and
thence south through Arkansas to the Rio Grande. It is said to avoid
muddy water, is especially abundant in small brooks, and frequents
deep still places in rivers and clear ponds. It is wanting in the
Atlantic drainage of the northern and middle states.
The long-eared sunfish is not ordinarily more than four or five
inches long, and has no commercial importance. Our scanty ob-
servations indicate that it feeds on aquatic insects, mostly larva? of
gnats and day-flies. Notwithstanding its more limited distribution,
it is a frequent companion of the green sunfish (coefficient of asso-
ciation, 2.65), and inhabits similar waters where it is most abun-
dant.
LEPOMIS HUMILIS (Girard)
(orange-spotted sunfish)
Girard, 1857, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 201 (Bryttus).
J. & G.. 470; M. V., 118; J. & E., I. 1004; B., I, 30 (Eupomotis) ; N., 38 (Ichthelis
anagallinus) ; ]., 45 (Lepiopomis anagallinus) ; F., 68; L., 24; R., 34.
Size small, length not over 3J inches; body elongate, compressed, the
back almost carinate for some distance in front of the dorsal; dorsal out-
line usually somewhat more curved than ventral; profile long and grad-
ual, usually nearly straight, the angle at the nape in most cases very
slight, and greatest in males; depth 2.1 to 2.5 in length, usually aboul
2.4. Color light olive, the sides sprinkled with tine dots of gold to
emerald; belly deep orange, dusted with brown; sides with about 20
256
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
to 30 orange spots, somewhat smaller in size than the pupil, irregu-
larly distributed, their color deeper and brighter in males than in
females, the spots usually a dull brown in the latter; top of head
slatv; a suggestion of wavy lines of emerald on cheeks; black color on
the opercular flap mostly confined to the mem-
branous portion, barely tipping the operculum; the
pale margin of the membrane quite wide, its color
variable — pale lavender, pinkish, or light crimson;
spinous dorsal with narrow edging of crimson and
soft portion with wide margin of orange in males;
ventrals and anal orange, color deeper and approach-
ing crimson in males ; distal margin of anal dusky ;
other fins plain. Head 2 . 3 to 2 . 9 in length, its top
long, flattened or very little convex ; eye 3.7 to 4 . 5
in head; mouth moderate, maxillary extending past
front of orbit, never to its middle, 2 . 7 to 3 in head ;
jaws about equal; lower pharyngeals narrow, very
weak, the teeth slender and very acutely pointed;
opercular bone sharply rounded backward, black only
at its tip; the membranous flap long and broad and
very thin, not forming a pale edging only, but bear-
ing the most of the black color of the opercular
spot; gill-rakers long, rather more than J diameter
of eye. Dorsal X, 10 or 11; spinous and soft por-
tions of about equal height; the spines slender, rather
long, the longest 2.4 to 2 . 6 in head in adults, usually
about 2.5; anal III, 9; pectorals 1 to 1.3 in head,
usually about 1.1; ventrals reaching to base of first
anal spine. Scales 4 or 5, 34-42, 11 to 13; pores
lacking on some scales; rows on cheek 5 or 6.
This is a showy and, indeed, a brilliant little fish, of a size so
small that it is ornamental only. Our 177 collections were taken
most frequently from creeks (2.06), next from the smaller rivers
(1.51), and then from lowland lakes (1.19), none at all coming
from upland glacial lakes. They were well distributed through the
state, most abundantly, however, in the prairie region of central
Illinois, where this species is found in frequent company with the
green sunfish. It is often taken along the shore of the Illinois River
and in adjacent lakes and sloughs, hut has been rare or absent in
extreme northern Illinois, occurring in the Fox and Rock river sys-
tems only near the mouths of those streams. Its general distribu-
tion in the smaller rivers, and in lakes and ponds of thebottom-lands,
brings it also into contact with the crappies. Its associative coefft-
cienl is 2.35 for the green sunfish and 2.94 for the pale crappie. If
one may judge from its feeding structures, if is protected from
serious competition with these companion species by differences in
its food.
Fig. 'i i
Opercular flaps of Le-
pomis humilis, one
figure entire, the
other showing flap
denuded of epider-
mis and fleshy or
membranous bor-
der
\\u
-^
■£.
■
P^^^
o
$
P
LEPOMIS SUN FISHES
257
It ranges widely throughout the Mississippi Valley, from Minne-
sota and South Dakota and the Ohio basin generally, to Kansas,
Arkansas, and Texas. We find no mention of it from the Atlantic
slope.
Ripe males and females in high coloration, swimming in pairs,
were taken by Dr. Kofoid in Meredosia Bay June 8, 1899. The sexes
present a notably different appearance in outline as well as in color,
the males having the forehead concave, the profile steeper, and the
ventrals longer than the females.
LEPOMIS PALLIDUS (Mitchill)
(bluegill; blue suxfish)
Mitchill, 1815. Trans. Lit. and Phil. Soc. N. Y., 407 (Labrus).
J. & G., 479; M. V . 118; J. & E . I, 1005; B., I, 29 (Eupomotis); N., 37 (Ichthelis
incisor and speciosus) ; J., 45 (Lepiopomus) ; F. F., I., 3, 48 (Lepiopomus) ; F.,
67; L., 25; R., 34.
Length of adults 5 to 8 inches, the body compressed, short and deep,
extremely so in adults; the dorsal outline somewhat more curved than
the ventral; profile rather steep, not sharply angled at nape but exca-
vate in a shallow curve which continues almost to end of snout, giving
the nose an upturned appearance;
depth 1 . 9 to 2.2, usually about 2.
Color light to dark olive, with more
or less luster of purple to lavender;
adults usually very dark; belly yel-
low or rich yellowish brown, with
margins of scales lighter; about six
more or less distinct wavy vertical
bars of dusky on sides, most appar-
ent below lateral line, usually be-
coming obsolete in adults ; snout dull
slate, velvety ; chin emerald; cheeks
and opercles olive with iridescent
gold and emerald ; gill-flap deep blue-
black behind, velvety, without evi-
dent pale margin, the black of the
flap sometimes lightening to a dull
emerald-green ; fins all more or less
dusky, ventrals and anal most so;
pei torals almost plain, pale; dorsal
with a diffuse but usually evident black blotch at base of last rays.
Head short, small, 2 9 to 3.4 in length, usually about 3.1 in adults;
- 2.9 to 3.9 in head; mouth small, very oblique, the jaws equal;
illary scarcely readme; Ironl ol orbit, 2 9 to 3.3 in head in adults;
supplemental maxillary very rudimentary or wanting; no teeth on pal-
FlG. 64
Fig. 65
Lower left pharyngeal of Lepomis pal-
lidus: Fig. 64, from above; Fig. 65,
(nun bel >\\
258 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
atines; lower pharyngeals narrow and weak, the teeth slender and sharp;
operculum more or less prolonged backward in adults, always rather wide
and bluntlv rounded posteriorly, usually rather conspicuously striate
longitudinally, the membranous margin very narrow or wholly wanting,
its color when present very little if any lighter than the black of the
osseous portion of the flap ; gill-rakers rather long and slender, but firm
the longest almost J diameter of eye. Dorsal X, 10 to 12, usually X, 1 1
spines long, the longest 1.3 to 2.4 in head, usually about 2 in adults
anal III, 10 or 12 ; pectorals long, pointed behind, about equal to head or
a little less, . 9 to 1 in head, usually about 1 in adults; ventrals reaching
anal. Scales 6, 38-48, 13 or 14; those on cheek in 5 rows.
This is the principal sunfish of our larger rivers, and the one ap-
pearing most frequently in the large nets of the regular river fisher-
men. It occurs throughout the state, but is generally limited to the
larger streams and their principal tributaries, except that it is com-
mon in the northeastern glacial lakes. It has also been taken by
us in the Michigan drainage. Judging from our 214 collections,
it is primarily a pond species, its frequency ratio in the ponds and
lakes being 1.6. In flowing streams it is commonest in the larger
rivers, and least common in creeks.
Along the Atlantic coast it is found from New Jersey to the
Florida peninsula ; in the Great Lakes, from Ontario westward, rang-
ing thence to the south and west through the Ohio and the lower
Missouri basins to New Orleans and Texas.
It is said by Jordan and Evermann to be perhaps the best known
and certainly the most important of all our true sunfishes, decidedly
a lake species everywhere, but more abundant in the smaller lakes.
It is the largest of our sunfishes, reaching a length of twelve to
twenty-four inches and a weight of nearly a pound, the maximum
weight being about a pound and a half.
In the food of twenty-six specimens we have found a trace of
fishes — a single darter eaten by one — a moderate percentage of uni-
valve mollusks, a large ratio of insects (45 per cent.), and many of
the medium-sized Crustacea. The insect food is derived in great
measure from larger aquatic larvae than most of our sunfishes feed
upon. The stomachs of some of our specimens were found to con-
tain as much as 24 per cent, of aquatic vegetation — too large a quan-
tity to have been swallowed accidentally with the animals eaten.
Its food differs in detail, however, according to the situation in
which it is found.
The bluegill moves in schools, and maybe caught with almost
any kind of bait or tackle. Its flesh is firm and flaky, and it is not
excelled as a pan-fish by any of our species, unless it be the yellow
EUPOMOTIS — PUMPKINSEED SUNFISH 259
perch. The greater part of the sunfish catch of Illinois, amount-
ing to 200,000 to 500,000 pounds a year, is composed of this
species.
It spawns in May, according to our observations at Meredosia,
although Dr. Kofoid found a ripe male June 12.
Genus EUPOMOTIS Gill & Jordan
(PUMPKINSEED SUNFISH)
Form as in Lepomis; mouth always small; no supplemental maxillary
bone and no teeth on palatines; lower pharyngeals deep and broad, with
inferior and lateral prominences, the width of the toothed portion about
2 in its length; pharyngeal teeth short with the upper surfaces bluntly
rounded or paved (truncate) ; gill-rakers short ; fins ratlrer long ; red color
on opercular flap in typical species forming a roundish spot. Eastern
United States and Canada; 3 species. .
Key to Species or EUPOMOTIS found in Illinois
a. Pectorals reaching vertical from base of last anal spine; wavy lines on cheeks
faint; border of opercular flap red in male, pale in female heros.
aa. Pectorals scarcely reaching front of anal; evident lines of emerald on cheeks;
opercular flap with a blood-red or orange spot at its lower posterior cor-
ner (white in preserved specimens) gibbosus.
EUPOMOTIS HEROS (Baird & Girard)
Baird & Girard, 1S54, Proc. Ac. Xat. Sci. I'hila . 25 (Pomotis).
J. & G.. 4so (Lepomis). 482 (L. notatus); J. & E , I, 1007; B., I, 32; F., 67 (Lepomis
notatus); L., 2i; R., 35.
Length 6 to 8 inches; depth 2. 1 to 2.3 in length. Color pale olive,
slightlv mottled; opercular flap black with a wide border, which is
blood-red in males, pale in females. Head in length 2 . 7 to 3 ; profile not
angled at nape; eye 3.7 to 4 in head; mouth rather small, the lower
jaw but slightly projecting; maxillary 3 . 1 to 3 .3 in head; teeth presi n1
on vomer, but not on tongue or palatines; lower pharyngeals broad,
with short blunt teeth; flexible margin of opercular flap fleshy; gill-rakers
very short, the longest about I eye. Dorsal X, 11, the longest spine
§ height of soft portion ; anal III, 10; pectorals very long, reaching past
a vertical from base of last anal spine; ventrals past vent. Scales 6,
S6 10, 14 or IS; rows on cheeks about 4.
This is a southern fish, and has occurred in our Illinois collectii >ns
only at a few points in the Wabash basin. It has occurred in Indiana
also, in the same stream and its tributaries, and it has been lately
taken in Little Eagle Lake in Kosciusko county, by Prof essor Moenk-
2 01 1
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
haus. It has been reported from the Little Miami in Hamilton
county, Ohio. From these more northerly localities it ranges south-
eastward to west Florida and south westward to the Rio Grande.
- -:
EUPOMOTIS GIBBOSUS (Linnaeus)
(pumpkinseed)
Linnseus, 1758. Syst. Nat., Ed. X, 2(>2 (Perca).
J. & G., 4S2 (Lepomis); M. V., 119 (Lepomis); J. & E., I, 1009; B., I. 32 (aureus);
N., 38 (Pomotis auritus); J., 46 (aureus); F., 67 (Lepomis); L., 25; R , 35, F.
F., I. 3, 53 (aureus).
Length of adults 5 to 8 inches ; body strongly compressed, short and
deep, the back very highly arched in adults, ventral outline less curved
than dorsal; profile steep, convex in front of dorsal, the depression at
the nape rather slight. Coloration exceedingly brilliant and somewhat
variable, olive to grassy greenish, the back
and upper portion of body finely dusted
with gold or emerald ; sides with quite
numerous and irregularly distributed large
roundish blotches, which are olive to cop-
pery in front and darker behind, or dark
all about a roundish coppery-colored cen-
tral spot; single scales below lateral line
each with a quadrate central spot, these
spots forming rows from before backward,
alternate ones coppery and forming the
central or anterior spot of the large
blotches before mentioned, the others
bright emerald or turquoise-blue; belly
light olive to orange-yellow; cheeks and
opercles crossed by four or five wavy lines
of emerald, the interspaces with mingled
coppery and gold over the ground olive,
producing the effect of a rich bronze in
well-colored examples; iris variegated blue
and greenish with some crimson above
pupil; flap of opercle velvety black behind; a definitely bounded round-
ish spot of orange or turkey-red on the lower posterior portion of the
fleshy margin; the margin above and below the spot dark to blackish
with some coppery luster; membranes of both portions of dorsal and of
caudal and anal somewhat irregularly barred with dull brownish to
orange blotches; ventrals dusky in males, paler or entirely pale in females.
Head small, short, 2.8 to 3.2 in length; the snout with a somewhat
snubbed appearance, very short, its length scarcely more than eye; i >
3.5 to4.2 m head; mouth small, the jaws equal; maxillary reaching but
a little past trout of orbit, 2 . o to 3 3 in head ; no supplemental maxillary
and no palatine teeth; lower pharyngeals broad and deep, with interior
and lateral prominences; the teeth short and stout, their upper surfaces
Lower left pharyngeal of Eupo-
motis gibbosus: Fig. 66. from
above; Fig. 67, from outside
EUPOMOTIS — PUMPKIN'SEED SUNFISH 261
bluntly rounded or paved; operculum quite firm behind, the bony por-
tion distinct from a broad paler fleshy margin; gill-rakers short and
soft, but little better developed than in L. megalotis. Dorsal X, 11 or
12 ; the spines rather high, the highest 2 to 2 .4 in head, about as long as
snout and eye. Anal III, 10 or 11; pectorals rather long, 1 to 1 . 1 in
head; ventrals exceeding vent, usually reaching to or a little past first
anal spine. Scales 5, 35-40, 13 or 14; 4 or 5 rows on cheek.
This very abundant species of extreme northern Illinois, espe-
cially common in the upland lakes of Lake and McHenry counties, is
scarcely known south of the center of the state, having occurred,
indeed, but twice in all our collections below the latitude of Spring-
field — once in Clear Lake, across the Ohio from Cairo, and once in
Drew pond, nearCarmi, on the Little Wabash River. It is essential-
ly a pond species, and is next most abundant in the smaller rivers,
our ratios being 2.16 for glacial lakes, 1.24 for lowland lakes, and
1 . 06 for rivers of the second class. We have taken it only occasi< in
ally in the larger rivers and in creeks, its absence in the latter in this
state being probably due to its preference for clear streams, in
which the greater part of our area is notably deficient. Its local dis-
tribution brings it into frequent company with the warmouth (coeffi-
cient of association, 3.72), notwithstanding the fact that the pump-
kinseed is much the most abundant northward in this state and the
warmouth decidedly so southward. Competition is evaded, how-
ever, by their widely different food and feeding structures. The
pumpkinseed is the best" fitted of all our sunfishes to crush and
devour mollusks, and we found these making nearly half the fo< >d of
nine specimens examined by us. Fishes were entirely wanting,
insects amounted only to about a fifth, and medium-sized crusta-
ceans {Allorchestes and Asellus) were represented by another fifth.
Its general range is illustrated by its Illinois distribution, except
that it extends down the Atlantic coast, at least as far as the Caro-
linas. It has, indeed, been attributed t<> Florida since the days of
Holbrook (1855), and Goode reports it as common in all the fresh
waters of that state, but we have failed to find any specific account
of its capture there or any mention of a precise locality from which it
has been taken. Northward it occurs in Ontario, Quebec, and New
Brunswick, and in Lakes Huron, Erie, Ontario, and Champlain. In
the Mississippi Valley it is found only in the northern portion, abun-
dant as far south as northern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, and
the Osage River in Kansas. Below extreme northern Illinois it is
found mainly in lakes and along the Illinois River, this stream serv
ing for this species, as for so many others, as a highway for the dis-
persal movement.
262 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
It is one of the best-known fishes of its area, especially to the
small boy. It may reach a weight of six or eight ounces and a length
of eight inches, although it is ordinarily much smaller. It is a "very
beautiful and compact little fish, perfect in all its parts, looking like
a brilliant coin fresh from the mint . ' '
The breeding habits have been described by Dr. Kirtland, who
says that the males prepare a circular nest by removing seeds and
dead aquatic plants for a space a f< » >t in diameter, excavating to a
depth of 3 to 4 inches The nests are in shallow water, and are en-
circled by aquatic plants, space being left open for the admission
of light. Observations by Dr. Reighard indicate that the male alone
is concerned in building the nest. The weight of testimony seems
also to the effect that the male guards the nest and young, although
the female may be present.* Dr. Reighard says that the male
in approaching the female to induce her to enter the nest ele-
vates and puffs out his gill-covers and erects his ear-flaps, so that
there is a brilliant display of color to the female in front. He also
saw a similar attitude assumed by the male when threatening
or attacking other males. The spawning season is May to June.
The pumpkinseed is a good pan-fish, but is not especially impor-
tant as a commercial product. It is sufficiently hardy to be trans-
ported with ease, and has been acclimatized in Europe. It is one < if
the best of fishes for keeping ponds free from mosquitoes.
Genus MICROPTERUS Lacepede
(black bass)
Body rather elongate, the back not much elevated; mouth very large;
supplemental maxillary well developed; preoperele entire; operculum
emarginate behind; teeth on jaws, vomer, and palatines; tongue usually
without teeth; gill-rakers long and slender; dorsal spines 10, the spinous
and soft dorsals confluent but divided by a deep notch; anal spines 3;
caudal emarginate; scales weakly ctenoid.
Key to the Species of MICROPTERUS
a. Mouth moderate, the maxillary never extending beyond eye, usually a little
short of back of orbit; scales on cheeks in about 17 rows; young mure or
less barred or spotted, never with a black lateral band dolomieu.
aa. Mouth very large, the maxillary in the adult extending past back of orbit;
si ilcs on cheek large, in aboul 10 rows; young with a blackish lateral
band ' salmoides.
*Dr. Smith saw both parents by a nest as a crab approached. The female re-
tired while the male attacked the crab and drove him off, after which he sought the
female and returned with her to the nest.
MICROPTERUS — BLACK BASS 263
MICROPTERUS DOLOMIEU Lacepede
(small-mouthed black bass)
Lacepede, 1802. Hist. Xat. Poiss.. IV. 525
G., I, 2S8 (Centrarchus fasciatus and obscurus); 1 & G . 485; M. V . 120; B , I, IS;
J. & E., I, 1011; X , 37 (salmoidesi. J . 44 (salmoides) . F . 67; L . 25; F. F., I.
3, tl (salmoides).
Length 12 to IS inches; body ovate-fusiform, moderately com-
pressed, becoming deeper with age; profile convex; depth 2.9 to 3.1;
greatest width about -jj greatest depth ; depth of caudal peduncle 1 . 5 to 1 . 9
in its length. Color of upper parts silvery to golden green, with faint
vermiculations of darker (olive-green) above lateral line and with 10 to
15 more or less indistinct olive-green bars below it; belly and breast
pale bluish gray to whitish; cheeks with 5 olive-green bars radiating back-
ward from eye and one forward to end of snout; iris rufous; fins nearly
plain in adults, olive to grayish, the caudal dark about margin; young
plain, or with dark spots tending to form vertical bars, never with a
dark lateral stripe; caudal of young specimens yellowish at base, and
with free margin whitish, the region between dusky; color of adults
varying* with the range, the season, and the mood of the fish. Head
2.9 to 3.7; width head 1.8 to 2.1; interorbital space convex, 3.5 to
3.9; eve 5 . 6 to 6 . 9 ; nose 3 to 3 .3 ; mouth smallerthan in the next species,
maxillary 2.1 to 2. 3, considerably shortf of back of orbit; lower jaw pro-
jecting; gill-rakers long, X + 6 or 7, + rudiments. Dorsal X (or [X),
13-15, the spinous dorsal long and low and separated by a deep notch
from soft dorsal, the fifth (longest) spine about 4 in head and the lowest
posterior spine about i height of fifth; caudal lunate; anal III (rarely
IV or II), 10-12; ventrals more than half to vent; pectorals short, little
past backward reach of ventrals, 1.9 to 2.1 in head. Scales 10-12,
66-78, 19-22; lateral line complete or nearly so; scales on cheeks in
about 1 7 rows.
Tin's is perhaps the most famous and familiar of our fresh-water
fishes, surpassing the brook trout in that respect because of its much
more general distribution, and the whitefish and the lake trout both
for that reason and because of its surpassing interest as a sports-
man's fish. It is far better known to many anglers than to our-
selves, and has been written upon so much from the angler's pi >int < if
view that we shall treat it briefly in this report.
In Illinois it is mainly a northern fish, avoid ng the lower Illi-
noisan glaciation, within whose boundaries it has occurred but once
in >>ur KM collections of the species, owing largely no doubt to its
marked preference for clear, swift water. It is much the most abun-
dant n the northern section of the state, its frequency ratio there
♦See Reighard, Henshall, etc.
+f >1«1 examples sometimes have maxillary nearly to back of orbit, according to
[ordan and Evermann
264 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
being 2.35 as compared with .32 for each of the other sections. We
have taken it most frequently from the smaller rivers, about half as
commonly from creeks, and somewhat less commonly from the clear
upland lakes of the northeastern part of the state. It has occurred
but rarely in our collections from either the larger rivers or from low-
land lakes and sloughs. Its avoidance of such situations is espe-
cially illustrated by the fact that it is recorded but five times in 546
collections examined by us from the Illinois River at Havana and
Meredosia ; that is, only 5 per cent, of the collections of this species
have been made from these Illinois River localities, from which 35
per cent, of all our collections came. Its very marked preference
for a swift current and a clean bottom is a matter of common
observation, and is shown also by the data of our collections, accord-
ing to which it has come from swift waters more than three times as
often as from a quiet current, and from a bottom of rock and sand
nearly twelve times as frequently as from one of mud.
These preferences bring about a wide separation between this
bass and the closely related species of the same genus — the large-
mouthed black bass. These two species inhabit the same general
area, may often be found in the same streams, and feed on the same
food, differing only, so far as known, in respect to the ratios of the
principal elements. Nevertheless, they avoid competition by a dif-
ference in the situations preferred. These closely allied species have,
according to our data, an associative coefficient of 1 .08, while the
small-mouthed black bass and the rock-bass, differing in characters,
habits, and food, have a coefficient of 6 . 24. In other words, the
latter two unlike species are brought by a similarity of local prefer-
ence into each other's company about three and a half times as fre-
quently as the like species of black bass. The differences of local
preference are not so great, however, but that the two species are
frequently found together. According to Jordan and Evermann,
• "Some small lakes that are rather shallow, whose bottoms are chiefly
mud and whose water is warm, are found to be well suited to the
straw bass [large-mouthed] and to be entirely without the small-
mouthed black bass. But small lakes of considerable depth, cool
water, ami with bottom partly of mud and partly <>i sand and gravel,
such as Lake Maxinkuckee, seem equally well adapted to both
\|MV1CS."
The small-mouthed bass is found wide-spread throughoul the
country, from Lake Champlaih ami the River St. Lawrence to the
Muskoka lakes in Ontario, and southward to Arkansas, northern
Mississippi and South Carolina. It is abundant in suitable situa-
MICROPTERUS BLACK BASS 265
tions on both sides of the Alleghanies, preferring clear cool streams
with moderately swift current, not infrequently being taken in swift
riffles. It is not found in warm, muddy, or sluggish water, as is the
large-mouthed bass.
Curiously little is known of its food, the literature of the subject
containing only general statements apparently based on ordinary
observations. But three specimens have been examined by us, am I
their food consisted wholly of fishes and crawfishes, approximately a
third of the first and two thirds of the second. Among the fishes
were a stonecat {Noturus flavus) and a log-perch (Percina caprodes).
The small-mouthed bass reaches a weight of 5 or 6 lb (Henshall,
Tisdale, etc.). It is always easily distinguished from the large-
mouthed species by the shorter maxillary, which never extends to a
vertical from the back of the orbit, and by the smaller scales, of
which there are 17 rows on the cheeks, and 10 or 11 longitudinal
series between the mid-dorsal and the lateral line. In the large-
mouthed form the maxillary extends past a vertical from the back
of the orbit, and the scales are considerably larger, there being only 9
or 10 rows on the cheeks and 8 or 9 longitudinal series of scales above
the lateral line. The young of the small-mouthed bass have a dusky
bar crossing the caudal fin, and lack the dark lateral stripe which
characterizes the young of the large-mouthed species. This fish is
often called "tiger bass" in the East and North.
The small-mouthed bass will take live minnows or any other live
bait, and does not disdain the artificial fly. In the words of Dr.
Henshall, often quoted, "He is plucky, game, brave and unyielding
to the last when hooked. He has the arrowy rush of the trout and
bold leap of the salmon, while he has a system of fighting tactics
peculiarly his own. * * * I consider him, inch for inch ami
pound for pound, the gamest fish that swims."
The small-mouthed bass hibernates in winter, going into deep
places under the shelter of rocks and remaining torpid till spring
(Tisdale).
This species, like the next, builds a nest,* usually in about three
feet of water on a bottom of sand or gravel. The male roots down
into the bottom, fanning away the sand with his tail, until mud is
reached, about 3 or 4 inches below the sand. The sand forms
a ridge a few inches high around the nest, and a log often forms an
additional shelter on one side. The females are not about dur-
ing the nest-building, which occupies from 4 to 48 hours. When
*In the account of the nesting habits we follow, except when otherwise stated,
Lydell (Bull. U. S. Fish Comm, 1902, pp 39-44).
266 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
the nest is finished, the male seeks the female to induce her to enter
the nest, biting her gently and swimming across beneath her,
striking her as he passes. The eggs and milt are deposited with the
vents of the two sexes approximated. After the eggs are all laid, in
successive ovipositions, the male drives the female away, himself
remaining alone to guard the nest. Dr. Reighard has found that in
both this and the next species the male cares for the eggs till hatched,
and watches over the young till they are well grown. He found
the small-mouthed bass spawning in Michigan between the end of
April and the end of June. Nest-building was begun at a tempera-
ture of 60° Fahr., but the eggs were not laid till the water reached
62° to 65°. Tisdale states that it takes six years for a weight of 3
lb to be reached, growth continuing after that at about half a
pound a year till a weight of 6 lb is attained.
Though practically unexcelled as a fresh-water game fish, this
species does not take the highest rank as food, being, in the words
of Dr. Henshall, "inferior to trout and whitefishes, and perhaps
even to pike and channel-cat."
Artificial propagation of this and the next species by taking and
impregnating the eggs has not been successful. The eggs are not
stripped easily, and it is necessary to kill the male in order to get the
milt. Pond culture is resorted to with considerable success, the per-
centage of natural fertilizations in well-regulated ponds closely
approaching the percentage obtained by artificial means for species
best adapted to artificial culture. This high ratio is of course due 1<>
the fact that the parent guards the eggs. Pond culture has for
several years been in successful operation in Missouri and in Michi-
gan, and steps have lately been taken towards the establishment
of breeding ponds on the upper Fox River in Illinois. The eggs
of the species range in number from 2,000 to 10,000 per individual.
The fry will endure shipping long distances in the cool days of
spring or autumn or in midwinter.
The small-mouthed bass, while taken in considerable numbers by
anglers in the northern part of Illinois, does not figure in the com-
mercial fisheries of this state.
MICROPTERUS BLACK BASS 267
MICROPTERUS SALMOIDES (Lacepede)
(large-mouthed black bass)
Lacepede, 1802, Hist. Xat. Poiss.. 716 (Labrus).
J & G., 484; M. V., 120; B., I, 16; J. & E., I, 1012; N., 36 (nigricans); ]., 44 (palli-
dus); F. F., I. 3, 39 (pallidus); F., 67; L., 25.
Length 15 to 18 inches ; form as in last species, depth 2 . 9 to 3.2; great-
est width about f greatest depth ; depth caudal peduncle 1 . 6 to 1 . 8 in its
length. Color of back and sides above rather dark green, growing lighter
toward axis, and everywhere obscurely mottled with darker in ill-defined
blotches; middle of side traversed by a dark streak (indistinct in old
specimens), which is formed of more or less irregular and discontinuous
blotches of dark sage-green ; belly opaque greenish white, sometimes with
a faint rosv tint; iris sooty green with bronze luster and with a narrow
inner rim of gold; fins pale olive-buff, the dorsal and caudal darker than
the others; anal opaque whitish toward tip; young with the lateral band
conspicuous and as a rule little broken into spots, passing forward through
eye to end of snout; caudal of young specimens pale near base and outer
margin, between which is a dark band. Head 2 . 8 to 2 . 9 ; width of head
1.9 to 2 . 4 ; uvterorbital space convex, 3.5 to 4.3; eye 5.8 to 7.6; nose
3.5 to 4 ; mouth very large, maxillary reaching past hinder margin of
orbit, 1.9 to 2.1 in head; lower jaw rather more prominently projecting
than in M. dolomieu; gill-rakers long, 7 or 8 on lower limb of arch, be-
sides rudiments. Dorsal X (occasionally IX), 12-13, the spinous sep-
arated from the soft portion by a very deep notch, the last spine
scarcely more than J length of fifth; longest spine about 4 in head;
caudal lunate; anal III (or II), 10-11 (or 12) ; ventrals half way to vent;
pectorals short, 2 to 2 . 4 in head. Scales 8 or 9, 62-68, 14-18; lateral
line complete or nearly so; scales on cheeks in 9 or 10 rows.
In marked contrast to the preceding species, the large-mouthed
black bass is distributed mainly along the principal streams or the
lower courses of their larger tributaries, but it is not by any means
confined to these, occurring in lower proportion in the smaller
streams as well. It is also more equally distributed throughout the
state than the small-mouthed bass, and by passing freely into the
lower Illinoisan glaciation illustrates its indifference to warm and
muddy water. We have found it relatively commoner, in our 2 1 1 col-
let-lions, in the southern part of the state than in the central, and
s. imewhat more so in central than in northern Illinois, the coefficients
of frequency being 1 .23, .97 and .SG^respectively. Our data show a
fairly equal distribution of this species throughout the various situa-
tions open to it, the ratios for lowland and upland lakes, for creeks,
and the smaller rivers, being approximately equal, and those for the:
larger rivers about half as large.
268 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
The general area of the species extends from Lake Huron, the
upper St Lawrence, and the Red River of the North, southward to
Florida, Texas, and northern Mexico. Its western limit is in eastern
Nebraska and the Dakotas, and within these boundaries it is every-
where common in rivers, lakes, and bayous, generally preferring
still or sluggish waters.
The food of this bass as shown bjr an examination of fourteen
adults, was mainly fishes and crawfishes, the former consisting
largely of minnows, but containing^ likewise catfish, gizzard-shad,
and spiny-finned species. The crawfish amounted to only 7 per
cent., and the insect food to mere traces.
The color, and other differential characters of this and the last
species have been in as much question among angling enthusiasts as
its scientific nomenclature among systematic ichthyologists. Named
by Lacepede "Labrus salmoides," and frequently called "trout" in
the South, it had the misfortune to be called "black" (Hum nigri-
cans) by Cuvier and Valenciennes, and "pale" (Lepomis pallida) by
Rafinesque, all within the space of a few years at the beginning
< if the last century. As a matter of fact, both species are variable in
color, in the words of Dr. Henshall, "running through all the shades
of slate, green, olive and yellow, to almost white." To any one who
is acquainted well enough with their anatomical differences to distin-
guish them certainly without reference to color it will soon be evi-
dent that their variability in color leaves little chance for debate as
to "which is the black bass and which the green bass," such discus-
si< >ns being idle except for a possible small local value.
Consistently with its habit of living in sluggish or still water, this
species is somewhat less active than the last. It will, however, leap
five or six feet out of the water to escape a net, and is for that reason
called tlie "jumper" in some localities. It ranks high as a game
fish, although it is not so much sought by anglers as its small-
mouthed relative. It will take live minnows and other live baits, as
grasshoppers, frogs, and helgramites, and is also caught by fly-fish-
ing. It reaches a weight of 8 or 9 lb in this latitude, 6 or 8 lb usu-
ally being the limit, and specimens averaging rather below 4 lb.
In the South the species grows larger, reaching 12 to 14 lb (Hen-
shall).
Its breeding habits do not differ greatly from those of the small-
mouthed bass. Its nests* are built and protected by the males,
and are usually placed among fallen leaves or fibrous rootlets, or,
♦In tin account of nesting and spawning habits we follow Reighard (Mich.
Fish ('..mm. Rep . 1903-04, Appendix).
PERCID.-E THE PERCHES 269
perhaps, on plain sand or gravel. The sand, gravel, or leaves are
scooped out of the center to form a ridge about the nest a few-
inches high. The male seeks the female or guards the nest till she
appears. The spawning is intermittent, and the process of sexual
excitation of the female by the male is similar to that observed in
the small-mouthed bass. The spawning season is from May to
June. The eggs are viscid, and hatch in eight to ten days. The
young are said to remain together in more compact schools than the
small-mouthed species, making it easy to seine the fry (Lydell).
They reach a length of about 6 inches in the first year after hatching.
This fish always brings a good price in the market, though it is
not specially sought. While far superior to the coarse river fishes,
it is excelled in flavor and other edible qualities by trout and white-
fish.
It bears transportation and acclimatization admirably, and
has been introduced successfully into the waters of the Pacific
states and of more than one country of Europe. It is propagated
by the methods of pond culture, but does not submit to stripping
and the ordinary methods of artificial culture used for Salmonidcs
anil other species.
The black-bass fisheries of Illinois, practically consisting alto-
gether of the present species, amounted in 1894 to nearly 90,000
lb — 69,000 lb of these coming from the Illinois River alone — and in
1899 to more than 120,000 lb, of which the Illinois River produced
102,000.
Family PERCIDjE
(the perches)
Body more or less elongate, terete or compressed ; dorsal and ventral
outlines more or less unlike; scales rather small, always ctenoid, adher-
ent; head scaly, or not; lateral line usually present, not extending on the
caudal fin; skeleton osseous; vertebrae 30 to 48, the anterior ones with-
out transverse processes; ventral fins thoracic, I, 5 ; 2 dorsal fins, the first
of 6 to IS spines; anal spines 1 or 2, the usual number 2 ; caudal fin lunate,
truncate, or rounded; no mesocoracoid ; "ill-membranes separate or con-
nected, not joined to isthmus; branchiostegals 6 or 7 ; pseudobranchias
small, glandular and concealed, or wanting; gill-rakers slender, toothed
preopen le entire or serrate; opercle usually ending in a single flat spine;
mouth various, terminal or inferior, large or small; premaxillary pro-
tractile, or not; supplemental maxillary not distinct; jaws, vomer, and
palatines with bands of teeth, which are usually villiform, but some-
times mixed with canines; vomer or palatines occasionally without
270 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
teeth; lower pharyngeals separate, with sharp teeth; pyloric caeca few;
anal papilla usually more or less developed; air-bladder small and ad-
herent, often wanting.
Fresh waters of cool regions of the northern hemisphere, mostly
confined to eastern North America and Europe; genera about 25;
species about 125, the majority of them small and belonging to
the American subfamily of Etheostomina, or darters. Besides these
little-known but unusually interesting and really beautiful small
fishes, of which we have 23 species in Illinois, the family contains
three of our best known and most highly valued food and game spe-
cies— the yellow perch, the wall-eyed pike, and the sauger. Taken
together, they form a group of highly organized, shapely, powerful,
and active fishes, thoroughly equipped for the predatory life, and
filling an important place in the ecological system of our inland
\\ a t ers. All are strictly carnivorous, and ranging as they do from a
length of an inch or an inch and a half for the least darter to one of
three feet for the wall-eyed pike, they are able to inhabit all waters,
to search all situations, and to draw their food supplies from every
class of aquatic animals, the turtles and the larger and heavier mol-
lusks only excepted. On the other hand, although they are swift
swimmers, and well armed for self-defense, we have found them fre-
quently eaten by other predaceous fishes, as well as by numbers of
their own family — burbot, black bass, bullheads, yellow perch, sun-
fish, and crappies being among the species in whose food we have
found one or another species of the Percidoe.
Key to Illinois Genera of the Family PERCIDjE
a. Pseudobranchis well developed; branchiostegals 7; no anal papilla; fishes
growing to a weight of one pound or more; preopercle distinctly serrate
below and behind, the lower serrae antrorse.
b. Canine teeth on jaws and palatines; body subcylindrical, elongate, greatest
width about J greatest depth Stizostedion.
hb. No canine teeth; body moderately compressed, the greatest width about i
of its greatest depth Perca.
aa. Pseudobranchis small or wanting; branchiostegals 6; anal papilla usually
present; small species, not exceeding 8 or 9 inches, usually much smaller;
prei 'i ici clc entire or nearly so.
c. Premaxillaries not protractile, free only at the sides, connected in front with
the skin of the forehead, from which they are not separated by a cross
groove.
d. Cranium not compressed or much elevated bade of eyes, its elevation* not
more than if of its breadth;* body as a rule more or less slender and little
! Mi a ur. in. nt of breadth and elevation is made from a point just behind the
eve. situated Oil the boundary between the top of the cheek (marked by a slight
bulge outward from the cranium, by being scaled, or, usually, by a postorbital
pore) ami the thinly and smooth-skinned parietals
STIZ0STEDI0N AMERICAN PIKE-PERCHES 271
compressed, subcylindrical or fusiform; depth in length as a rule 6 or
more; spring males ordinarily without red or other gaudy coloration.
e. Cranium broad between the eyes, the interorbital space 4 to 4.7 in head;
snout pig-like; darters of large size, reaching a length of 6 inches. Percina.
ee. Interorbital space narrower, 5.5 to 9 in head; small fishes, ordinarily not
over 4 inches in length.
f. Body moderately slender, the depth as a rule about 6 in length (sometimes 7) ;
scales not often over 70; body not hyaline in life Hadropterus.
ff. Body extremely slender, depth 7.S to 9 in length; scales 89-100; body hya-
line in life; back crossed bv 4 broad, obliquely-forward-directed dark
bands ' Crystallaria.
dd. Cranium more or less compressed and elevated back of eyes, fl -shaped, its
elevation as a rule noticeably more than J (to less than $) its breadth,
(the exceptions being species with spinous dorsal less than 60 per cent,
height of soft dorsal, and with a distinct black humeral process or scale) ;
fishes with usually more or less compressed and comparatively shortened
bodies, the depth' in length as a rule less than 6 (ii to 6); spring males
(except in species with low spinous dorsal) usually with brilliant red,
blue, or green coloration.
g. Lateral line present.
h. Lateral line not noticeably flexed upward anteriorly Etheostoma.
hh. Lateral line conspicuously flexed upward anteriorly, its direction parallel
with line of back (least distance between lateral line and middle of back in
B. fusiformis about J depth of body at same point) Boleichthys.
gg. Lateral line absent; tins very short, dorsal spines 6; size very small, length
not over li inches ' Microperca.
cc. Premaxillaries protractile, i. e., a groove separating them from the skin of
the forehead (this groove sometimes crossed by a very narrow frenum in
Cottogaster shumardi, in which also there is a black blotch at front and
back of base of spinous dorsal).
i. Groove between skin of forehead and premaxillaries ordinarily, though not
always (in Illinois species), crossed by a narrow frenum; a black spot at
front and back of base of spinous dorsal Cottogaster.
ii. Premaxillaries freely protractile, a frenum never present; no black blotch
at back of spinous dorsal fin.
j. Groove separating premaxillaries from forehead inferior, not visible except
from below; maxillary adnate to the preorbital for most of its length.
nearly immovable; anal spines 2 Diplesion.
jj. Groove separating premaxillaries from forehead superior, easily visible from
in front and above; maxillary separated by a groove from preorbital for
its entire length; anal spine single.
k. Anal fin much smaller than soft dorsal; body moderately slender, depth not
over 7 in length; not hyaline in life Boleosoma.
kk. Anal tin almost as large as soft dorsal; body extremely slender, depth in
length 8 to 10; body hyaline in life Ammocrypta.
Genus STIZOSTEDION Rafinesque
(AMERICAN PIKE-PERCHES)
Body elongate, fusiform, back broad; mouth large and premaxillar)
protractile; preopercle serrated, the serrae below turned forward (an
trorse) and spaced rather wide apart; opercle with 1 or more spines ;
teeth in villiform bands, in addition to winch sharp canines are present
Ill FISHES OF ILLINOIS
on jaws and palatines; pseudobranchiae well developed; pyloric caeca 3;
dorsal spines 12 to 15; anal spines 2, slender and closely appressed to
the soft rays; scales small, ctenoid.
Large carnivorous fishes of the fresh waters of North America
north of Mexico; 2 species known. Highly valued as food, and im-
portant as game fishes, but very costly of maintenance if one takes
into account the numbers and kinds of other fishes necessary to
bring one of these pike-perch to maturity and to keep it in good
condition until it is caught.
Key to Species of STIZOSTEDION found in Illinois
. Pyloric cjeca 3, subequal, as long as stomach; rays of soft dorsal 19 to 22,
usually over 20; cheeks rather sparsely scaled; base of pectorals without
distinct black blotch; a black blotch at back of spinous dorsal; soft
dorsal obscurely reticulated vitreum.
. Pyloric caeca 5 to 8, unequal, the 4 longest much shorter than stomach; rays
of soft dorsal 17 to 19; cheeks as a rule closely scaled; a distinct black
blotch at base of pectoral; last dorsal spines without black blotch; soft
dorsal with rows of dark spots canadense.*
STIZOSTEDION VITREUM (Mitchill)
(wall-eyed pike; pike-perch ; jack-salmon)
Mitchill. 1818, Supp. Amer. Month. Mag., II, 247 (Perca).
G., I. 74 (Lucioperca americana): J. & G., 525; M. V., 135; B., I, 54 (Lucioperca) ;
J. & E., I, 1021; N., 36 (americanum and var. salmoneum); ]., 44; F. F., I.
3, 32 (Stizostethium) ; F., 63; L., 26.
Length 3 feet; body slender, only moderately compressed; profile
long and straight; depth 4.3 to 5.2; greatest width about f great-
est depth; depth caudal peduncle 2.3 to 2.6 in its length. Color a
brassy olive-buff ground, shading to olive-yellow in spots, and every
where mottled with black, mottlings on head, cheeks, and opercles in
vcrmiculate pattern, those on back and sides arranged more or less
definitely in five large irregularly-shaped cross -blotches with smaller
blotches between; belly whitish, tinged with green; iris chocolate with
gold margin next pupil; cornea milky, giving the eye its characteristic
muddy or "wall-eye" appearance; spinous dorsal with a narrow inky-
black margin and with a large black blotch behind, nearly or quite
including posterior two membranes; soft dorsal reticulate or indis-
tinctly barred; base of pectoral without a prominent black blotch, an
indistinct and diffused patch of dark color sometimes present; caudal
with indefinite bars; ventrals and anal whitish with tinge of green.
Head slender and tapered, less depressed than in next species, 3.2 to
3 . 5 in length; width head 2 to 2.2 in its length; interorbital flat, 5.2
♦Represented in Illinois by variety griseum.
§
w
Ph
Q
W
STIZ0STED10X AMERICAN' PIKE-PERCHES 273
to 5.9; eve 4.6 to 6; nose 3.5 to 3.8; mouth large, terminal, little
oblique, maxillary past back of pupil, 2.2 to 2.4 in head; lower jaw
slightly shorter than upper; gill-rakers slender; pyloric caeca 3, subequal,
as long as stomach. Dorsal XIII or XIV, 19 to 22; longest dorsal
spine about 2 \ in head; caudal lunate; anal II, 12-14; ventrals half-way
to vent; pectorals 1.8 to 2.1 in head. Scales 12-14, 80-89, 19-25;
lateral line usually complete, some pores occasionally extending on
caudal fin; scales on cheeks as a rule sparse.
Although taken by us but thirty-nine times from sixteen locali-
ties, and rare except in a few favorable situations where the water is
clear and the current swift, this species is generally distributed in
Illinois. It is a far-ranging species, of predominant northern dis-
tribution, occurring from Hudson Bay and the Saskatchewan River
through New Brunswick and New England to the Potomac and
north Georgia, and westward through all the Great Lakes and the
Ohio basin to Alabama and Minnesota. It is preferably, however,
a lake fish, and is most abundant in the Great Lakes, particularly in
Lake Erie.
It is essentially a piscivorous fish, but also feeds, according to
Jordan and Evermann, upon crawfishes when in shallow water. Ten
specimens examined by us had eaten nothing but fishes, half of them
the hickory-shad (Dorosoma). Minnows and sunfishes were also
noticed. From a single wall-eyed pike caught in Peoria Lake, ten
specimens of gizzard-shad were taken, each from three t< > four inches
long. As this is a very thin, high fish, with a serrate belly, these
were about as large as a wall-eyed pike can easily swallow, and we
may, by a very moderate estimate of its requirements, conclude that at
least six hundred fishes of this size would be required for its main-
tenance during one year. Reckoning the average life of a pike at
three years, the smallest reasonable estimate of food for each pike-
perch would fall somewhere between eighteen hundred and three
thousand fishes, and a hundred pike-perch such as should each year
be taken along a few miles of a river like the Illinois would require
180,000 to 300,000 fishes for their food. Probably no fish in our
streams is able to meet so tremendous a demand except the hickory-
shad — so abundant in the food of this pike — unless the European
earji, generally introduced since these observations were made, may
be an equally acceptable victim. The wall-eyed pike is a swift and
vigorous swimmer, capable of overtaking a black bass.
It reaches a maximum length of about three feet, and a weight
of twenty-five pounds, but examples of this size arc very rare.
According to Jordan and Evermann, it probabl) does no1 aver
age more than ten pounds in the Great Lakes. It prefers clear
274 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
water with a clean and hard bottom, and is not often found in
streams or lakes with a bottom of mud. In the Great Lakes it lives
in spring and summer in shallow water near the shore, seeking a
greater depth in fall. It is much the largest, and also commerciallv
the most important, of all the American perches, and has but few
rivals as a food fish among our fresh-water species. Its flesh is white
and firm, and of a flavor to satisfy the most fastidious. It is also a
game fish of the first quality, in the opinion of most anglers, and
but little inferior to the black bass. It is one of the most important
fishes propagated by the United States Fish Commission, and the
output in 1900 from a single station, that at Put-in-Bay, was
nearly ninety millions.
The catch of this species in the Mississippi Valley has fallen off
greatly in recent years, amounting to only 210,000 pounds for seven-
teen states in 1899, whereas in 1894 Minnesota alone produced
651,000 pounds. The product of the Illinois River in 1899 was
11,000 pounds.
The pike-perch is said to spawn in April in Lake Erie. In 1898 it
spawned at Havana, on the Illinois River, between April 1 and 15.
The eggs are small, only about half as large as those of the whitefish,
and the young begin to practice their carnivorous instincts upon
each other when only about ten days old. The species is hardy and
prolific, and it is a desirable fish for clean lakes and clear rivers,
provided these contain a continuous abundance of otherwise use-
less fish for its food.
STIZOSTEDION CANADENSE GRISEUM (De Kay)
(gray pike; saucer; sand-pike)
De Kay, 1S42, New York Fauna: Pishes, 19 (Lucioperca grisea)
J. cV G., 526 (canadense, part); M. V., 135; B., I, 54 (Lucioperca canadensis, part);
|, & E., I, 1022; V, 36 (griseum) , J . 4.S (canadense); F. F., I 3,31, 33(Stizoste-
thium); I" , 63 (canadense); L., 26 (canadense).
Length 1 to H feet; body slender, only moderately compressed, the
profile straight or weakly arched predorsally; depth 5.2 to 5.5; greatest
width } of greatest depth; depth caudal peduncle 2.4 to 3 in its length.
Color olive-gray, the sides brassy to orange, mottled with darker; first
dorsal with two or three rows of large, round, inky-blaek spots as
large as pupil; no black blotch at back of spinous dorsal; soft dorsal
with 4 or 5 irregular rows of rather indistinct dusky blotches; a large
black blotch at base of pectorals; caudal yellowish, barred with dusky.
Head tapered and depressed more than in last spines, 3.4 to 3.6;
width of head 1 .9 t" 2 ; interorbital space 4. 6 to 5 . 1 ; eye I to i . 2 ; n « ise
PERCA RIVER PERCH 275
3 . 2 to 3 . 7 ; maxillary past back of pupil, 2.1 to 2 . 2 ; gill-rakers slender;
pyloric caeca 5 to 8, 4 of them of moderate length, but shorter than stom-
ach, the others mostly rudimentary. Dorsal X to XIII (usually XII or
XIII), 17-19; longest dorsal spine about 2 J in head; caudal lunate; anal
II. 11 or 12; ventrals half way to vent; pectorals 1.7 to 1.8 in head.
Scales 9-11, 85-91. 19-24; lateral line usually complete, in some spec-
imens extending on caudal; cheeks fully scaled, the scales very strongly
ctenoid, rows about 15.
A much smaller fish than the preceding, seldom exceeding a foot
< >r eighteen inches in length, and a weight of one or two pounds. It
has also occurred much less frequently in our collections, which
have come mainly from the Mississippi and the Illinois rivers, with a
few, also, from the Rock, the Wabash, and the Kaskaskia. It seems
to be a species of somewhat more limited range than the wall-eyed
pike. The distribution area of our variety (griseum) extends from
the Red River of the North and the Assiniboin River, through the
upper Great Lakes and the upper Mississippi Valley, west to Montana
and south to Tennessee and Arkansas. Its habits, so far as known,
are similar to those of the preceding species, and it occurs in similar
waters, the two having been taken together by us in about the usual
ratio for river and lake fishes.
Judging from the results of an examination of fourteen specimens
obtained from the Illinois River at different places and times, it feeds
wholly, or almost wholly, on fishes. Four of these specimens had
eaten gizzard-shad, two had taken catfishes, one of which was a
bullhead, two had eaten sheepshead (Aplodinotus), and one had
taken a black bass and a sunfish. The presence of a medium-sized
bullhead in the stomach of one of these fishes, with its dorsal and
pectoral poison-spines stiff-set and unbroken, was a striking illus-
tration of the voracity of this species.
It is of much less commercial importance than the wall-eye. the
catch from the Mississippi River in 1899 reaching a total of only
39,000 pounds.
Genus PERCA (Artedi) Linn.-eus
(river perch)
Body oblong, considerably compressed, back elevated; mouth mod-
erate; premaxillary protractile; preopercle serrate, the serrae on lower
margin antrorse, closelv set; opercle with a single spine; teeth in villiform
bands on jaws, vomer, and palatines; no canines; pseudobranchia small.
but perfect; pyloric csei a 3 to 7 ; dorsal spines 12 to 1 u ; anal with 2 slender
276 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
spines, well separated from the soft rays; scales rather small, ctenoid.
Fresh waters of northern regions; 3 closely allied species, one each in
Europe, Asia, and North America.
PERCA FLAVESCENS (Mitchill)
(yellow perch; ringed perch; American perch)
Mitchill. 1814, Rep. Fish. N. Y., 18 (Morone).
G., I. 59; J. & G., 524 (americana); M. V., 134; B., I. 48; J. & E.. I, 1023; N., 36;
}., 43 (americana); F. F., I. 3. 29 (americana); F., 63 (americana); L., 26.
Length 1 foot; body only moderately elongate, considerably com-
pressed; back elevated, highest in front of spinous dorsal; the profile con-
vex from first dorsal spine to occiput, thence straightish or slightly con-
cave to muzzle; depth 3.3 to 3.8; greatest width of body about f of its
depth; depth caudal peduncle 2 to 2.2 in its length. Color of sides
and back brassy green to golden vellow, with seven broad bars of
dusky crossing each side from back nearly to belly ; belly whitish with
reflections of green, salmon, and yellow; iris brassy at edge; spinous dor-
sal gray, usually with a black spot on last two membranes; soft dorsal
and caudal plain green ; pectorals transparent grayish green ; ventrals
and anal variously light grayish green or orange to crimson according to
season and habitat. Head 3 to 3.5; width head 1.8 to 2 . 1 in length ;
interorbital space nearly flat, 3.8 to 4 . 3 ; eye 1.1 to 1 . 4 in interorbital,
4 . 5 to 5 . 5 in head ; nose 3 . 4 to 3 . 7 , longer than eye ; maxillary to middle
of orbit, 2 . 4 to 2 . 8 ; opercle ending above in several coarse jagged points ;
preopercle strongly serrate, especially below; gill-rakers X + 15, the
longest more than half length of branchial filaments; pyloric casca 3.
Dorsal XII to XIV-II or III, 12 to 13; longest spine a little more
than 2 in head; length base of soft dorsal about f base of spinous; caudal
lunate; anal II, 7-8; ventrals more than half-way to vent; pectorals 1 .6
to 1.9 in head. Scales 6 or 7, 57-62, 15-18; lateral line nearly or
quite complete; cheeks scaled, in about 8 to 10 rows.
This is one of the best-known fishes in the northern part of the
state, swarming especially along the piers on the lake front at Chi-
cago, where it is the common game of the local fishermen. It occurs
elsewhere in Illinois mainly in the upland lakes of the northeastern
part of the state, in the tributary streams flowing into Lake Michi-
gan, and in the Illinois and Mississippi rivers as far south as Mere-
dosia. It is virtually unknown in the southeastern half of the state,
and has never once been taken by us in any of the streams of the
Wabash or Kaskaskia systems, or from any of those farther south.
It is inconstant in its abundance in the Illinois River, and is said to
have increased greatly there since the opening of the drainage canal
dias cooled and cleared the waters of that stream.
////
* f y f;
«**
X
u
J
PERCA RIVER PERCH 277
Its general distribution is decidedly northerly, except on the
Atlantic coast, where it has been found as far south as the Neuse
River in North Carolina. It occurs abundantly in the Hudson and in
all the Great Lakes, and ranges throughout Quebec and New Eng-
land to Nova Scotia, westward to Iowa and the Dakotas. and north
to the Red River basin. It is unknown from southern Indiana and
southern Ohio, as it is from southern Illinois.
It is essentially a lake fish, but occurs also in running streams,
most abundantly in the larger rivers and least so in creeks. ( )ur
eighty-three collections have been taken with approximately equal
frequency from the glacial lakes, the lakes of the bottom-lands, and
the rivers of the largest class. It is wholly carnivorous, but differs
greatly in its food according to the situation from which it comes.
Eighteen river specimens, for example, had made but 6 per cent, of
their food of fishes, about a fifth of it of the smaller thin-shelled
mollusks, a fourth of it of insect larvae, and nearly half of it of
Crustacea — crawfishes, fresh-water shrimps (Pahvmouetcs), amphi-
pods and isopods — while a dozen lake specimens, on the other hand,
had eaten nothing but fishes and crawfishes, the former greatly pre-
ponderating. The perch is said by Cole to eat the spawn of other
fish. There is a notable difference, also, between the lake and river
perch in respect to their coloration, the latter being usually much
the more brilliant.
The yellow perch may reach a length of a foot and a weight of
more than two pounds, but does not commonly weigh much more
than a pound. It spawns in spring, usually during April and May,
when the temperature of the water is from 44° to 49° F. Ripe
males were taken by Craig at Havana on May 3, 1899. According
to Dr. C. C. Abbott, the sexes go in pairs to the spawning beds,
which are selected near shore where there is a sandy or pebbly bot-
tom. The eggs are laid in flat bands, and, after fertilization and
"water hardening," they increase greatly in size. A single adult
deposited in the aquarium of the Washington station of the United
Stales Fish Commission a string of eggs 88 inches long, which, after
fertilization, weighed 41 ounces.
This perch is taken in fykes, gill-nets, and traps, or with seines and
hooks. It is one of the very best of our fishes for a pan fry, the flesh
being white, firm, and of an excellent flavor, better, however, in
northern localities than in southern.
The catch of perch from Lake Michigan in 1899 was over three
million pounds, of which 677,000 pounds came from the Illinois
shore. In the Illinois River it is taken in considerable numbers, but
(19)
278 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
mostly by line-fishing. "As a game fish, the yellow perch can be
commended chiefly on account of the fact that anybody can catch it.
It can be taken with hook and line any month in the year, and with
any sort of bait, —grasshoppers, angleworms, grubs, small minnows,
pieces of mussel, or pieces of fish ; and it will even rise, and freely, too,
on occasion, to the artificial fly ; * * * It is easily taken
through the ice in winter, when small minnows are the best bait."
A State Laboratory assistant some years ago made an experiment
at simple and inexpensive fishing for the yellow perch from a pier at
South Chicago. With a piece of lath for a pole, a line of cotton
twine, a small hook, and a bit of pork for his first bait, he caught a
single perch, cut this up as bait for others, and within an hour had a
string of seventy-five.
Subfamily ETHEOSTOMINjE
(the darters)
The darters have long been a favorite group with students of
American fishes. Peculiar to this country,* in which the subfamily
has a great development, interesting in their variety, their habits,
and their relations to nattire, and especially attractive by reason of
their graceful form's, their relatively minute size, their brilliant color-
ation, and the exquisite detail and finish of their structural equip-
ment, they are to the fishes of North America what the humming-
birds are to South American birds. They seem not to be so much
dwarfed as concentrated fishes, each embodying in small space all
the complexity, spirit, and activity of a perch or a wall-eyed pike.
As a group, they are most likely to be found in comparatively
swift and rocky streams, being especially adapted to these situations
by their small size, their large paired fins, their pointed heads, and
their habit of resting on the bottom or, in some cases, of burying
themselves in sand, — all of which are means of maintaining them-
selves in swift currents, and of securing from among and under stones
the insect larva: and crustaceans on which they mainly depend for
food. They swim mainly by means of their pectoral fins, making quick
dashes in the current as abird mightmake a short, rapid flightagainst
a high wind, and resting in the intervals upon their extended ventral
and anal fins. Unlike most of the ta xonomic groups we have hitherto
♦Small percoids of Europe belonging to the genus Aspro and found in the Danube
are oi large) size than the American darters, and are thought by most writers to
have been independently derived from European percoid stock, and not to !»■
geneticallj related to the American Etheostomtnce,
ETHEOSTOMIX.K — THE DARTERS 279
discussed, the darters thus form a rather definite ecological assem-
blage, assimilated by their like adaptive characters and by their
similar relations to like situations. There are, nevertheless, well-
marked degrees of adaptation among the different genera and
species; and, likewise, in the strictness of their confinement to the
class of situations characteristic of the group. Three of our species,
for example, are often found in still or sluggish waters and over a
muddy bottom; one, the sand-darter, is much the commonest in
streams with a sandy bottom; and another, Cottogaster shumardi, is
most abundant along the borders of the largest rivers. The species
are likewise distinguishable in other features of their local distribu-
tion, as may be readily seen by a comparison of the distribution
maps of the darters appended to this report. The force of competi-
tion is thus more or less broken among them in various ways, no
exact analysis of which has ever been attempted. The origin of
these species is an interesting and inviting problem, particularly
open to solution because of the comparatively restricted range of the
family and the fact that there is nothing to suggest an extensive
migration from the place of their original differentiation.
The food of the subfamily was studied by the senior author many
years ago from the contents of seventy stomachs representing fiftei 1 1
species, collected in various parts of Illinois in several months of four
successive years. These indicated more than their number would
imply, since different darters obtained from the same locality and i in
the same day usually agreed so closely in food that the study of from
two to five specimens gave all the facts obtainable from several
times as many. Furthermore, the differences between the related
species in respect to food are so slight that specific peculiarities were
scarcely recognizal tie. The data obtained, therefore, really apply t< i
the food of the whole subfamily at different seasons in twenty-nine
localities within this state. This was, on the whole, remarkably uni-
form, except that two of the species, the largest and the smallest of
the group, were found to differ from the -remainder in a way to cor-
respond to a notable difference in their local distribution.
Briefly described, the typical specie's ira\ on insect larva; com
monly abundant on the bottoms of streams, under or among stones,
and in other similar situations, the smaller species eating mainly
dipterous larvae (most commonly Chironomus) , together with a
smaller proportion of neuropterous larvae of the smaller sizes; while
the larger darters eat essentially the same kinds of food, but in dif-
ferent ratios, the neuropterous larva? being of larger a\ erage size and
also making a larger part of the fond. The two exceptional species
280 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
studied, Percina caprodes and Microperca punctulata, have deserted
in great measure the usual situations of the darters, and are fre-
quently found among weeds and algae in comparatively quiet water
with a muddy bottom, the others being much more closely confined
to swift and rocky shallows. Consistently with this difference,
these two widely unlike species agree in their choice of food, wh ch
in both consists largely of Entomostraca or other small crustaceans.
The larger species had also eaten a few small mollusks (Ancylus).
Where a group of species has become assimilated by a similar
adaptation to a common class oi situations, and has thus become a
definite ecological assemblage, those in which the adaptive proc-
esses have gone farthest are, of course, most likely to be limited to
the characteristic situation — are most likely, consequently, to be
taken by the collector in each others' company. By applying this
rule to an analysis of the collections of darters made in Illinois,
we find that the most typical species obtained by us in any consider-
able number are the following six, mentioned in the order of the rela-
tive frequency of their associate occurrence in our collections: Ha-
il ropterus phoxocephalus, Etheostoma zonule, Etheostoma ftabellare,
Hadropterus aspro, Ammocrypta pellucida, and Etheostoma ewndeum.
Apparently the least stringently connected with their kind by the
associative relationship are Diplesion blennioides, Etheostoma jessice,
Bolcosoma camurum, and Boleiehthys fusiformis. The species of the
second list will presently be seen to be those which have wandered
widely from the common field of the subfamily, and which are conse-
quently found most frequently in situations to which the other spe-
cies rarely resort. Furthermore, in separating themselves from
their fellows in respect to local distribution, they have not. as a rule,
approached each other, but remain as loosely affiliated ecologically
among themselves as they are with the more typical members of the
gn >up. A notable exception to this statement is found in Boleosoma
camurum and Boleiehthys fusiformis, which occur in similar waters,
and most abundantly also in the same part of the state. In these
! wo commi >n species the coefficient of association each with the other
is unusually High, much higher, indeed, than the average coefficient
for the most typical species of the subfamily.
The darters are distribute! 1 through southern Canada and the
United States east of the Rocky Mountains and northern Mexico; as
far westward as south Nebraska; and northward to Qu'Appelle, in
tlie basin of the Red River of the North. There are some eighty or
ninety species of this subfamily in North America, and in Illinois
twenty -three species belonging to ten genera. The majority of them
PERCINA LOG-PERCHES 281
are less than four inches long, and one of them does not exceed an
inch and a half. The name of "darter" is given them because of
their quick, swift nights through the water, a fact which also sug-
gested to Rafinesque the technical name of one of the early genera
described by him — Boleosoma, meaning dart-body. To the fisher-
man and the ordinary observer these little percoids are, usually
either wholly unknown or go by the general name of minnow, or,
perhaps, by the more appropriate one of "perch minnow." They
are, as a rule, brilliantly colored, and sexual color-differences are
strongly marked in many species, the females being duller than the
males.
The species are much subject to local variation, but they are
nevertheless commonly well marked, and the local forms can usually
be referred, without much difficulty, to the specific group. All
spawn in spring, so far as known.
Genus PERCINA Haldemax
(log-perches)
Body elongate, subcylindrical; mouth small and inferior; premaxil-
laries not protractile; teeth on vomer and palatines, belly with a median
row of enlarged caducous plates; vertebra? (P. caprodes) 44 (23+21);
pyloric caeca (P. caprodes) 6; pseudobranchis present, rudimentary.
In the diagnostic features above noted this genus is scarcely different
from Hadropterus. On the cranial characters of Percina, which in its
skull structure more closelv resembles Perca than do the other etheosto-
mids, Jordan and Eigenmann have said: "As compared with the other
darters, the skull of Percina is much broader between the eyes; the parie-
tal bones are more strongly ridged, the sutures more distinct, the top of
the cranium beyond the eyes more depressed, and the supraoccipital
i rest more developed than in most of the others."* The largest of the
darters; coloration olivaceous, with dark vertical bands on body, more
or less broken into spots and reticulations; species 2.
PERCINA CAPRODES (Rafinesque)
(log-perch)
Rafinesque, 1818, Ann-r Month Mag . 534 (Sciaena).
|. & C , 199; \] V., 126; B., I. 57; |. & E . 1026; X . 36; |., .V); P., 65; F. F., I.
:■.. 25; L.. 26.
The largest of our darters, length 4 to 6 inches; body cylindrical,
elongate; depth 5.4 to 7 in length; greatest width of body ah' nit ' <>t
*I'r<H V S. Nat Mus Y"l s, p, 68
282 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
its greatest depth; depth of caudal peduncle 2.6 to 2.9 in its length.
Color olive-buff to yellowish ; sides of adults crossed by from 30 to 40 bars,
of dark green color, varying* in width and in extent from above downward,
the most usual arrangement being an alternation of short and narrow with
wider and longer ones, the merging of bars producing in some older
specimens a more or less reticulated pattern on the sides and forming
on the back 3 or 4 large saddle-like blotches; fewer bars (15 to 30) in
younger specimens, the intermediate narrower and shorter ones being
faint or entirely absent in the very young; a small but prominent
black spot at base of caudal fin, encircled by a band of yellow; snout
dusky; cheeks with iridescent green, blue, and yellow; iris with golden
margin; dorsal and caudal fins barred, other fins plain. Head 3.9 to
4.3 in length, long and pointed; width of head 1.9 to 2.2; interorbital
space flat or slightly concave, 4 to 4.8 in head; eye high, obliquely set,
its long diameter 3.6 to 4.2 in head; snout long, conic, with a pad at
its tip, 2.8 to 3.3 in head; mouth small, inferior, overhung by the pig-
like snout, maxillary reaching scarcely to posterior nostril-opening ; cleft
3.4 to 4 in head; lower jaw much shorter than upper; gill-membranes
narrowly connected, distance from tip of snout to their angle scarcely
greater than to back of orbit. Dorsal fin XII-15; spinous and soft
portions usuallv very little separated, or not at all; height of first dorsal
2 to 2 . 3 in head, of second 1 . 6 to 2.2 (height of first 74 to 94 per cent,
of second) ; caudal truncate; anal II, 10-11 ; pectorals 1.2 to 1.4 in
head; separation of ventrals about equal to their width at base. Scales
9-11, 83-93, 12-14; lateral line usually complete, as many as 1 to 6 pores,
occasionally lacking; cheeks and opercles fully scaled; nape of typical
specimens fully scaledf ; breast naked ; belly with deeply embedded scales
and a median row of rather small pectinate caducous plates.
Sexual differences not marked. The majority of our specimens are
young, and no gravid females appear among them. Testes were large
and white in males taken on the 12th of June 1901.
This darter is distributed throughout the state from Cairo to
South Chicago and the northeastern glacial lakes, mainly, however,
in the larger streams. We have found it relatively most abundant
in medium-sized rivers, and next so in creeks, its frequency coeffi-
cients for such streams, as represented by our seventy collections of
the species, being 2.26 and 1 .6 respectively. In the larger rivers,
on the other hand, and in lakes, ponds, and sloughs, it is much less
common, its ratio for each being . 58. It is decidedly more frequent
in northern Illinois than in either central or southern. It is not par-
ticularly choice of localities, and enters freely the turbid waters i if the
lower Illinoisan glaciation. It has been taken several times along
Poi an interesting paper on variation in the color pattern of this species see
\V J Moenkhaus, Amer. Nat., Vol. 28, pp. 641-6(.o
iX.il.r.l in var zebra Agassiz (Jordan and Evermann, Bull. U S X o ( Mus . No
17, I . , ]>. 1027). Some apparenl specimens of that form were taken in Illinois in earl)
ci illei tions I ij i he senii >r author
c
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u
PL,
6
o
HADROPTERUS— BLACK-SIDED DARTERS 283
the banks of the Illinois River, and fn >m bays and bottom-lan<l lakes
connected with that stream. It is not a swift-water species, and
has but little in its habits, food, or favorite situations, to identify
it with the darters at large.
Outside Illinois it occurs in all the Great Lakes, in Lake Cham-
plain, in the St. Lawrence River, and in various smaller streams in
Quebec, and thence southward to Virginia and the Ohio basin, west
ward to Kansas and Missouri, and southwestward to Alabama and
Trinity River in Texas.
It is sometimes taken on the hook with a worm bait, and it is prob-
ably the only one of our darters definitely known as an angler's fish.
This species is particularly changeable in color, as observed by us
in aquarium specimens, the darker tints sometimes deepening to
black, and the gold and emerald complexion of the cheeks and
opercles becoming extraordinarily bright. It was noticed that the
lower part of the transverse bars would sometimes blacken inde-
pendently of the upper part, giving an appearance of a row of lateral
blotches like those of Hadropterus aspro.
A third of the food of eleven specimens was f< lund by us to con-
sist of crustaceans (mainly Entomostraca) , and the remainder of in-
sects, the latter chiefly Chironomus larvae, larvae of day-flies, and
water-bugs (Corixa ) .
Genus HADROPTERUS Agassiz
(black-sided darters)
Body rather elongate, compressed or not; mouth rather wide, termi-
nal; premaxillaries not protractile; teeth on vomer and usually on pala-
tines; belly with a median series of enlarged ctenoid plates, which in most
species fall off at intervals, but are persistent in some; vertebras (four
species) 39 to 42 (18 or 19 + 20 to 23) ; pyloric caeca 2 to 4. Darters of
more or less slender and graceful form, of active habits, and of moder-
ately brilliant coloration; size various, some species reaching a length of
6 to 8 inches, others much smaller; species 11 or 12.
Key to the Species of HADROPTERUS found in Illinois
a. Gill-membranes not broadly united at isthmus, distance from tip of snout to
angle formed by their union scarcelj exceeding that to back of orbit.
b. Color pattern transverse, consisting of (1 > bars or bands, or (2) of bloti hes
and transversely rather than longitudinally arranged marblings.
c. Sides with about 15 blotches, some of them extending upward and down-
ward so as to form ill-defined liars, cheeks scaled evermanni.
CC. Sides with about 7 broad transverse bars, extending from below lateral line
- 'ii i 'in side, across back and down on other side; cheeks naked . . . .evides.
284 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
bb. Color pattern longitudinal, the sides marked with a median row of blotches
or a moniliform band, above which are longitudinally disposed marblings
d. Scales 8-10, 64-70, 9-11 ; cheeks scaled aspro.
dd. Scales 6, 52-60. 6; cheeks naked ouachitas.
aa. Gill-membranes united at isthmus in a broad curve, least distance from
muzzle to free margin of gill-membranes 1 ! to U times that from muzzle to
back of orbit.
e. Head very slender and snout long and pointed, 1J times eye; interorbital
space narrow, its width twice in snout; lateral blotches small and as a
rule faint; a very small central caudal spot phoxocephalus.
ee. Head and snout less slender, the latter equaling eye; interorbital space
broader, less than 1 J times in snout; sides with 8 or 9 large and distinct,
often more or less confluent, dark blotches; base of caudal with 3 dark-
blotches, the central and lower spots usually more or less merged . .scierus.
HADROPTERUS EVERMANNI Moenkhaus
Moenkhaus. 1903. Bull. U. S. Fish. Comm., Vol. 22, 397-398.
Length of single specimen in our collection 3 inches; body stoutish,
only moderately elongate, and very little compressed, the cylindrical
form suggesting Percina caprodes; depth 5.17 in length; greatest width
of body about | of its depth; caudal peduncle short and stout, its depth
2.35 in its length. Color (in preservative) light olive with numerous
blotches and marblings ; back with about 6 large and more or less quad-
rate dark blotches; sides with 13 or 14 blotches, some of them extending
upward and downward so as to form ill-defined bars, the dark markings
above blotches being of a general transverse rather than longitudinal
pattern (as in H. aspro); first dorsal with membranes dusky at base,
especially toward back of fin; tips of last rays and membranes dusky;
soft dorsal and caudal faintly barred, other fins plain; head smoky olive,
a prominent dark vertical streak below eye. Head rather short, bluntly
conic, 4.08 in length; width of head 1 . 79 in its length; interorbital space
flat, 5.76 in head; eye oblique, 3.58; nose 2.97; mouth moderate, the
maxillary scarcely reaching to orbit, cleft 3.17 in head, lower jaw in-
cluded; gill-membranes noticeably but not at all broadly connected at
isthmus, the distance from muzzle to angle about 1 . 1 times that to back
of orbit. Dorsal fin XIII, 14; spinous and soft portions scarcely sepa-
rated; height of first dorsal 1 . 7 in head, of second 1 .6 (height of first 91
percent, of second) ; caudal truncate ; anal II, 12; pectorals 1 . 1 in head;
separation of ventrals slightly greater than their width at base. Scales
8, 69, 8 [12]*; no pores lacking; cheeks with about 6 rows of rather large
scales; opercles and nape fully scaled; breast naked; belly naked ante-
riorly, a median row of immature caducous plates behind.
( )ur single specimen of this species was taken at Havana, Illinois,
in the summer of 1807. While presenting resemblances to both H.
aspro and P. caprodes, it may be readily distinguished from both by
its different color pattern.
Described from Lake Tippecanoe, Indiana.
♦Number in brackets is count to middle line of belly; first count is to front of anal.
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HADROPTERUS BLACK-SIDED DARTERS 285
HADROPTERUS PHOXOCEPHALUS (Nelson)
Nelson, 1876, Bull 111. State Lab. Xat. Hist., I 1, 35 (Etheostoma)
1 & G . 501 (Alvordius); M. V., 127 (Etheostoma); B . I, 63 (Percina); |. & E..
I. 1030; J . 39 (Alvordius): P., 65; L , 27.
Length 3 inches; body moderately elongate and compressed; form
distinctive among darters for its graceful outlines, the back gentlv
elevated and the anterior portion of the body faultlessly tapered to the
end of the slender pointed head; depth 5.4 to 6.2 in length; greatest
width of body about | of its depth ; depth caudal peduncle 1 . 8 to 2.4 in
its length. Color yellowish brown, more or less marbled, blotched, and
tessellated with darker, but the colors generally duller than in H. aspro;
sides with about 12 or 13 more or less indefinite dusky blotches, some-
times confluent into a moniliform band, in instances fading so as to be-
come almost imperceptible; back with tessellations and upper portion
of sides with marblings of dark color, ordinary examples having a vermic-
ulated appearance; first dorsal with a broad band of orange-red across
its middle and with a narrow outer edging of pale blue, the hues much
more brilliant in males than in females; second dorsal and caudal faintly
barred; other fins plain, the anal and ventrals duskv in males; a dark
band from front of orbit through nostril to end of snout; vertical streak
below eye faint. Head long, slender and quite pointed, 3.6 to 3.9 in
length ; width of head 2 . 1 to 2.4; interorbital space extremelv narrow, 6 . 7
to 7.9 in head; eye 3.8 to 4.5; nose pointed, 3 . 5 to 4 in head; mouth
moderate, maxillary reaching a little past front of orbit, the cleft 3 . 4 to 4
in head ; jaws nearly equal ; gill-membranes free from isthmus and broadly
connected, the distance from muzzle to their free posterior margin 1$ to
H times that to back of orbit. Dorsal fin XII or XIII, 12-14; spinous
and soft portions scarcely separated at base; height of first dorsal 2 . 2 to
2 . 9 in head, second 1 . 7 to 2 . 1 (height of first 70 to 88 per cent, of second) ;
caudal slightly emarginate; anal II, 8 or 9, rarely 10 or 11; pectorals 1 . 2
to 1.4 in head; separation of ventrals slightlv less than their width at
base. Scales 8-10, 64-69, 10-12 [12-18]; usually no pores lacking; cheeks
covered with very fine scales, in 14 or 15 rows; opercles and nape scaled ;
breast naked or with a median large caducous shield; mid-ventral line
with small caducous plates.
This modestly colored but shapely darter is distributed much like
Percina caprodes, except that we have not found it in the northern
glacial lakes, and that it is dispersed more widely through the smaller
streams. It has occurred in ninety-five of our collections, most
abundantly in the Illinois basin, but frequently also in the Rock
River and its tributaries. It is commonest in northern Illinois and is
least frequently found in the southern part of the state. Like Per-
cina caprodes, it has been taken by us most generally from the smaller
rivers (3.39) and from creeks (1 .59), but only rarely from the largest
rivers (.4) or from lakes or sloughs (.2). It is preeminently a species
of swift water with a bottom of rock or sand, 94 per cent, of our o '1
286
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
lections coming from the former situation and 90 per cent, from the
latter.
It is further reported from Ohio, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri to
Kentucky, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.
Consistently with the relatively large size of this species, larvae
and pupas of May-flies were found by us to predominate in its food,
including one of the largest larvae of this family (Hcxagcnia) in our
streams. Larvae of dragon-flies, a small percentage of Chironomus
larvae, and water-bugs (Corixa), were the other elements of its food.
Females greatly distended with eggs were taken by us June
5, 1901.
■\j ■' M| 4.
Fir. 6S
HADROPTERUS ASPRO (Cope & Jordan)
(black-sided darter)
Kirtland, 1839, Journ. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., 340 (Etheostoma biennioides).
Cope & Jordan, 1877, Proc. Ac. Xat. Sci. Phila . 51 (Alvordius aspro — substitute
for Etheostoma biennioides of Kirtland, the name biennioides being preoccu-
pied m Diplesion).
J. & G., 501 (Alvordius); M. V., 127 (Etheostoma); B., I, 5'' (Percina); J. & E., I,
1032; N., 35 (Etheostoma biennioides), I 39 (Alvordius maculatus); F., 65;
L., 27.
Length .^ to 4 inches; body elongate, fusiform, somewhat compressed,
less cylindrical than in Percina; one of the most graceful and elegant m
form and color of all the darters; depth 5.4 to 6.8 in length; greatest,
width of bodv about :j of its greatest depth; depth of caudal peduncle
2.5 to 3.3 in its length. Color of midsummer females and immature
males yellowish olive or straw, with dark Mutches and mottlings; back
with about 8 quadrate spots, between which, on upper portion of sides,
are dark, longitudinally disposed marblings; a row of 7 or 8 large dark
blotches along middle of side, mure or less confluent, and sometimes
forming a continuous moniliform band, their color dark bluish olive to
bluish Mack; belly grayish in front, darkened with smoky blue poste-
riorly; head dark olive, with a darker streak before eve, and one below
HADROPTERUS BLACK-SIDED DARTERS 287
it, directed slightly backward; cheeks and opercles olive, with sprin-
kling of iridescent coppery and emerald; pupil dead black; iris brownish
except for a faint narrow gold rim next to pupil; dorsals and caudal
plainly, pectorals faintly, barred. Adult males in breeding color with
entire bodv more or less smoky or dusky, lacking the contrast between
blotches and interspaces seen in females; in all adult males the spinous
dorsal crossed near its base by a broad dark band and both the caudal
and anal dusky. Head pointed, 3.8 to 4 in length; width of head
1 . 8 to 2 . 2 in its length; interorbital space flat, narrow, about § of eye,
5.5 to 6.7 in head; eye nearly round, 3.4 to 4 in head; nose bluntly
pointed, 3 . 6 to 4 . 1 in head ; mouth rather large, the maxillary extending
past front of orbit, the cleft 3 to 3 . 4 in head ; lower jaw very little shorter
than upper; gill-membranes as a rule not noticeably connected* at isth-
mus, distance from tip of snout to angle and to back of orbit about equal.
Dorsal fin XIII-XV, 11-14; spinous and soft portions as a rule distinctly
separated at base; height of first dorsal 1 . 9 to 2 . 3 in head, of second 1 . 7
to 2 (height of first S2 to 94 per cent, of second) ; caudal noticeably emar-
ginate;anal II, 8-1 1 ; pectorals 1.1 to 1.3 in head ; separation of ventrals
about equal to their width at base. Scales 8-10, 64-70, 9-11; lateral
line nearly straight, usually complete, one or two pores sometimes lack-
ing; cheeks and opercles covered with small scales; nape naked or with
imbedded scales; breast naked; middle line of belly with enlarged cadu-
cous plates; scales of body markedly ctenoid, giving this fish a more or
less characteristic feeling of roughness.
This darter, of comparatively plain and somber colors, is more
abundant in Illinois than H. phoxocephalus, but is similarly distrib-
uted, differing, however, in the fact that our collections, 168 in num-
ber, have come much more generally from the eastern part of the
state than from the western, and that it does not occur so frequently
as phoxocephalus in the larger rivers. It is about equally abundant in
the smaller rivers and in creeks, but rarely occurs in the larger rivers
or in bottom-land lakes and ponds. In ecological relations it also
closely resembles its companion species of the genus, but seemingly
has a less decided preference for a rapid current or a clean bottom.
It ranges somewhat farther northward, its area of distribution
extending from Manitoba and the Great Lake region to Arkansas.
It is especially common in the Ohio Valley. Eastward it is reported
In an the James and the Roanoke, westward from Kansas to Dakota,
and northward from Winnipeg and the Assiniboin.
In our studies of its food we were not able to distinguish any dif-
ferences between this and the related species, and the two have,
indeed, occurred together in our collections one and a half times as
frequently as is the average for the family.
*In occasional collections of this species we meet with specimens with gill-mem
branes more or less broadly connected (e g., 28187, Sail creek, Logan Co |. These
spe< imens do not have the small mouth and thro- caudal spots of II . scierus.
288 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
HADROPTERUS OUACHITvE (Jordan & Gilbert)
Jordan & Gilbert, 1SS7, Proc. U. S. Xat. Mus., 49 (Etheostoma).
J. & E., I, 1035.
Length 2 inches*; body elongate, little compressed; depth in length
7.14; depth caudal peduncle 3 . 07 in its length. Color (in spirits) strawish
olive; back marked with 7 or 8 rather faint roundish to quadrate blotch-
es; upper portion of sides splashed with W- and X-shaped marks; mid-
dle of sides with 8 or 9 large, roundish, and more or less confluent dark
blotches; dorsals faintly barred; general aspect much as in young of H.
aspro, from which this species differs markedly only in its larger scales.
Head slender, bluntly pointed, 4.38 in length; width of head 1.78 in
its length; interorbital space flat, considerably less than eye, 5.71 in
head ; eye 3 . 08 ; nose 3 . 48 ; mouth moderate, narrow, and slightly smaller
than in H. aspro, the maxillary extending to front of orbit; cleft 3 .48 in
head; lower jaw included; gill-membranes scarcely joined at isthmus,
distances from muzzle to angle and to back of orbit equal. Dorsal fin
XI, 10; the two portions separated by a space equal to width of eye;
height of first dorsal 2.11 in head, second 1 . 6 (height of first 75 per cent,
of second) ; caudal truncate; anal II, 8; pectorals .96 in head; separation
of ventrals same as width of base. Scales 6, 54, 6; lateral line com-
plete; cheeks naked; posterior portion of opercles with 3 or 4 rows of
rather large scales; nape and breast nakedf; middle line of belly naked. J
Probably present n Illinois in the Wabash basin, being repre-
sented in our collections by a single specimen, 3.5 cm. in length,
taken from the Wabash River at New Harmony, Ind., on April 28,
1900. Originally described from the Saline River, a tributary of the
Washita, at Benton, Ark.
Here described from one specimen.
HADROPTERUS EVIDES (Jordan- & Copeland)
Jordan & Copeland, 1877, Proc. Ac. Xat. Sci. Phila., 51 (Alvordius).
1. & G., 503 (Alvordius); M. V., 128 (Etheostoma); ]. & E., 1. 1036; \\, 36 (Ethosto-
ma); J., 39 (Ericosoma); F., 65; L., 27.
Differing from the other species of Hadropterus chiefly in squamation
and color pattern, the cheeks and nape naked and opercles with caducous
scales. "Coloration extremely brilliant; * * * sides with about 7
broad transverse bars extending from below the lateral line on one side,
across the hack, and down on the other side; these bars wider than the
eye and connected along lateral line by a faint black stripe; * * *
spinous dorsal with a dusky spot on its posterior rays, and the fins desti-
tute of the dark bars found in related species" (Jordan and Evermann).
♦Specimens 3 inches long have been obtained bv Dr. lordan (Bull. U. S Fish
Comm . 1888, p 164).
f'Scaled" (Jordan and Evermann).
f'Sometimes with caducous plates ' (Jordan and Evermann).
HADROPTERUS BLACK-SIDED DARTERS 2S9
Represented in our collections by a single specimen, taken from
Rock River in 1877, still identifiable but in poor condition for de-
scription. Outside of Illinois taken in the Wabash and Maumee
basins in Indiana, and west and southward to central Iowa, Arkan-
sas, Kentucky, and Tennessee, "in the larger clear streams."
^^jMl?
Fig. 69
HADROPTERUS SCIERUS Swain
Swain, 1883, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 252.
M. V., 127 (Etheostoma); B . 1 , 80 (Etheostoma) ; J. & E . I. 1037.
Length of our specimens 2 to 2.1 inches*; form and appearance of
//. aspro; depth 6 to 6.7; greatest width \ of depth; depth caudal pel
uncle 2 .9 to 3 . 1 in its length. Color essentially as in H . aspro; yellow-
ish olive, with back and upper part of sides vaguely blotched with black
in longitudinal pattern, and with a median lateral row of 8 or 9 large
and more or less confluent dark blotches; a faint central caudal spot
with a smaller one above it and a larger one below, the central spot
more or less merged with the lower one; under side of caudal peduncle
with small dark blotches; suborbital bar wanting entirely in our speci-
mens; dorsals, caudal, and pectorals faintly barred. Differs from H.
tis pro in the presence of 3 caudal spots, the lack of the suborbital bar, and
in the blotching of under side of caudal peduncle. Head pointed, 4 to
4.2; width of head 2.1 to 2.4 in its length; interorbital space 4.7 to
4.'); eye 3.5 to 4.1; preopercle not serrulate; nose 3.6 to 3.8, short;
mouth smaller than in H. aspro, the maxillary scarcely reaching front of
orbit, the cleft 3.4 to 3.9 in head; lower jaw included; gill-membranes
broadly connected, the distance from muzzle to free posterior margin
of membranes about 14, times that from muzzle to back of orbit. Dorsal
fin X or XII, 13; spinous and soft portions separated by a distance
equal to width of eye; height of first dorsal 2 to 2.2 m head, second
1 7 (height of first 79 to 85 per cent, of second); caudal lunate; anal
II, 9; pectorals 1.1 in head; separation of ventrals equal to or a little
greater than their width at base. Scales 7. 64-67, 11 [15 or 16]; 1 to
1 ■! pores lacking; cheeks and opercles fully scaled; nape scaled; brea :1
naked and belly closely scaled.
*"S inches" (Jordan and Evermann),
290
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
These fishes, though bearing a great general resemblance to H.
aspro, are easily distinguished from it by their much smaller mouth
and united gill-membranes*, and by the combination of minor color-
marks above mentioned.
Our specimens have the preopercle smooth!, as in H. aspro.
Described from 2 specimens taken by T. L Hankinson from the
Embarras River at Charleston, 111., in 1904. This species was de-
scribed in 1883 from Bean Blossom creek, Monroe county, Ind., and
has since been taken in various localities from northern Indiana to
Arkansas.
Genus COTTOGASTER Putnam
Bodv rather robust, not much compressed; mouth moderate or
small; forms intermediate between Hadropterus and Boleosoma, having
the premaxillaries typically protractile, or sometimes (in C. shumardi)
connected with the skin of the forehead by a narrow frenum ; teeth on
vomer; middle line of bellv naked, or with caducous scales; vertebrae
(C. copelandi) 38 (18 + 20) ; pyloric caeca 3 ; coloration not brilliant. Dart-
ers of moderate size, not over 3 inches in length; species few; one known
from Illinois.
Fig 7i)
COTTOGASTER SHUMARDI (Girard)
Girard, 1859, Proc, Ac. Nat. Sri. Phila., 100 (Hadropterus).
I & G . 198 (Imostomai: M. V., 126 (Etheostoma) ; B., I. 92 (Boleosomai. | & E
I. 1046; J . 59 (Imostomai. F , 66; 1. . 27.
Length 2\ to 3 inches; body stout, little compressed except posteri-
orly; depth 5.2 to 6 9 in length; greatest width of body usually more
?S<-c note "ii // aspro.
t" Preopercle finely serrated" (Jordan md Evermann, kej to Hadropterus) ; "pre-
opercle serrulate, a1 least in young specimens" (Jordan, Bull. U. S, Fish Cumin .
1SSS. p In |
I I ITTOGASTER 291
than jj of its greatest depth; caudal peduncle short and stout, its depth
2 . 1 to 2 . 6 in its length. Color (in preservative) straw to brownish olive,
denselv blotched and marbled with darker; sides with 8 to IS dark
bli itches, which are some times obscure, and often extended below lateral
line as bar-like bands on anterior portion of body; a faint dark band
through nostril to end of snout and a distinct bar below eye; second
dorsal and caudal faintly barred in the rays. In breeding males the
barring of second dorsal replaced by a more or less uniform dusting of
both rays and membranes of lower half of fin; first dorsal with a small
black spot in front between first two rays and a second and larger one
at the back of the fin, usually between 8th and 10th rays. Head 3 . 7
to 4 in length, little tapered, muzzle blunt; width of head 1 . 7 to !
in its length; interorbital space flat, 5.5 to 6.4 in head, about § of
eye; eye 3.2 to 3.5; nose 2.9 to 3.7; mouth moderate, maxillary to
front of orbit, cleft 2.9 to 3.2 in head; premaxillary in Illinois speci-
mens as a rule connected by a narrow frenum with the skin of the fore-
head; lower jaw slightlv shorter than upper; gill-membranes free from
isthmus and scarcely connected, distances from muzzle to angle and to
back of orbit about equal. Dorsal fin IX, or XI, 13-15; spinous ami
soft portions as a rule very little separated at base; height of first d( u'sal
1 . 7 to 2 .2 in head, second 1 .6 to 1.7 (height of first 76 to 92 per cent,
of second) ; caudal noticeably emarginate; anal II, 10-12, (usually 10
or 11); pectorals .9 to 1.3 in head; separation of ventrals as a rule
nearly equal to their width at base. Scales 6 or 7, 50-56, 7-9; lateral
line complete; cheeks, opercles, and nape scaled; breast naked; belly
usually naked, sometimes scaled for a short distance in front of vent.
A species of medium size and relatively obscure coloration,
notable especially for its extraordinary local distribution, occurring,
as it does, almost wholly along the course of our larger streams. It
is not common in this state, having been taken but sixteen times
from nine localities, six on the Illinois, one on the Wabash, and two
on the Kaskaskia. Twice it was taken from the deep water of the
river channel at Havana.
It occurs also in the Great Lakes, and has been reported from
Erie and Michigan, ami elsewhere from the Ohio, the Red, and the
Arkansas rivers of the lower Mississippi Valley. Osburn says that it
is found in Ohio on sandy bottoms in rivers, but not in small
31 roams.
Females with eggs wore taken from the Illinois River on the
18th and the 20tb of March. 1899.
Genus DIPLESION Rafinesque
Body ratlin- elongate, little compressed; mouth small, inferior, lion
zontal; premaxillaries protractile downward the groove not visible from
above or in front as in other darters, but onlv from underneath; known
292 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
also by the non-protractile maxillary, which is joined for most of its
length to the skin of the front of the preorbital; no teeth on vomer or
palatines; no enlarged ventral plates; vertebrae 42 (19+23); pyloric caeca
4 ; coloration largely green. Size moderate, 3 to 5 inches ; a single species.
DIPLESION BLENNI01DES (Rafinesque)
(GREEN-SIDED DARTER)
Rafinesque. 1819, Journ. de Physique, 419 (Etheostoma [Diplesion]).
J. &G.,497; M. V., 125 (Etheostoma); B., I, 100; ]. & E., I, 1053; \\, 35 (Etheosto-
ma), J , 40; F., 66; L., 27.
Length 3 inches; body elongate, neither cylindrical nor (technieallv)
compressed, but narrowed dorsally in front so that a cross-section of the
bodv is roughlv triangular; back somewhat elevated in adults and profile
very convex; ventral outline straight or slightly concave; depth 5.3 to
6.3; greatest width of body about | its greatest depth ; depth caudal
peduncle 2 . 6 to 3 . 2 in its length. Color of upper parts light olivaceous,
paler beneath, the belly a light creamy white; sides marked with 5 to 8
vertical bars of rich dark grassy green color, these continuous with dark
saddle-like back blotches;* below lateral line a row of Y-shaped blotches,
sometimes connected so as to form an irregular wavy or zigzag band of
rich green; 20 to SO small rufous-orange spots scattered along sides in
irregular zigzag lines, each spot occupying the center of a scale; head dark
olive-green, mottled with darker green, a dark green band passing from
the eye downward and forward around the upper jaw and a similar one
downward to a short distance behind the angle of the mouth ; suborbital
bar of one side usually extending beneath chin to meet the bar of the
other side; cheeks vellowish green, opercles dark green; head pale be-
neath; pupil black, iris with some gold; spinous dorsal with a band of
rufous-orange spots at its base occupying about lower third of fin, which
is tipped at outer margin with a narrow edge of pale blue; second dorsal
with row of orange spots fainter, and without outer blue edging; other
fins paler, greenish ; females with orange spots at base of spinous dorsal
less brilliant, and with these spots missing on second dorsal. Head
short, irregularly pyramidal, flat and broad below, 4 to 4.6 in length;
width of head 1.5 to 1.9; interorbital space narrow, flat, 5.2 to 6.8
in head; eve roundish, high, and somewhat protruding. 3.1 to 3.6;
nose 3.1 to 3.7, the muzzle much decurved and projecting beyond the
inferior mouth; mouth small, inferior, horizontal, maxillary reaching to
front of orbit, cleft 3 . 1 to 3 . 6 in head; lower jaw much shorter than
upper; lips rather more prominent than is usual in darters; gill-mem-
branes connected broadly across isthmus, the distance from tip of snout
to free posterior margin of membranes being 1), to 1 J greater than to
back of orbit. Dorsal fin XIII XIY, 13-14; spinous and soft portions
joined or but slightly separated; heighl of first dorsal 1.6 to 2. 3 in head,
second 1.4 to 1.6 (height of first 68 to 90 per cent, of second); caudal
*These blotches arc the only part of tin- bars usually visible in preserved
■ )"'' miens, showing in life as dark pigmented areas under the green of the bars.
GREEN-SIDED DARTER, Diplesion blennioides (Rafinesque)
I AN TAILED DARTER, Etheostoma Jtabcltare Rafinesqi
DIPLESION 293
slightly emarginate; anal II, 8 or 9; pectorals .8 to .9 in head; ventral
spines and first 4 or 5 ravs rather fleshy and often somewhat knobbed
at extremities; separation of ventrals less than their width at base.
Scales6-8, 57-61. 7-9[10or 11]; lateral line nearly straight and usually
complete, 1 or 2 pores occasionally lacking; cheeks naked or with a few
more or less embedded scales; opercles and nape scaled; breast naked;
belly with ordinary scales.
This beautiful and peculiar species, distinguishable at a glance 1 >y
its remarkable head, large prominent eyes, and small inferior mouth,
"giving it a decidedly frog-like profile," and by the green or olive
zigzag markings on the back, is, in its breeding dress, one of
the most beautiful of all fresh-water fishes. ' The dorsal fins be-
come bright grass-green, with a scarlet band at the base; the broad
anal has a tinge of the deepest emerald; while every spot and line
upon the side has turned from an undefined olive to a deep, rich
green, scarcely found elsewhere in the animal world except on the
backs of frogs. The same tint flashes out on the branching rays of
the caudal fin, and may be faintly seen struggling through the white
on the belly. The blotches nearest the middle of the back become
jet-black, and thickly sprinkled everywhere are little shiny S] >ots i if a
clear bronze-orange."*
This darter has an almost inexplicable distribution in Illinois,
if we may judge by our collections of it. Taken by us in thirty-six
localities on the smaller streams of the Wabash system in this stair.
it has not once occurred elsewheret in all our sixteen hundred collec-
tions, although it has been once taken from the DesPlaines at Joliet,
by J. H. Ferris, as reported by Fowler in 1906. J Its general dis-
tribution is not such as to suggest so limited a range in Illinois, occur-
ring, as it does, from Lakes Ontario and Erie to Pennsylvania, North
Carolina, and the lower Alabama basin, and thence to South Dakota,
Kansas, and Missouri, and the Red River in Arkansas. It is gener-
ally distributed throughout Indiana, as shown by the details of the
list of Professor Hay, who reports it as abundant in all suitable
streams. This is one of the groups of species occurring, in Illinois,
only or mainly in tin- Wabash drainage, specially discussed in our
introductory chapter on geographical distribution. It is found in
♦Jordan and ' opeland, American Naturalist, Vol. X., p. 339.
fThe indication of its presence at Chicago given on Map VI I . of an article on the
local distribution of darters (Bull. Ill Stair I. ah Na1 Hist., Vol VII., .\v \ III i
published by the senior author in April, 1907, is due to a clerical error in t ransferring
a record ba led on the preservation of specimens from collections on exhibition at
the World's Pair in 1893
{"Some New and Little Known Percoid Fishes." Proi Acad. Nat. Sci 1'hila.,
Dei . 1906, p. 522.
(20)
294 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
swift water, oftenest on rocky ripples where there is a vigorous
growth of algae; and it is worthy of note that the peculiar color
of this fish seems to assimilate it to its surroundings.
Specimens taken from the Vermilion in Vermilion county were
kept by us for several weeks alive in a soft-water aquarium aerated
by compressed air. They were very shy and easily frightened, and fell
into a panic when disturbed by a sudden movement in the room or
by a jar of the aquarium, their actions when frightened — too quick
for the eye to follow — stirring up the sand and gravel on the bottom
and so clouding the water as to hide their retreat. They seemed
very much attached to a mass of algae placed in the aquarium with
them, lying in it by the hour, and they were frequently seen perched
on a pebble or stone by means of their ventrals, with the body in-
clined at an angle of 30 to 45 degrees. When on the bottom, the
body was usually curved in a snake-like position, as if prepared for a
quick and vigorous stroke.
Genus BOLEOSOMA De Kay
(tessellated darters)
Body moderately elongate, subeylindrical ; but slightly translucent;
mouth small, horizontal, subinferior; premaxillaries protractile; teeth
on vomer; vertebrae (B. nigrum) 37(15+ 22), (B. camurum) 38 (17+ 21);
pyloric casca 3 to 6; belly with ordinary scales; plainly colored, usually
olivaceous with black or brown specks and with no red or blue; spring
males dusky to jet-black. Size small, 2 A inches; species about 5.
Key to Species of BOLEOSOMA found in Illinois
a. Lateral line complete or nearly so; pyloric casca 6; cheeks and breast typic-
ally naked, sometimes more or less scaly nigrum.
aa. Lateral line absent on posterior half of body; pyloric caeca 3; cheeks and
opercles, and usually breast, closely scaled camurum.
BOLEOSOMA NIGRUM (Rafinesque)
(johnny darter)
Rafinesque, 1820, Ichth. Oh., 37 (Etheostoma).
G . 1. 77 (Boleosma maculatumi; J .V (', , 492; B . I. 93; J ,V E . 1. 1056; X., 35
(brevipinne and olmstedi) ; J., -ill (maculatum and olmstedi) ; 1\, 66; L., 27.
Length 2\ inches; body typically slender, subfusiform, little com-
pressed; depth 4.7 to 6.9 in length; greatest, width (if body about \ its
I'-st depth; depth caudal peduncle 2.S to 3.3 in its length. Color
BOLEOSOMA TESSELLATED DARTERS 295
of back and sides a very pale strawish olive, over which are distributed
small brownish dots and splashes and mure or less vaguely W-, X-,
and V-shaped markings, part of the latter forming an indefinite lateral
row, — rather aptly called "sand-paper" darter by one of our collectors;
back finely tessellated with dark brown in and between 6 or 7 large,
but sometimes indistinct, quadrate blotches; sometimes an obscure cau-
dal spot; bellv in life translucent pale greenish to dull golden; head
olivaceous above, with dark brown specks; a dark streak in front of c\ e,
a rather broad bar-like blotch behind it; lower part of cheek very pale
greenish; opercle olivaceous, with dark spots above; pupil dull black;
iris with a narrow rim of golden next to pupil; dorsals, caudal, and pec-
torals barred, the latter only near base; ventrals and anal plain, the anal
pale whitish, ventrals of a creamy to strawish hue. Spring males with
head, and with first dorsal, anal, and ventral fins a very dark bluish black,
and rest of body and fins more or less clouded with same color, the sides
being marked with 8 or 9 bars of darker color, the bars indistinct in some
specimens and in instances wholly submerged in an almost uniform
black coloration; in the less dusky spring males, in which barring is
plainest, the spinous dorsal may have dark color mostly confined to the
membrane between the first and second spines and to an irregular nam w
edging on posterior half of fin. No difference between coloration of late-
summer males and females. '; Head short, 3.5 to 4.2 in length, with
decurved snout, protruding eyes, and flat and sloping forehead; width
of head 1 .6 to 2. 1 in its length; interorbital space narrow and concave.
6.5 to 8.5 in head; eye round, protruding above level of cranium, 3.2
to 3.8 in head; nose' bluntly pointed, 3.3 to 4.2; mouth rather small,
inferior, maxillary reaching past front of orbit; cleft 2 . 9 to 3 . 7 in head ;
lower jaw included; gill-membranes narrowly connected, distance from
muzzle to angle and to back of orbit equal. Dorsal fin VIII-X (usually
IX). 10-12, the spinous and soft portions often united at base; heighl ol
first dorsal 1 . 7 to 2 . 1 in head, second 1 .4 to 1.8 (height of first 70 to
92 per cent, of second); caudal truncate; anal I, 6 to 9 (usually 7 or 8) ;
pectorals .9 to 1.2 in head; separation of ventrals usually a little less
than their width at base. Scales 5-7 (usually 6), 45-52", 6-8 [8-11];
lateral line as a rule complete, but 2 or 3 pores occasionally lacking;
cheeks typically* naked or with only a trace of scales on upper portion ;
opercles covered with small scales ; nape either scaled or naked ; breast
in typical* specimens naked, fully or more or less scaled in many speci-
mens from the Rock, upper Illinois, and upper Wabash basins, in which
cheeks also are scaly ; belly with ordinary scales.
The Johnny darter, much the most abundant of its subfamily in
this state, and taken by us in 243 collect! Ins, is not so much a thor-
oughly typical as a fairly average darter— Vlistinguished, that is, less
by a precise adaptation to the special darter em ironment than by a
fairly equal distribution throughout the entire class of situations fre-
quented by the various species of the group.
*See table on page 297.
296 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
It occurs virtually everywhere in the state except in the larger
streams and in lowland lakes and sloughs, where it is strikingly rare.
It has occurred but twice, for example, in over five hundred collec-
tions made by us from the Illinois River at Havana and Meredosia.
It is rather disproportionately infrequent in the waters of the lower
Illinoisan glaciation, although not by any means excluded from that
area, as a glance at the distribution map for the species will show.
We have found it most abundant in the small streams of the Wabash
and Kaskaskia systems, in which it has occurred in 56 and 66 per
cent., respectively, of all collections made.
It is typically a darter of the creeks and small brooks, and 44 per
cent, of all our creek collections have contained it. It has come
from the smaller rivers with about half this frequency, and from
glacial lakes with about a fourth. The average character here
ascribed to it is illustrated by the fact that it has been taken by us
with darters of other species in almost exactly the average frequency
of the associate occurrence of one species with another throughout
the whole subfamily.
It is usually found among gravel and weeds, although not infre-
quently on a mud bottom, from which situation some 1 1 per cent, of
our collections came. Its preference for swift waters is not so
marked as in the case of the more typical darters, nearly a third of
our collections having come from standing or quiet water.
Outside Illinois the species is found from New England and Lake
Champlain through the Great Lake region to the Assiniboin River,
down the Atlantic slope as far as the Catawba River, and westward
throughout the Ohio and Missouri basins to Colorado and Montana.
Its habits are those of its subfamily. It often lies with its head up
an< 1 its body bent to one side or supported partly by a stone. It can
turn its head without moving its body ; can roll the eye about in the
si icket ; may rest suspended, as we have seen it do, on the underside
of a floating board ; and sometimes buries itself, with a whirl, in the
soft sand, so that only its eyes are visible.
The food of a dozen specimens was so uniform that they may
fairly be taken as representative Two thirds of it consisted solely
of Chironomus larva?, 7 pa< cent, of other minute larvae of gnats, and
the remaining 12 per cen{. of larvae of small May-flies.
The species spawns in spring, from the last of April to the first of
June. Females were depositing their eggs in our aquarium at Mere-
dosia, April 28 and 29, 1899. In the act of spawning the male rode
on the hack of the female, with ventrals astride, and pectorals and
ventrals in active vibration as the pair moved about on the hot torn.
Ki
W
H
<
X
o
BOLEOSOMA TESSELLATED DARTERS
297
The eggs are emitted at intervals, and from time to time the female
raises a cloud of sand by a vigorous beating with the tail, perhaps for
the purpose of covering them. Males in breeding dress have the
first dorsal spines more or less swollen, and club-shaped at the tip.
In studying our collections, wide variation was noticed with re-
spect to the scaly covering of the breast and cheeks, ranging from
complete nakedness to complete scaliness of both, and also a con-
siderable variation in robustness of build. While, generally speaking,
specimens become more scaly northward and more slender south-
ward, it was not possible to make out, even approximately, any line
or area of division, either general or local, between the two forms, or
to draw any definite dividing line among the variants themselves.
This confusion of conditions may be illustrated by the following
analysis of a single collection of forty-six specimens (Accessions No.
28180) obtained from the north fork of the Vermilion River in Ver-
milion county June 6, 1901.
Variations oi
BOLEOSOMA NIGRUM (46
specimens)
Scales on cheeks
Scales on
breast
Malts
Females
-.
2
2
0
0
1
1
1
2
5
3
4
4
4
5
2
Xone
Two thirds ci i
i-ered
1
1
(i
Xone
0
Trace
2
Trace
Half covered
Fully covered
Fully ci ivered
Fully covered
Fully covered
Fullv covered
1
Crace
1
1
( )ne third covered
1
I [alf covered
2
Fully > i '■. ered
0
1 ota-ls
29
1 7
298
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
It was also impossible to distinguish any correlation, even ap-
proximately constant, between robustness of form and scaliness of
cheeks and breasts, both stout and slender forms having these parts
sometimes naked and sometimes more or less covered with scales.
The larger percentage of specimens with scaly breasts and cheeks
came from the Rock River basin, from the northwest district, and
from the Lake Michigan drainage; but in all these districts scaly and
naked specimens were intermingled, the latter preponderating. In
collections from the Kaskaskia, the Saline, the Cache, and the lower
Wabash Valley, on the other hand, both cheeks and breasts were
almost invariably naked, while in the upper Wabash streams and in
the Illinois basin the two forms were indiscriminately commingled.
The larger number of the stouter specimens came from the Rock
River system and the northwest area, while those from the Kaskaskia,
the Cache, and the Saline were of more slender proportions, with the
depth usually nearer six times than five times the length. A similar
study of specimens from a wider range would probably show that
Illinois is in a region of transition between two varieties of this
species — the typical nigrum, with slender body and naked breast
and cheeks, and some scaly-cheeked variety, probably olmstedi, or
perhaps identical with it.
Fk
BOLEOSOMA CAMURUM Forbes
Forbes, 1878, Bull. 111. State Lab. Nat. Hist , II. 2. 40.
I & (i . 494 (Vaillantia camura and V. chlorosoma); M. Y.. 130 (Etheostoma) ; B.,
I, 96; J. & E., I. 1060; F., 66; L., 27.
A small species, not reaching more than 1 1 inches in length in our col-
lections; superficially resembling B. nigrum, but differing distinctly from
it in its less angular head and less pointed snout, less protruding eyes, and
widely separated dorsals. The small size, the finely and fully scaled
i deeks and breast, and the peculiar ring-like light areas on the back be-
tween the quadrate dark blotches will usually serve for its recognition.
Length l j ini lies; body slender, considerably compressed, greatest width
of body aboul -J its greatesl depth; depth 6.5 to 7.2 in length; caudal
pedum le slender, its depth 3. 1 to 3.9 in its length. Color much as in
BOLEOSOMA TESSELLATED DARTERS 299
B. nigrum, but paler, the side markings less distinctly W-, X-, and
V-shaped; color pattern of upper portion of body and back more open,
being less densely and finely tessellated than in the preceding species;
back with 5 or 6 saddle-like blotches, the corners of which are more
or less distinctly connected by dark markings, giving the fish the appear-
ance of being marked dorsallv with a chain of rings, which are dark or
light according as the eyes are focused on the saddle-like dark blotches
and their connecting bands, or on the circular light areas intervening;
an evident dark spot on opercles; a conspicuous zigzag streak on nose
in front of eve and a very faint suborbital bar; dorsals and caudal faintlv
barred. Head 3.9 to 4.3, slightly shorter, and considerably narrower
than in B. nigrum, its greatest width 2 to 2 . 5 in its length; interorbital
space flat, 5 . 2 to b . 6 in head ; eye round, 3 . 3 to 4 in head, not protruding
above the cranium ; nose bluntly rounded, less decurved than in B. nigrum .
3 . 8 to 4 . 5 ; mouth rather small, maxillary to front of pupil, cleft 3.1 to
3.8 in head; lower jaw included; gill-membranes not broadly connected,
distances to angle and to back of orbit equal. Dorsal fin VIII -X, 10 or
11 (usually IX-10); spinous and soft portions well apart, separated by
a distance about equal to diameter of eye; height of first dorsal 1.7 to
1 . 9 in head, second 1.4 to 1.7 (height of first 70 to 90 per cent, of
second): caudal slightly emarginate; anal I, 7 or 8; pectorals 1 to 1.3;
separation of ventrals as a rule considerably less than their width at
base. Scales 6, 52-60, 6 or 7 [7-10]; lateral line ordinarily developed on
only about half the scales; cheeks, opercles, and breast fully scaled; nape
with a median naked strip; belly covered with ordinary scales.
This rather insignificant but interesting little darter is one of the
more distinctly southern species of the group. Although it has been
taken by us in Illinois as far north as South Chicago on the easl
and Green River, in Henry county, on the west, our southern Illini lis
collections preponderate greatly in number over those of central < ir
northern Illinois, the relative frequencies being 2.44, .46, and .10
for these three sections of the state. Like its nearest relative, the
Johnny darter, it is essentially a species of creeks and the smaller
rivers, if we may judge by our 107 collections; but it is found more
frequently than that species in standing water, especially in the
lakes and ponds of the river bottoms, and much more frequently
also in rivers of the largest class — thirty times, for example, from
Havana and Meredosia, where Boleosoma nigrum was obtained but
twice. It is most abundant in the Big Muddy and the Saline River
basins, occurring in the first in seven out of nine collections, and in
the second in eleven out of eighteen. It is especially peculiar in the
fact that more than two thirds of our material was taken from quid
waters and about three tilths of it from waters with a muddy bo1
tout. In geographical and local distribution and in ecological pref-
erence, this little species thus separates itself notably fri mi its nearest
ally.
300 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Described originally from Illinois specimens, it has since been
found from Indiana and Iowa to Alabama, and southwest to the
Angelina River in Texas.
Females distended with eggs have been taken by us late in May.
Genus CRYSTALLARIA Jordan & Gilbert
Body slender, elongate, subcylin'drical, pellucid in life; mouth small,
horizontal; premaxillaries not protractile; teeth on vomer; vertebras
(C. asprella) 47 (23+24)*; pyloric caeca 3*; belly naked or with a few
ordinary scales. In its protractile premaxillaries, as well as in habit,
resembling Hadropterus, but the body hyaline in life as in Ammocrypta.
One species known, a darter of rather large size, first obtained by the
senior author in Hancock countv, Illinois.
CRYSTALLARIA ASPRELLA (Jordan)
Jordan, 1878, Bull. 111. State Lab. Nat.^Jist., I. 2, 38 (Pleurolepisi.
J & G., 490 (Ammocrypta); M. V.. 123 (Etheostoma) ; B , I, 104; J. & E., I, 1061;
F., 66 (Ammocrypta); L., 28.
A slender species, with extremely small scales, and pellucid in life.
Easily known by these marks and by the peculiar broad saddle-like
bands across the back, which are continued obliquely downward and for-
ward to the lateral line in this species. Length 3 to 4 inches ; body very
long and slender, not at all compressed, being nearly uniformly cylin-
drical from nape to front of second dorsal; depth 7.8 to 9 in length;
caudal peduncle very slender, its depth 3.7 to 4.7 in its length. "Color
hyaline-olive with 3 or 4 dark, broad cross-bands meeting over the
back, the width of the first 3 about equal to depth of body, the fourth
narrower, and all extending somewhat obliquely downward and for-
ward to the lateral line; a dark lateral band along side, made up of
about 10 more or less confluent dark quadrate blotches, darkest where it
crosses through the cross-bands " (Jordan and Evermann). "In life the
oblique bands are of a golden, iridescent color; cheeks below eye bright
iridescent silvery; pupil black with brassy rim; iris chiefly duskv ; spots
on sides dusky with traces of golden between" (H. Garman). Head
3.7 to 4.5, its width 2 to 2.3 in its length; interorbital space very
narrow, concave, 8.3 to 9.7; eye somewhat elliptical, 3.3 to 3.9 in
head; nose decurved and broadly rounded anteriorly, somewhat shovel-
shaped, 2.6 to 3.2 in head; mouth rather broad, subterminal, the max-
illary not reaching to front of orbit; cleft 3.5 to 3.9 in head; lower jaw
included; gill-membranes only slightly connected, distance from muzzle
io angle usually less than to back of orbit. Dorsal fin XII or XIII.
13 15; soft and spinous portions separated by a distance almost equal
io diameter of eye; spinous dorsal high in front; height of first dorsal
1.8 to 2.5 in head, second 1.7 to 2.2 (height of first 82 to 105 per
*In a single specimen (Acces ions No 27670, 111 State Lab Na1 Hist.).
Spring Cave-fish, Chologaster papilliferus Forbes
v
Crystallaria asprella (Jordan)
Common Sculpin, Coitus ictalops (Rafinesque)
AMMOCRYPTA SAND DARTERS 301
cent, of second); caudal lunate; anal I, 13 or 14; pectorals 1.1 to 1.3
in head; separation of ventrals slightly less than their width at base.
Scales 8-10, 89-97, 9-11 [12-16]; lateral line nearly straight, 2 to 12
pores usually lacking; cheeks naked or with a trace of scales, or about
half covered'with very thin scattered scales, a few of which may be pecti-
nate; opercles with a few pectinate scales on upper portion; nape scaled;
throat, breast, and belly naked excepting (sometimes) a portion or all i if
the space in front of the ventral tins directly under pelvic girdle.
A medium-sized and singularly interesting species, first discov-
ered in this state in a rocky creek of the Mississippi bluffs in Hancock
county, and since taken from the Rock River at Cleveland, Erie, and
Milan, from the Little Wabash at Effingham, and from the Missis-
sippi at East Dubuque, in the northwestern part of the state. Else-
where it comes from Grosse Isle, Mich., from the Detroit River, from
the Ohio River at Rising Sun, from the Wabash as far northward as
Terre Haute, and from a few points in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ala-
bama, and Arkansas. It is found chiefly in the swift currents of the
larger, clearer streams, but apparently is a rare fish everywhere, and
but little known.
AMMOCRYPTA Jordan
(sand darters)
Body slender and elongate, subcylindrical; pellucid in life; mouth
rather wide, horizontal; premaxillaries protractile; teeth on vomer; ver-
tebras (pellucida) 44 (23+21). (vivax) 41 (21+20); pyloric caeca 4. Ex-
tremely slender fishes, with the habit of burying themselves in the sand;
size moderate, about 3 inches in length; 2 species known.
AMMOCRYPTA PELLUCIDA (Baird)
(saxd darter)
Agassiz, 1863, Bull. Mus Comp Zool., I, 5 (Pleurolepis).
I & G , 189; M V , 122 (Etheostoma); B., I. 102; ]. & E.. I. 1062; N., 35 (Pleuro-
lepis): J . 38 (Pleurolepis); F., 60; L., 28.
Slender, cylindrical, pellucid fishes, with the premaxillaries protractile
and the appearance of Boleosoma rather than Crystallaria and Hadrop-
terus, and probably more nearly related to that genus than to the others.
Length 2\ inches; body subcylindrical, scarcely deeper than wide, the
sides slightly flattened along their median line; depth S . 2 to 10.1 in
length; caudal peduncle slender, its depth 3.4 to 4.2 in its length.
Color "translucent; scales with fine Mack dots; a series (14 or IS) of
small, squarish olive or bluish blotches along the back and another
along each side; lateral spots connected by a gill-band" (Jordan and
302 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Evermann). Head 4.1 to 4 . 4 in length, its width 2 to 2 . 5 in its length;
interorbital space narrow, concave, 7.1 to 8.4 in head; eye 3.6 to 4.3;
nose decurved, pointed, 3.1 to 3 . 8 in head; mouth moderate, maxillary
extending to front of orbit; cleft 3.1 to 4.4 in head; lower jaw slightly
shorter than upper; gill-membranes somewhat connected, but forming a
sharp angle, the distance from muzzle to angle about 1J times that to
back of orbit. Dorsal fin IX-XI, 9-11 (usually IX or X); spinous and
soft portions widely separated, the space greater than width of eye;
height of first dorsal low, 2 . 2 to 3 . 5 (usually less than 3) in head, second
1 . 8 to 2 . 1 (height of first 56 to 80 per cent, of second) ; caudal fin lunate;
anal I, 8 or 9 (occasionally 7); pectorals 1 to 1 .3 in head; separation of
ventrals less than the width at base. Scales 6 or 7, 67-78, 8 or 9+, the
upper and lower rows (nearest back and belly) sometimes lacking, body
being naked except for a strip along the side of varying width ; lateral
line usually complete; cheeks and opercles scaled; nape scaled or naked;
throat, breast, and bellv entirely naked; all scales more or less embedded
and with edges little ctenoid.
Fig. 72
This extremely interesting fish,. peculiar in its very slender form,
its semitransparent body, and its habit of living much of the time
in the sand, with only its eyes showing at the surface, make it one of
the most remarkable cases of special adaptation in this highly adap-
tive little group. Situations favorable to its habits are so rare in Illi-
nois that its comparative scarcity here was to be expected. It has
been found by us twenty-nine times, in localities well distributed—
twelve of them from the Wabash Valley, one from the lower Kas-
kaskia, six on streams of the lower Illinois, one on a creek of the
Mississippi bluffs, and three on Rock River or its tributaries. It is
reported by Jordan and Evermann from Lake Erie to Minnesota.,
Kentucky, and Texas, occurring usually in clear sandy streams.
An excellent account of its habits and peculiarities is given in
Bulletin 47 of the United States National Museum by Jordan and
Copeland. The fish has a very sharp nose with an exceedingly slim
and round body, as transparent as jelly but hard and firm to the
touch Its belly and much of its back are quite bare of scales, and
ETHEOSTOMA 303
those along its sides are small and inconspicuous. In an aquarium
with sand on the bottom, it was seen to bury itself in a few seconds by
first stirring up the sand with rapid beats of its tail, as it stood liter-
ally upon its head, then lying still as the sand settled again, and
quietly putting out its nose and eyes, leaving only these and the
front of its head to be seen. Notwithstanding its peculiar habits
and its nice adaptation to a special environment, it is among our
group of most typical darters, its most frequent associate in our
collections being Hadroptcnts phoxocephalus, and next to this, Ha-
dropterns aspro.
Its food seems remarkably uniform, consisting, like that of so
many other darters, of dipterous larvae, mainly Chironomus, and
larvae of Mav-flies, the former largely preponderating in the speci-
mens we have studied.
Genus ETHEOSTOMA Rafinesque
Bodv robust or rather elongate, considerably compressed, or greatly
so; mouth varying in size, terminal or subinferior; premaxillaries not
protractile; teeth usually present on vomer and palatines; vertebra? i3
to 39, usually 36 (15+21); pyloric caeca 3 or 4; belly with ordinary
scales. Species numerous, about 30; size small; coloration various, often
brilliant.
A large group, difficult to characterize, including a wide range of
forms, which, however, agree in having the premaxillaries non-pro-
tractile, and differ from all the preceding genera (except possibly
Diplesion) in having the cranium more elevated behind the eyes —
fl-shaped.* These fishes are, as a rule, more or less compressed, and
deeper bodied than such forms as Cottogaster, Boleosoma, and Ha-
dropterus. In this group are found our most brilliantly colored-
darters, bright red and blue in gaudy display on both body and
fins prevailing in the dress of many species.
Key to the Species of ETHEOSTOMA found ix Ii.i.ixois
a. Lateral line usually compli te, i iccasionally 2 to 6 pi ires lacking.
b. Gill-membranes joining broadly across the isthmus, distance from le
to their angle 4(i to 50 pei cenl greater than from muzzle to back oi
i irl .it ' zonale.
bb. Gill-membranes scarcely connected, distances to angle and to bai I oi orbil
no1 far from equal camurum.
*The forms (flabellare, obeyense, and squamiceps) with low dorsal fin and blai I.
humeral spot (see key) senn to agree in having the parietals less an hed than is
usual in Etheostoma, and shaped in cross-sectii in more nearly as in Boleosoma.
304 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
aa. Lateral line always more or less incomplete, the number of pores lacking
usually 10 to 30, rarely as low as 5.
c. Spinous dorsal fin not exceptionally low, its height as a rule 75 to 90 per
cent, of height of soft dorsal; no enlarged dark humeral scale.
d. Cheeks and opercles scaled.
e. -Rays of second dorsal 9 or 10; scales 55-60; rust-red spots on sides, no bars.
iowae.
ee. Rays of second dorsal 12 to 13 ; scales 49-57 ; brown bars on sides. . . . jessiae.
dd. Cheeks naked; opercles scaled; spring males with alternating red and blue
bars coeruleum.
cc. Spinous dorsal fin as a rule less than 60 per cent, height of soft dorsal; an
enlarged dark humeral scale more or less conspicuous.
f. Gill-membranes little connected, distances from muzzle to angle and to
back of orbit not far from equal.
g. Cheeks, opercles, nape, and breast naked; chin, cheeks, and opercles sprin-
kled with fine dark dots; a large black humeral scale, its depth § diameter
of eye obeyense.
gg. Cheeks, opercles, nape, and breast covered with embedded scales, chin and
cheeks with pronounced dark mottlings and vermiculations; humeral
scale rather small and not very black squamiceps.
ff. Gill-membranes broadly connected, distance from muzzle to their free mar-
gin is to H times that to back of orbit; dorsal spines each ending in a
fleshy knob in the male flabellare.
Fig. 73
ETHEOSTOMA ZONALE (Cope)
(baxded darter)
Cope, 1868, Journ. Ac. Nat, Sci. Phila., 212 (Pcecilichthys).
]. &G., 510 (Nanostomai. M. V., 130; B., I, 83; J. & E., I, 1075; J., 41 (Nanostoma);
F . 65; L . 28
Banded darters which have a superficial resemblance to females of
E. ccemleum, and may even be confused (especially in preservative) with
E. jessias. From the first, this species is easily distinguished by its closely
and finely scaled cheeks, and from both, as well as also from all other Illi-
nois species of the genus Etheostoma except flabellare, it may be readily
separated by the broad union of the gill-membranes. Length ordinarily
a little less than 2 inches; body moderately elongate, considerably com-
pressed, the depth 4.7 to 6 in length; greatesl width of body about
-; its greatesl depth ; depth of caudal peduncle 2.4 to 3. 1 in its length.
Colors ui life "bright olivaceous above, golden below; 6 dark brown
quadrate dorsal spots, which conned by alternating spots with a broad.
ETHEOSTOMA 305
brown lateral band, from which 8 narrower dark bluish bands more or
less completely encircle the belly; paired, anal, and caudal fins golden,
brown-spotted; middle half of the first dorsal crimson; a series of round
crimson spots near the base of the second dorsal; occiput, a band on
muzzle, and one below eve, black; a black spot on operculum and one at
base of pectoral; females duller and speckled, with ventrals barred and
lateral bars feebler" (Jordan and Evermann). Preserved male speci-
mens with whole body and fins more or less dusky, obscuring color
pattern; dorsal, anal, pectorals, and ventrals a dark smoky blue, densest
in the membranes; bars on body 11 or 12, only the last 7 or 8 (behind tips
of reflexed pectorals) distinct; second dorsal, anal, and pectorals (and
ventrals of females) barred in the rays; first dorsal with a row of large
dark spots in membranes near base, and barred in rays of upper half.
Head rather small, short, 4 to 4.9 in length; width of head 1 . 6 to
1.9 in its length; interorbital space 5.3 to 6.9; eye small, round, not
protruding, 2 . 9 to 3 . 7 in head; nose short, blunt, and scarcely decurved,
3.2 to 4 in head; mouth small, subinferior, maxillary scarcely past front
of orbit ; cleft 3 . 4 to 4 . 8 in head ; jaws nearly equal ; gill-membranes con-
nected across isthmus in a broad curve, distance from muzzle to their
free margin about If to li times that from muzzle to back of orbit.
Dorsal fin X or XI. 10-12; spinous and soft portions scarcely separated
at base; height of first dorsal 1.7 to 2.1 in head, second 1.4 to 1.7
i height of first 76 to 94 per cent, of second) ; caudal lunate; anal II, 7 or
8; pectorals .9 to 1 in head; separation of ventrals less than § their width
at base. Scales 6, 46-53, 6 or 7 [8 or 9], weakly ctenoid; lateral line
nearly straight and usually complete, 2 to 6 pores occasionally lacking;
cheeks, opercles, and nape fullv scaled; breast usually fully scaled, some-
times partlv naked; bellv covered with ordinary scales.
The banded darter is one of the typical members of its sub-
family, but with an extraordinary distribution in Illinois. It is
limited, according to our experience, to the northern half of the
state, with the exception of a single collection from the Wabash,
and is distinguished also by its frequency in the smaller rivers rather
than in streams which could be classed as creeks. Our thirty -five
collections, from almost as many localities, give us a frequency
coefficient of 4.42 for small rivers, 1 .37 for creeks, and .2 for the
larger rivers, the species not having occurred at all in standing water
"I any description. In the streams which it inhabits, it is found
almost wholly in the swifter parts on a bottom of rock or sand.
The general distribution of this darter extends from Lake Erie
westward through Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa to Mankato, Mont.,
southward to the Saline and Washita rivers in Arkansas, to the
Black Warrior in Alabama, to the Hoist on in Virginia, and to i In-
French Broad in North Carolina. It is said by Jordan and Ever-
mann to occur commonly in small clear streams, and to be locally
abundant in weedy or gravelly places.
306 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Its food, so far as known, is similar to that of most of the other
members of the family, consisting mainly of larva? of small Diptera,
Chironomus larvae predominating.
Males and females in breeding colors, the latter greatly distended
with eggs, have been taken by us in late May and early June.
ETHEOSTOMA CAMURUM (Cope)
(blue-breasted darter)
Cope, 1870, Proc. Am. Philos. Soc. Phila., 265 (Poecilichthys)
J. & G.. 506 (Nothonotus), M. V., 130; B., I. 69; J. & E., I. 1076; X., 34 (Poecilich-
thys niger); J., 41 (Nothonotus); L., 28.
This darter has been taken in the White River basin in Indiana
by Dr. Jordan. Although reported by Mr. Thomas Large* from
Peoria, from Union county, and from the Saline and lower Wabash
basins, it is not now represented in our collections. A single speci-
men thought to belong to this species was presented to this Labora-
tory by Mr. J. P. Baur, of the United States Fish Commission,
wh( i took it from a pond near Naples, Illinois, but it was unfortu-
nately lost before the preliminary identification could be verified.
The species ranges, so far as known, from Lake Erie to Tennessee
in clear swift water.
ETHEOSTOMA IOWjE Jordan & Meek
Jordan & Meek, 1885* Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 10.
M. V., 133; B., I, 72 (ioae) ; J. & E., I, 1083; L.. 28.
Length 2 inches; body rather long, more slender than other Illinois
species of Etheostoma; depth 5.4 to 6.8, usually not over 6; greatest
width of body about § its greatest depth; depth caudal peduncle 2 .3 to
2 . 8 in its length. Color of sides and upper parts light green, finely blotched
with darker; back with 8 or 9 small and rather obscure quadrate blotches
of clove-brown color; sides with 9 to 1 1 clove-brown bars, short and some-
what broken, extending above lateral line half way to back and below
it half way to belly (the bars are greenish in pale specimens), squarish
blotches of rusty red alternating with the bars; belly greenish yellow
to almost white, overlaid between base of pectoral and anal fin with an
orange band or a row of blotches of same color; sides and top of head
with dark brown vermiculations and bands of brown; a band of brown
before eye and one below it; upper half of spinous dorsal, except margin,
a brilliant orange, above and below which is clove-brown to light green ;
pectorals, soft dorsal, and caudal fins barred brown in the rays; ventrals
*"A List of the Native Fishes of Illinois, with Kevs," byThomas Large. Rep.
Ill State FishComm., Sept. 30. L900, to Oct. 1. 1902.
u
0
>*!
ETHEOSTOMA 307
and anal almost plain white. Females and males in late-summer color
much lighter, fall specimens often suggesting Boleo$onia nigrum. The
large size and peculiar shade of the rusty -brown to rusty-red blotches
will usually serve for the recognition of this species. Head 3 . 7 to 4, less
pointed than E. jessim, the muzzle rather blunt, scarcely decurved ; width
of head 1.8 to 2 . 1 in its length ; interorbital space not much wider than
half of eve, 6 to 8 in head ; eye nearly round, 3 . 3 to 4 . 4 in head ; mouth
rather small, nearly horizontal, subterminal, maxillary reaching to front
of orbit; cleft 3.6 to 4; lower jaw included; gill-membranes scarcely c< m
nected, distance from muzzle to angle usually less than 1 . 1 times that
to back of orbit. Dorsal fin VIII-XI, 9 or 11; spinous and soft portions
separated by a space somewhat greater than diameter of eye; height of
first dorsal 2 . 1 to 2 . 7 in head, second 1 . S to 2 (height of 'first 68 to ''4
per cent, of second) ; caudal truncate or very faintly lunate; anal II (occa-
sionally I), 6 to 8 (usually 7) ; pectorals 1 . 2 to 1 . 4 in head,; separation of
ventrals always less than half, sometimes only J, their width at base.
Scales 5 or 6 (occasionally 7), 55-60, 7-9 [10-12], lateral line somewhat
flexed upward anteriorly*, as in E. jessiee; about 25 pores usually lack-
ing; cheeks, opercles. and nape fully scaled; breast naked; belly covered
with ordinary scales.
A rare species in Illinois, taken by us from eight localities, all in
northern Illinois except one from Johnson county. The following
are the recorded places: Pistakee Lake, in McHenry county; Wolf
Lake, South Chicago ; Senachwine Lake, Henry county ; Rock River
at Milan, Rock Island county; Green River, near Geneseo, in Henry
county; Pecunsagan creek, near Utica, La Salle county; Illinois
River, at Ottawa; and Dutchman's creek, near Vienna, Johnson
county.
Its known general range is northward at least as far as Qu'Ap-
pelle River in Assiniboia, westward to Valentine, Neb., and south-
ward to Arkansas.
ETHEOSTOMA JESSIE (Jordan & Brayton)
Jordan & Brayton, 1877, Jordan's Man Vert., 227 (Poecilichthys).
J & <".., S18 (Poecilichthys); M. V., 133; B., I, 72; J. & E., I, 1084; Forbes, in J.,
41 (Poecilichthys asprigenisf ; F., 64 (asprigene); L., 29.
Length ordinarily a little less than two inches, though specimens
are occasionally found 2\ inches; depth 4.8 to 5.4 in length; body as a
rule considerably compressed, its greatest width about \ of its greatest
depth; dorsal and ventral outlines usually about equally arched, giving
the fish a symmetrical, bass-like form, which appearance is aided by
*In E. Jessies and iowat the lateral line is nearly parallel with the line of the bai 1.
The difference, between these species and Boleichthys fusiformis in this feature
seems to be in the closeness of lateral hue to the back at its highest poinl rather
than in the matter of parallelism.
308 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
its rather large and oblique mouth ; depth of caudal peduncle 2 . 1 to
2.6 in its length. Color brownish olive, the back with 5 or 6 quadrate
saddle-like blotches of blackish to greenish brown; 8 or 9 greenish brown
bars on sides, becoming obscure in front of caudal peduncle; interspaces
between bars rust-red to orange; belly orange; head slaty olive, with
dark streak in front of eye and below ; cheeks olivaceous, tending to bluish
brown or chestnut ; opercle olivaceous with sprinklings of iridescent golden
green; eye dull, the pupil dull black and iris chestnut; spinous dorsal
tipped with a narrow edge of pale blue, under which is a narrow band-
like row of orange-red spots; lower half of fin chiefly pale blue; soft dorsal
irregularly spotted with rusty orange; pectorals transparent; ventrals
dusky at base; anal pale; one of the most elegantly colored of our darters.
Females somewhat duller in color, examples in preservative showing
less prominently than males the dark bar-like blotch near base of spinous
dorsal. Head 3.7 to 4.2, rather large, uniformly tapered above and be-
low to the end of the bluntly pointed muzzle; width of head 1.7 to 2.3;
interorbital space about half of eye, 5 . 4 to 7 . 4 in head ; eye round, 3 . 3 to
4; nose slightly less than eye, 3.5 to 4.3; mouth rather large, terminal,
oblique, upper lip above level of lower margin of orbit; maxillary past
front of orbit; cleft 2.8 to 3.3 in head; jaws subequal; gill-membranes
narrowly connected, distances from muzzle to angle and to back of orbit
about equal. Dorsal fin X-XI (occasionally IX), 12 or 13, the spinous and
soft portions scarcely separated; height of first dorsal 1 .9 to 2 .2 in head,
second 1.5 to 2 (height of first 74 to 98 per cent, of second) ; caudal
rounded or slightly emarginate; anal II, 7 or 8; pectorals 1.1 to 1.3 in
head ; separation of ventrals scarcely more than ^ their width at base.
Scales 6 (occasionally 5), 49-57, 7-9 [9-11]; lateral line somewhat flexed
upward anteriorly, about parallel* with line of back; 3 to 15 pores usu-
ally lacking; cheeks, opercles, and nape closely scaled; breast naked;
belly covered with ordinary scales.
This little species, very abundant in Illinois, and represented by
161 collections, differs from the remainder of its subfamily in its
average distribution. It is consequently among those darters least
frequently found in company with others, and our associative coeffi-
cient for the species is but 1.47, the general average for the subfamily
being 2 .02. It seems to prefer the stagnant water of lowland lakes
and sloughs, and occurs otherwise most frequently in rivers, large
and small, and somewhat less frequently in creeks. Our coeffi-
cients for these various waters are 2.02 for bottom-land lakes and
ponds, 1.23 tor the larger rivers, 1.13 for the smaller rivers, and
.99 for the creeks. Its preference for the larger streams am] the
waters of their neighborhood is indeed plainly evident from the map
of its distribution. It is wanting in all our collections from the up-
land glacial lakes.
* Least distance between lateral lint- and midair of back equal t. > \ depth oi body.
Compare with Boleichthys fusiformis.
ETHEOSTOMA 309
Its ecological separateness from its nearest allies, notwithstand-
ing its close resemblance to them, is shown by our coefficients of
association of this species with the banded, the rainbow, and the fan-
tailed darters, the other relatively abundant species of its genus.
These are .37 for the first of the above-named species, .77 for the
second, and 1.27 for the third, an average of .8, to be compared
with the general subfamily average of 2.02, and with one of 5.54,
which is the mutual associative coefficient of the three other species
of the group. It has, in short, been found by us in company with
the three other common species only about one seventh as frequently
as they have been found with each other.
The species has occurred nearly three times as frequently in cen-
tral, and nearly twice as frequently in southern, as in northern Illi-
nois. Notwithstanding this indifferent distribution as to the kinds
i if waters it inhabits, our data of situation indicate a decided prefer-
ence for a strong current and a bottom of rock or sand. It is a very
common species in the Illinois at Havana and Meredosia, 88 of our
collections having come from that situation, usually conspicuous by
the absence of other darters.
It is reported outside Illinois from Devil Lake and Tiffin River,
Michigan, through Indiana and Iowa to Mississippi, Arkansas,
Oklahoma, Texas, and the Rio Grande, and also from the Etowah
River in Georgia.
Its food consists of larva; of May-flies and Chironomus larva;,
taken by the specimens studied in about equal quantity.
Females with large eggs were caught in the middle of March, but
others captured May 12 had /hot yet spawned. Craig, however,
reports it spawning at Havana in April and May, 1898. Males slill
retained their breeding colors in August, 1903.
ETHEOSTOMA CffiRULEUM Storer
(RAIXBOW DARTER; SOLDIER-FISH)
Ston r, is 15, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist.. 47.
I & G . 517 tPcEcilichthysi; M. V . 133; B ,1.71; J. & E . I. 1088; X . 34 (Pceci-
lichthys cceruleus and spectabilis) ; ]., 41 (Poecilichthys variatus and spectab-
ilis); F., 64; L., 2".
Length _' inches; robust, rather deep and compressed, and back,
especially in males, more or less elevated; depth 4.7 t<i 5; greatest width
about | greatesl depth; depth of caudal peduncle 2.1 t<> J. 5 in its
length. Color dark olive, overlaid with dusky to bluish (or brilliant: indi
blue) bars and blotches; scales of sides each with a dark central Spot,
these forming more or less longitudinal rows mosl distinct in females
(21)
310 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
and in the so-called variety spectabile* ; back with 7 or 8 rather obscure
quadrate blotches; sides of males with 11 or 12 bars of dark indigo-blue
color, the interspaces between the bars blood-orange, brightest back-
ward, as are also the indigo bars; head flesh-color, with lavender on chin
and vellow to orange on opercles; forehead and top of snout dull bluish
black ; a blue splash below eye and a dark spot behind it ; spinous dorsal
crossed at its middle by a row of orange-red spots in an orange band;
above and below this a pale to deep indigo-blue band; at base of fin a
narrow band of orange with a central row of orange-red spots. Females
duller in color than the males, the bars dusky and interspaces olive;
spinous dorsal with a narrow outer edging of pale blue, next to which is
a straw-colored band with a row of rust-colored spots, in place of the
orange of male. Head large, 3 . 6 to 4 in length, the profile in males a
broad and practically continuous curve from front of dorsal to tip of
snout; females with nape angled; width of head 1 . 7 to 2 . 1 in its length;
interorbital space flat, about § of eye, S.8 to 7.2 in head; eye nearly
round, 3.7 to 4.1; mouth moderate, terminal, somewhat oblique, tip
of upper lip nearer to floor of orbit than base of chin; lips rather large,
upper with great lateral depth when closed; maxillary reaching to front
of orbit; cleft 3 to 3.5; jaws subequal; gill-membranes scarcely con-
nected, distances to angle and to back of orbit about equal. Dorsal
fin X (or XI), 12-14; spinous and soft portions scarcely separated, or
slightly connected at base; height of first dorsal 2.1 to 2.7 in head,
second 1 . 5 to 1 . 9 (height of first 68 to 83 per cent, of second) ; caudal
truncate; anal II. 7 or 8 (occasionally 6); pectorals 1 to 1.2 in head;
separation of ventrals usually about \ their width at base. Scales 6,
44-51, 7 or 8, occasionally 6 [9 or 10]; lateral line flexed slightly up-
ward anteriorly, 15 to 20 pores usually lacking; cheeks naked; opercles
scaled; nape scaled posteriorly, usually naked in a small patch next to
occiput; breast naked; belly covered with ordinary scales.
Fig. 74
The rainbow darter, one of the most brilliant of its group and
closely allied to Etheostoma jessicB, is less abundant in this state than
thatspecies -occurring in 99 of our collect inns to 161 of the other —
and differs widely from n in local distribution also, especially in an
*E. cceruleum spectabile (Agassiz), Jordan & livermann, 1896, Bull. U. S. N'at.
Mus., No. 47, Pt. [., p. 1089.
ETHEOSTOMA 311
avoidance of stagnant waters and the larger streams. Indeed, we
have taken it but three times from first-class rivers, and but twice
from lakes or sloughs, while the coefficients of frequency for creeks
and the smaller rivers are 2.72 and 2.66 respectively. It is also
differently distributed throughout the state, being more abundant
northward in our collections than Jessies, much less so in the cen-
tral part of the state, and somewhat more abundant, again, in ex-
treme southern Illinois.* While it occurred three times n the
waters of the lower Wabash within the lower Illinoisan glaciation, a
comparison of the map of its distribution with that of \essim indi-
cates unmistakably an avoidance of this area by the present species.
It is distinctly a swift-water and clean-bottom species — 83 per cent,
of our collections bearing ecological data having come from the
former ami 92 per cent, from the latter situations.
In general distribution it ranges from Lake Superior to Lake
Ontario, New Jersey, and western Pennsylvania, and thence through-
out the Ohio and the Missouri basins to Missouri and Kansas, and
southwest to Texas.
It is a thick-bodied fish, without much grace of appearance or
movement, but is very active and alert and always watchful of its
surroundings. When alarmed it darts swiftly to the right and left,
with confusing rapidity. It is fond of creeping into crevices in the
aquarium, and is quite skilful at hiding itself in the sand or gravel
by a headlong dive and one or two vigorous flirts of the tail.
We have taken females filled with large eggs and males in breed
ing color in early June. Their spawning habits are described 1 >y Mr.
W. P. Seal, who observed them in the aquarium. The eggs were
deposited among the pebbles at the bottom of the tank, the female
drawing herself along with a quivering motion, and the male push-
ing up close beside her.
ETHEOSTOMA OBEYENSE Kirsch
. 1890 (1892), Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., X, 292.
B., I, 78; J. & E., I. 1092; L , 29
Length 2 inches; body long and low, depth 5.6 to 6; greatesl width
aboul \ greatesl depth of body; depth caudal peduncle 2.2 to 2 A in its
length. Color fm preservative) light brownish olive, much and rather fine-
ly bloti hed with darker; hack with 6 or 7 ill-defined cross-blotches ; sides
with 10 or 1 1 irregularly shaped dark spots along lateral line, often obscure;
♦The frequency ratios for the three section are, forE. jessuB 53,1 16, and l 02
for northern, central, and southern Illinois, and foi / i eruleum, 1.30, .42, and 1.28,
respei tively.
312 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
a dark spot on cheek behind eye; suborbital streak faint or wanting;
cheeks, opercles, and chin rather densely sprinkled with fine dark dots;
black humeral scale very large and usually distinct, its depth nearly
equal to diameter of eye; spinous dorsal pale below, with a broad outer
margin of dusky ; soft dorsal faintly barred ; caudal with 6 or 7 wavy bars
which are continuous for most part on both rays and membranes, as in
E. sqnamiccps and E. flabellare; pectorals faintly barred; other fins plain.
Head 3 . 36 to 3 . 46, rather slender and pointed ; width of head 2 to 2.3;
interorbital space about half of eye, 7.1 to 8. 1 ; eve roundish, somewhat
protruding above cranium, 3.2 to 3.7; mouth rather large, subterminal,
oblique, tip of upper lip above level of lower margin of orbit; maxillary
reaching past front of orbit; cleft 2.9 to 3.2 in head; jaws subequal;
gill-membranes scarcely connected, distances to angle and to back of orbit
equal. Dorsal fin VI or VIII, 1 1-12 ;_ two fins scarcely separated; first dorsal
low, 50 to 59 percent, of height of second (first 2.7 to 3 . 8 in head, second
1.6 to 1.9); caudal subtruncate; anal II, 7 ; pectorals 1 .2 in head; sepa-
ration of ventrals less than half their width at base. Scales 6, 42-45, 6
or 7 [10]; lateral line always incomplete, the pores developed on 15 to
20 scales only; cheeks naked; opercles usually naked, sometimes with a
trace of scales; nape and breast naked; belly covered with ordinary
scales.
This rare little fish has been taken in this state in only four col-
lections, all from rocky and gravelly creeks in Pope and Hardin
counties. It was originally described in 1890 from the tributaries of
the Cumberland River in Clinton county, Kentucky, and seems not
to have been since reported from any other place.
ETHEOSTOMA SQUAMICEPS Jordan
Jordan, 1S77. Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 10. 11.
J. &G., 514; M. V., 131; B., I, 85; J. & E., I. 1096; L., 29.
Length 2h to 3 inches; body robust, back low, and caudal peduncle
stout; depth 4.9 to 6; greatest width of body about \ its greatest depth;
depth caudal peduncle 1.6 to 2.3 (usually less than 2) in its length.
Color dusky olive, finely and densely mottled and specked with dark
brown, lower part of sides and belly scarcely lighter than upper parts;
nil lateral spots or blotches and no evident cross-bars*; a more or less
distinct dark humeral scale, a bar before eye, and a very distinct sub-
orbital streak: chin and cheeks conspicuously vermiculatecl with dark
brown; second dorsal, caudal, and pectorals finely barred, latter faintly.
Head 3.7 to 4 in length, nape angled and profile noticeably decurved
to end of bluntly pointed snout; interorbital space almost equal to eye,
6 to 7 . 2 in head; eye round, 3.7 to 4.4; mouth largef, terminal, oblique,
the jaws subequal; maxillary reaching past front of pupil; cleft 2.8 to
♦Compare with Jordan and Evermann, Hull 17, V S Nat Mus . Pt. 1 ,p. 1096.
f'Small" (Jordan ami Evermann, 1 i |
ETHEOSTOMA 313
3.3; gill-membranes scarcely connected*, distances to angle and to hack
of orbit equal. Dorsal fin usually YIII or IX, 12-14 (sometimes VII or
X) ; two portions as a rule scarcely separated at base, sometimes aparl
a distance equal to about § of eye; first dorsal very low, its height 48 to
64 per cent, of second; (first 2.6 to 3.7 in head, second 1.8 to 2.1);
caudal rounded; anal II, 6 or 7 ; pectorals 1 . IS to 1.27 in head; sej
ration of ventrals about half their width at base. Scales 6-8, 44-57,
7-8 [10-13]; lateral line nearly straight, from 5 to IS pores usuallv lack-
ing; cheeks and opercles with more or less closely embedded scales; nape
as a rule scaled; breast naked or wholly or partly covered with embed-
ded scales; belly covered with ordinary scales.
Taken by us in ten collections, from eight localities, all but two
from southern Illinois, south of the Saline River, the exceptions
coming from Robinson creek a branch of the Kaskaskia in Shelby
county, and from the Little Wabash River near Carmi, in White
county. It is distinctly a southern species, reported from Georgia
and Florida to southern Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and the
Black Warrior River in Alabama. It is, like obeyense, a species of
swift clear creeks with a bottom of rock or gravel.
ETHEOSTOMA FLABELLARE Rafinesque
(fan-tailed darter)
Rafinesque. 1819, Journ. de Physique, 4UJ.
J. & G., 513. M. V., 131; B., I, 86; J. & E., I, 1097; N . 34 (Poecilichthys flabellatus
and P. lineolatus); J.. 42; F., 64; F. F., I. 3, 24; L., 29
Length 2 to 2^ inches ; body rather slender, compressed, back low, caudal
peduncle deep ; depth 4 . 6 to 6 . 8 in length ; greatest width of body about §
its greatest depth ; depth caudal peduncle 1 . 8 to 2 . 4, usually less than 2 , in
its length. Color (in preservative) rather dark, with small dark specks ami
faint cross-bars; each scale of back and sides with a central dark spot, the
longitudinal rows formed by these most prominent in females and in the
so-called variety lineolatumj; a rather large and very black humeral spot ;
a dark streak across opercles and through eye to end of snout; suborbital
streak faint or wanting; cheeks and opercles dusted with minute brown
specks; males with head and upper parts dark bluish black and with 10
or 12 cross-bars of same color on sides, traces of these bars in females;
second dorsal and caudal fins finely barred; pectorals faintly barred,
other fins plain; spines of first dorsal in breeding males ending in fleshv
pads or knobs of rust-red color, and body and fins all more or less dusky.
Head rather long, slender, depressed, 3.6 to 4.2 in length; a distinct bul
not Weep angle at nape, from which profile is almost straight to tip ol
snout, which is somewhat upturned, especially in males; interorbital
*" Rather broadly connected" (Jordan and Evermann, 1 a).
\L flabellare lineolatum (Agassiz), Jordan and Evermann, 1896, Bull. I', S Na1
Mus ., No. 47, Pt. I , p 1098
314 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
space flat, 6.2 to 8.3; eye round, 3 . 8 to 5 ; mouth rather large, terminal,
oblique, tip of upper lip almost on level with upper margin of pupil; max-
illary past front of orbit ; cleft 2.9 to 3.3 in head ; lower jaw as long as
upper or slightly projecting; gill-membranes broadly connected, the dis-
tance from muzzle to their free margin as a rale over 1 £ times that to back
of orbit. Dorsal fin VI I or VIII, 12-14; the two portions very closely approx-
imated or united at base; first dorsal very low, its height 42 to 68 per
cent, of height of second (height of first 3 . 2 to 5 . 1 in head, second 1 . 8 to
2.3); caudal rounded; anal II, 7 or 8 (or 9) ; pectorals 1 . 2 to 1 . 3 in head ;
separation of ventrals about half their width at base. Scales 8 or 9,
51-63. 8-10 [12-16]; lateral line straight, IS to 25 pores lacking; cheeks
and opercles usuallv naked, the latter with sometimes a trace of scales;,
nape naked or with very deeply embedded scales; breast naked; belly
covered with ordinary scales.
The fan-tailed darter has a distribution in this state very like
that of the rainbow darter, although it is a less common inhabitant
of our streams. Of the thirty-five localities from which we have
taken it, but one falls within the lower Illinoisan glaciation, while
two are in Union county in extreme southern Illinois, and the re-
mainder are in the northern two thirds of the state, mostly in north-
ern Illinois proper, for which section the frequency coefficient is
1 .92. This is mainly a darter of the smaller streams, usually in-
habiting the swifter creeks and brooks, although occasionally taken
in rivers and lowland lakes.
It is widely distributed, from Quebec and New England down the
Atlantic coast to the Catawba River in South Carolina, westward
by way of the Great Lakes and the Ohio basin to Missouri and north-
eastern Iowa, and southward to northern Alabama.
It stands high on our list of typical darters, and Jordan and
Copeland say of it: "The Darter of Darters is the fan-tail, Etheos-
ioma flabellare. Hardiest, wiriest, wariest of them all, it is the one
which is most expert in catching other creatures, and the one which
most surely evades your clutch. * * * It is a slim, narrow,
black, pirate-rigged little fish, with a long pointed head, and a pro-
jecting, prow-like lower jaw. It carries no flag, but is colored like
the rocks among which it lives. * * * The Fan-tailed Darter
chooses the coldest and swiftest waters, and in these, as befits his
form, he leads an active, predatory life. He is the terror of water-
snails and caddis-worms, and tin- larva' of mosquitoes."
Six specimens were found by us to have made nearly two thirds
of their food from Chironomus larvae, about a fourth from small
May fly larvae, and the rest from copepod crustaceans.
Females apparently nearly ready to spawn are in our collections
obtained the last of May.
BOLEICHTHYS 315
Genus BOLEICHTHYS Girard
Darters separated doubtfully from Etheostoma, from which genus
they differ alone in the more noticeable upward flexure* of the lateral
line anteriorly; premaxillaries non-protractile, as in Etheostoma, and
cranium U-shaped, as in that genus; vertebrae (B. fusiformis) 36 (16 +20);
pyloric cfceca 4f. Species few and variable; size small; colors not brilliant.
Fig, 75
BOLEICHTHYS FUSIFORMIS (Girard)
Girard, 18S4, Proc. Bost. Soc. Xat. Hist., 41 (Boleosoma).
]. & G., 51" (Paecilichthys barratti), 520 (P. fusiformis, P. erochrous and P. eos).
521 (P. gracilis); M. V., 134 (Etheostoma); B . I, 75 (Etheostoma); J. & E . I,
1101 ; X., 34 (exilis, eos, etc.); J., 42 (eos), 43 (elegans) ; F., 64 (Etheostoma eos
and fusiforme); L., 29.
Length 2 to 2 J inches; body moderately elongate, compressed, the
back more or less elevated; depth 5.8 to 7. 1 in length; greatest width of
body about f its greatest depth ; caudal peduncle rather slender, its
depth 2.9 to 3 . 3 (3 . 8) in its length. Color (in preservative) olivaceous,
much Mulched and dotted with brown, the dark color often in more or
less definite W- and X-shaped markings, though more often in vaguely
defined zigzag streaks and rusty splotches; a black band in front of eye
on snout and a dark blotch behind eye; suborbital streak faint; spinous
faintly dusky in membranes near base; soft dorsal and caudal faintly
barred. Males are in general darker, with usually 9 or 10 transverse bars
of dusky on sides in breeding season; basal third of membranes of spinous
dorsal jet-black, and the fin edged with dusky; between these hands on
spinous dorsal a row of elongate-roundish pale blotches (crimson! in life).
Head 3.5 to 4.1 in length, bluntly pointed, the muzzle somewhat
decurved; nape scarcely angled, if at all; interorbital space 5.5 to 6.9 in
head; eye round, 3.5 to 4; nose 4.3 to 5.2; mouth subterminal, slightly
oblique, tip of upper lip scarcely to lower margin of orbit; maxillary past
front of orbit; (left 3.1 to 3.8 in head; jaws subequal; gill-membranes
i ely conna ted, distant es to angle and to back of orbit aboul equal.
*See preceding description of Etheostoma jessice; also description oi B fusiformis.
tin 3 specimen I Aci e isions No. 28075, 111. State Lab. Xat. Hist.).
{" Spinous dorsal in life usually bright blue.with a median crimson band" (J1 >rdan
and Evermann).
316 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Dorsal fin IX or X, 10-12; the two portions as a rule hardly separated,
sometimes apart a distance almost equal to width of orbit ; height of first
dorsal 1 . 6 to 2 . 6 in head, second 1 . 3 to 1 . 9 ( height of first 7 1 to 86 per
cent, of second); caudal faintly lunate; anal II (or I), 6 or 7 ; pectorals
1 to 1.3 in head; separation of ventrals about half their width at base.
Scales 3 or 4, 48-54, 7-8 [10-12]; lateral line with a marked upward curve
anteriorly, where it is parallel with line of back, the least distance be-
tween here and middle of back about J depth of body at same point; 25
to 35 lateral pores usually lacking; cheeks and opercles fully scaled; nape
usually scaled; breast naked in most of our specimens; belly covered with
ordinary scales.
This rather insignificant little fish, with but few of the more char-
acteristic features of the highly differentiated darters, departs most
widely from the rest in ecological situation also. It has consequently
the smallest coefficient of subfamily association ( 1 . 22) among all our
darters — the general average coefficient for the subfamily being
2.02, and the highest general coefficient of any species 2 . 69 (Hadrop-
terus phoxocephalus). It has been obtained by us sixty times, most
of our collections coming from the southeastern part of the state,
but a few coming from the upland lakes of Lake and McHenry coun-
ties and from the upper branches of the Illinois. Several of our
localities are on the middle course of the Kaskaskia, and one is on a
branch of the Sangamon in Christian county. This is one of the
very few species of the subfamily which shows a preference for slug-
gish or stagnant water and for a mud buttom — 78 per cent, of our
collections with data coming from the former and 66 per cent, from
the latter situation. Next to the glacial lakes we have found it
most abundant in creeks, and then in the smaller rivers. It seems
to be rare in the larger rivers and in lowland lakes and sloughs.
In general distribution, it is reported from Massachusetts and
thence through Lakes Erie and Ontario to Minnesota and Montana,
southward to Indian River in Florida, and through the Ohio basin
to Mississippi and the Rio Grande. It is everywhere commonest in
ponds and lowland streams. Dr. C. C. Abbott, of New Jersey, found
it in shallow weedy streams, in water scarcely two inches deep,
and caught examples with a baited hook, which, in spite of their
small size, they seized with the quickness and voracity of a pike.
Three specimens of this species from southern Illinois had fed,
like the darters generally, on larvae of gnats and May Hies, about
t m i thirds of the latter to one third of the former.
Females containing full-sized eggs were taken by us April 28.
MICROPERCA 317
Genus MICROPERCA Putnam
Body short and stout; mouth small, slightly oblique; premaxillaries
not protractile; vertebras (M . punctulata) 30 (16+20); differing from
Etheostoma only in the almost or complete absence of the lateral line;
the vertebras and fin rays fewer than in other darters, and the scales
larger than in most species. Size extremely small, the smallest of the
darters; coloration plain; species few, or perhaps not more than one.
Fig. 76
MICROPERCA PUNCTULATA Putnam
(least darter)
Putnam, 1863, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., I. 4.
J. & G., 523; M V., 134 (Etheostoma microperca); B.. I, 87 (Etheostoma micro-
perca); J. & E., I, 1104; N., 34; J., 43; F., 64; F. F., I. 3. 24; L.. 29.
Length 1 to l\ inches; body not much elongate, compressed, the
back moderately arched; depth 4.6 to 5.2; greatest width about 5 of
greatest depth; depth caudal peduncle 2.6 to 3.1. "Coloration oliva-
ceous, the sides closely speckled and with vague bars and zigzag mark-
ings; second dorsal and caudal barred; dark streaks radiating from eye;
a dark humeral spot" (Jordan and Evermann). Head bluntly rounded,
3 . 6 to 4 ; width of head 1 . 9 to 2 . 2 in its length ; interorbital space 6.7;
eye 3 7 to 4.1; nose 4.8 to 5.5; mouth terminal, oblique, maxillary t<>
middle < if orbit, cleft 3 . 5 to 4 in head ; jaws equal ; gill-membranes scarcely
connected. Dorsal VI, 9; spinous and soft dorsals separated by a space
about equal to pupil; anal II, 5 or 6; separation of ventrals less than
half width of base; pectorals equaling head. Scales large and strongly
noid ; 33-36, oblique series 9 or 10; lateral line absent; cheeks naked;
opercles with a few scales; breast and neck naked.
This, the smallest of the darters and the smallest, indeed, of our
sj liny-finned fishes, is very rare in our collections outside those from
the upland lakes of northeastern Illinois. We have taken it, in
fact, but twice south of Juliet, in Will county, the exceptional in-
stances coming from Skillet fork in Wayne county, and from Drury
creek in Union county, in the southern part of (he state. It has
been wanting, it will be seen, in all our central Illinois collections.
318 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
This little darter inhabits generally small streams and ponds of
the Great Lake region, and ranges thence southwest to Arkansas.
Nine specimens from four localities in northern Illinois had
made two thirds of their food from Crustacea, mostly Entomostraca,
but with young specimens of amphipod crustaceans also. The re-
maining two thirds was essentially all Chironomns larva?, with only
a trace of small larvae of May-flies.
Family SERRANIDjE
(the sea bass)
Body oblong, more or less compressed; dorsal and ventral outlines
usually not perfectly corresponding ; scales adherent, usually but not always
ctenoid; lateral line present, not extending on caudal fin; skeleton osse-
ous; vertebras typically 10 + 14=24, never more than 35; anterior ver-
tebrae without transverse processes; ventrals thoracic, usually I, 5; dor-
sals confluent or not, the spines 2 to 15 in number; anal spines, if present,
alwavs 3 ; caudal variously formed ; no mesocoracoid ; gill-membranes
separate, free from isthmus; branchiostegals normally 7, occasionally 6;
pseudobranchiae present, large; gill-rakers long or short, usually stiff and
armed with teeth; preopercle usually more or less serrate; opercles usu-
ally ending in 1 or 2 flat spine-like points; mouth not much oblique; pre-
maxillary protractile; supplemental maxillary present or absent; teeth
conical or pointed, in bands on jaws, vomer, and palatines; no canines;
lower pharyngeals separate (except rarely), with pointed teeth; intes-
tine short; stomach caeca], with few or many pyloric appendages; air-
bladder present, usually small and adherent to wall of abdomen.
Carnivorous fishes, chiefly marine, found in all warm seas; a few
genera found in fresh water, 2 in the Mississippi Valley; genera
known about 60 to 70, species about 400. Many of the species are
of great value for. food and game qualities.
Key to Illinois Genera of SERRANIDjE
a. Dorsal fins separate; anal fin III, 11 to 13, the spines graduated, the first
about half length of second, and second distinctly shorter than third;
lower jaw projecting; base of tongue with teeth Roccus.
aa. Dorsal fins joined; anal fin III. 10, the spines not graduated, first scarcely
1 of second, second and third sulicqual; jaws almost equal; base of tongue
toothless Morone.
ROCCUS STRIPED BASS 3 1 9
Genus ROCCUS Mitchill
(striped bass)
Bodv deep and compressed; lower jaw projecting; no supplemental
maxillary; lower margin of preopercle simply (not antrorsely) serrate or
entire; base of tongue with 1 or 2 patches of teeth; dorsal fins entirely
separate; anal spines 3, graduated in size; scales ctenoid. Species 2,
American, one inhabiting fresh waters of the Mississippi Valley, the other
being the striped bass of the Atlantic (R. lineatus) .
ROCCUS CHRYSOPS (Rafinesque)
(WHITE BASS)
Rafinesque, 1820, Iehth. Oh., 22 (Perca.
G., I, 67 (Labrax multilineatus and notatus); | & G., 520; M. V., 137; B . I, 128
(Morone multilineata) ; 1 & E., I. 1132; N. 36; J.. 44; F., 63; F. F . I 3, !7;
L.. 29.
Length 12 to 18 inches; body rather deep and compressed and back
elevated; profile angled at nape; depth 2.6 to 2.9; greatest width about
2 greatest depth; depth caudal peduncle 1 .2 to 1 .3 in its length. "Color
silverv, tinged with golden below; sides with narrow dusky lines, about
5 above the lateral line, 1 along it, and a variable number below it,
these sometimes more or less interrupted or transposed" (Jordan and
Evermann) . Head subconic, flattened at sides, 3 . 1 to 3 . 4 ; width of head
1 . 8 to 2 . 1 ; interorbital little convex, 3 . 4 to 4 . 1 ; nose longer than eye,
3.4 to 3.8; mouth terminal, oblique, maxillary to middle of orbit, 2.2
to 2.4 in head; lower jaw strongly projecting; gill-rakers long as gill-fila-
ments, X+14. Dorsal IX— I, 13 or 14; longest spine about 2 in head;
base of soft dorsal 1 .25 in base of spinous; caudal forked; anal III, 1 1 to
13, the spines graduated, first about half as long as second, and second
distinctlv longer than third; ventrals § to vent; pectorals 1 . 6 to 1 . 9 in
head. Scales 8 or 9, 52-57, 13 or 14, very strongly ctenoid; lateral line
usually complete and nearly straight; cheeks and opercles fully scaled,
rows 10 to 12.
A species, in Illinois, of the larger rivers and bottom-land lakes,
but found alsi i in Lake Michigan. It has come to us in fifty-six col-
lections (mainly from seine hauls of the fishermen), made through-
nut the state from the Mississippi near Cairo to extreme northwest
Illinois, and thence to the Calumet River. We have not obtained it,
however, in the Wabash or Kaskaskia drainage; and it has been
absent also from all our collections in the glacial lakes of n< irtheast-
ern Illinois. It appears to be primarily a lake fish, and secondarily
one of the larger rivers, our coefficients for these waters being,
respectively, 2.8 and 1.7, and the collections from the smaller
Streams i if insignificant number. It has been much the most abun-
320 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
dant with us in the central part of the state (1.7), about half as
common in the northern part as in the central, and a fourth as com-
mon in southern Illinois.
It is a fish of the lakes and deeper rivers from New Brunswick,
the St. Lawrence River, and the Great Lakes through the Ohio basin
to Minnesota, Kansas, and Iowa. Its center of abundance is in the
Great Lake region, but it is also distributed widely over the Ohio
basin and the northern part of the Mississippi Valley.
It ranks well as a food fish, some regarding it as scarcely inferior
to the black bass — and it is a game fish of some importance, to be
caught with live minnows or even with grubs and angleworms. It
will also rise to the fly.
It was formerly much more common than now. We are informed
by Mr. H. L. Ashlock that a dozen years ago one could easily get a
hundred pounds of it in an afternoon at Alton with a hundred-yard
trammel-net, but that it has now almost disappeared. It reaches a
weight of one to three pounds and a length of more than a foot.
The little that is known of its food indicates that it is mainly
insectivorous, feeding especially upon the large May-fly larva? to
be found in immense numbers at the bottoms of our streams and
lakes, but taking also medium-sized crustaceans (Asellus), and
occasional fishes, among which sunfishes (Ccntrarchidcc) have been
recognized.
Its range, local preferences, feeding habits, and food are so
similar to those of the brassy bass (Morone interrupta) that the
two species have been taken together with uncommon frequency
in our collections, giving us the unusually high associative coeffi-
cient of 5.21. The occurrence of both these species in our terri-
tory is, in fact, due to an overlapping of the edges of the areas of
their distribution. One being a northern species and the other a
southern one, competition is mainly evaded, notwithstanding their
like ecological relationships, by their occupancy of different terri-
tory. Within this state, however, they are apparently close com-
petitors, with the advantage, in point of numbers at least, in favor
of the yellow bass.
Genus MORONE Mitchill
Body rather short and deep, compressed; lower jaw scarcely project-
ing ; no supplemental maxillary; lower margin of preopercle simply ser-
rate or entire ; base ol tongue withoul teeth; dorsal tins more or less con
nected l>v membrane; anal spines.-!, not graduated; scales ctenoid. Two
MORONE WHITE PERCH 321
species, both American, one inhabiting fresh waters of the Misssissippi
Valley and the other brackish waters and the mouths of rivers of the
Atlantic coast.
MORONE INTERRUPTA Gill
(YELLOW BASS)
Gill, 1860, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 118.
|. & G., 530; M. V., 137; B., I, 127 (mississipiensis) ; ]. & E., I, 1134; X., 36; J., 44;
F., 63 (Roccus); F. F., I. 3, 37; L., 29.
Length 12 to 18 inches; body rather deep and compressed and back
elevated; profile angled at nape; depth 2.7 to 2.9; greatest width about
2 in greatest depth; depth caudal peduncle 1.4 to 1.6 in its length.
Ground color olive-buff, with many small indistinct punctulations of
emerald ; alternate rows of scales on sides with dark greenish to blackish
central bands, these adjoining to form prominent longitudinal stripes, 3
above lateral line, one (which is more or less moniliform) coincident with
it, and 3 or 4 below lateral line; stripes below lateral line interrupted on
posterior part of body, the breaking point sometimes indicated by irreg-
ularly disposed black spots; ventral region lighter than sides but of simi-
lar colors ; vertical fins with considerable bluish tinge ; cheeks and opercles
with bluish and emerald iridescence; pupil pale dark blue; iris light green-
ish above pupil, darker outward. Head subconic, pointed, 3 to 3.2 in
length ; width of head 2 to 2 . 1 in its length ; interorbital space little con-
vex. 4 to 4.7; nose 3.1 to 3 . 7 ; mouth terminal, slightly less oblique than
in last species; maxillarv barelv to middle of orbit, 2.6 to 2 . 8 in head;
lower jaw not sensibly projecting; gill-rakers longer than branchial fila-
ments, X + 13 to 16. Dorsal IX— I, 12 ; longest spine 1 . 6 in head; base of
soft dorsal about 1 .4 in base of spinous; caudal forked; anal III, 10, the
spines not graduated, the first usually less than § of second, the second
and third of about equal length ; ventrals § to vent; pectorals 1 . 5 to 1.6.
Scales 7. 51-55, 10-12, strongly ctenoid; lateral line complete or nearly
so, scarcely arched anteriorly, somewhat tlexuose; cheeks and opercles
fully scaled, rows 12.
This species is distributed in Illinois much like the white bass,
and although nearly twice as abundant in our collections as that
species, it comes everywhere from similar waters — that is, from the
large rivers and adjacent lakes. It is primarily a lake species, our
<>ne hundred and two collections giving us a frequency coefficient of
3.16 for bottom-land lakes and sloughs, and of 1 .82 for rivers of
the largest size. But two of these collections were from creeks or
the smaller rivers. We have found it, like the preceding species,
much more abundant in central Illinois than in either of the other
sections, and about equally frequent in the Illinois River and in the
Mississippi.
322 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
In its general distribution it contrasts strongly with its com-
panion species, the white bass the latter being northern in its range
and the present species southern. It occurs throughout the Mis-
sissippi Valley northward to the latitude of Cincinnati and St. Louis,
southward to New Orleans, and westward to the Kansas River. Its
most northerly localities in this state are Green River in Henry
county and the Illinois River at Ottawa, in La Salle county.
This fish reaches a length of twelve to eighteen inches and a
weight of one to five pounds, although it does not ordinarily exceed
a pound or two. It is common in the market catches at Havana,
Meredosia, and Peoria, but hardly ever of a weight of more than half
a pound. The catch of the yellow and the white bass together from
the Illinois River in 1899, made up, no doubt, mainly of the present
species, amounted to 92,931 pounds. It takes live bait readily, and
will rise to the fly, and is considered by some anglers as scarcely
inferior to the black bass as a game fish. It has been intn iduced by
the State Fish Commission of Pennsylvania into several of the rivers
of that state.
What little is known of its food indicates an insectivorous habit,
adults feeding on aquatic larvse, especially those of May-flies,
together with small crustaceans and terrestrial insects.
The yellow bass spawned in May at Havana in 1899.
Family SCIjENID^E
(the drums)
Body compressed, more or less elongate; scales thin, usually ctenoid;
head scaled; lateral line continuous, extending on caudal fin; skeleton
osseous; vertebrae 22 to 32 (about); ventrals thoracic, I, 5; dorsals con-
fluent or separate, the spines depressible into a more or less perfect
groove; anal spines 1 or 2; caudal usually not forked; no mesocoraond ;
gill-membranes separate, free from isthmus; branchiostegals 7; pseudo-
branchiae usually large, present in most genera; gill-rakers present; pre-
opercle serrate or not; operclc usually ending in 2 flat points; mouth
small or large; premaxillary protractile; no supplemental maxillary;
chin usually with pores, sometimes with barbels; no teeth on vomer, pal-
atines, pterygoids, or tongue; no incisors; lower pharyngeals separate or
united, the teeth conic or molar; ear-bones or otoliths very large; pyloric
i seca usually ratherfew; air-bladder usually large and complicated (oc< a
sionally wanting) ; special drumming muscles developed in abdominal wall
of manv species, their function being to produce sounds by the impact "I
their vibrations on the air-bladder.
J
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APLODINOTUS - RIVER DRUMS 323
Found near sandy shores of all warm seas, none occurring in
deep water; a few species confined to fresh water; genera 30; species
about 150. .Many of them reach a large size and most are valued
as food ; all are carnivorous.
Genus APLODINOTUS Rafinesque
(RIVER DRUMS I
Bodv oblong, compressed, back elevated; mouth low, horizontal,
the lower jaw included; no barbels; preopercle slightly serrate; teeth in
villiform bands; lower pharyngeals very large, fully united, with coarse,
blunt, paved teeth; dorsals somewhat connected, the spinous with a scaly
sheath at base; second anal spine very strong; caudal double truncate;
air-bladder very large, simple, with no appendages. Fresh waters of the
United States ; a single species.
- APLODINOTUS GRUNNIENS Rafinesque
(fresh-water drum; croaker; sheepshead; white perch)
Rafinesque, 1819, Journ. de Physique, 88.
G., II. 297 and 29S (Corvina oscula and richardsoni) ; |. & G., ;<o (Haploidonotusi .
M. V., 144; f. & E., II. 14S4; N., 40 (Haploidonotusi; [., 50 (Haploidonotusi;
F. F., I. 3, 64 (Haploidonotusi, F., 62 (Haploidonotus) ; L., 30.
Length 2 to 4 feet; body moderately elongate, robust but consider-
ably compressed, the back strongly arched forward and the profile steep,
with almost no angle at nape; depth 2.7 to 3.1; greatest width almost 2
in greatest depth; depth caudal peduncle 2.2 to 2.5 in its length. Color
plain silvery gray on sides and back, white on belly; the gray everywhere
with a liberal sprinkling of fine black dots; the white iridescent with pearly
luster and the gray changeable from light greenish to coppery ; h iwer part
of nose white in a broad band plainly marked off from the upper oliva-
ceous portion; iris brownish metallic; fins plain except for dark smoky
gray on membranes. Head subconic, with blunt muzzle, 3 . 3 to 3 . 6 ; width
of head 1 . 6 to 1.8; interorbital weakly convex, 3.2 to 3.7; nose 3 . 1 to
3.7, longer than eye and decurved; mouth subinferior, tip of upper lip
below orbit; maxillary past middle of eye, 2.6 to 2.9; lower jaw shorter
than upper; opercle emarginate, not ending in sharp points; preopercle
lie; gill-rakers short and stoutish, 6 + 14. Dorsal VIII or IX, I. 25
to il, spinous continuous with soft portion, the notch gradual and deep,
shortest posterior spine J of longest of spinous dorsal, longesl spini
little more than 2 in head; base of soft dorsal 1.4 times base of spinous;
caudal rounded or double-truncate; ventrals § to vent; pectorals rather
long, pointed, 1.2 to 1.3 in head. Scales 9-10, 50-56, 11-13, strongly
ctenoid; lateral line complete, much arched forward and parallel with
the dorsal outline, its pores extending on caudal (in ; cheeks and opercles
scaled.
324 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
This remarkable species, particularly interesting because of its
food and feeding structures, and because also of the peculiar grunt-
ing noise which it sometimes makes, is one of the more abundant
larger species of our principal rivers and lakes. It has been taken
by us in 72 collections, ranging from the Ohio at Cairo to the Missis-
sippi at the mouth of Rock River and the Illinois at Ottawa. Two
collections have come from the Saline River and from a branch of
the Big Muddy in southern Illinois. Most of the others are from the
Illinois or the lakes of its bottom-lands. Like the two preceding
species, this predominates in central Illinois, our frequency coeffi-
cient for which is 2.05.
It is generally distributed throughout the Great Lake basin and
the Mississippi Valley between the Alleghanies and the western
plains, ranging from Lake Champlain to the Red River of the North,
and through the Ohio basin to Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas,
Texas, and Mexico.
In the Ohio Valley, in the South, and to some extent on the Illinois
River, it is known and marketed as the white perch. In the Great
Lake region it is more commonly called the sheepshead, and this is
perhaps the name by which it is best known in Illinois. Gaspergou
is a name used for it in the southern territories formerly occupied
by the French. Thirty years ago the sheepshead was universally
rejected by Illinois fishermen as worthless, but at the present time
all except the largest are commonly dressed and sold. It reaches a
large size, specimens of fifty to sixty pounds' weight being not un-
common. It becomes tough and strong with age, but is at its best
when weighing from three quarters of a pound to three pounds.
The market catch of sheepshead from the Illinois River in 1899 was
459,580 pounds. This fish is of a sluggish habit, living on the bottom
of muddy waters, where it feeds especially on mollusks, the shells
first being crushed by the powerful, paved, millstone-like, pharyn-
geal jaws. Often the stomach contains only the soft bodies and
opercula of gastropod mollusks, the crushed shells evidently having
been thrown out. Crawfishes are also sometimes found in the food.
Half-grown specimens feed largely on aquatic insects, especially the
larvas of May-flies, mingling larger and larger proportions of mol-
lusks with this food as they increase in size, until they come finally
to depend almost wholly upon water-snails and the relatively thin-
shelled clams.
The peculiar grunting sound made by this fish when caught, and
also often heard as it moves about under the water, is probably due
to vibrationsof the wall of the air-bladder caused 1 >v the contraction
COTTID/E THE SCULPINS 325
of special "grunting muscles" — an apparatus demonstrated by Prof.
R. W. Tower for the squeteague, a related marine species of drum.*
Judging from the condition of specimens obtained, our sheeps-
head probably spawns in the latter part of May or the first of June.
This is not an angler's fish, but it is sometimes caught with crawfish
bait.
The fact that the sheepshead and the white and the yellow bass
inhabit the same waters and frequent similar situations, the two bass
living on a similar food and the sheepshead on a widely different one,
gives to the local distribution of this group of three associate species
especial interest as illustrating the competitive relationship among
fishes. Comparing our 55 collections of the white bass and our 96
collections of the yellow bass with our 64 collections of the sheeps-
head, we find that the first two species have been taken together in
20 collections, that the white bass and the sheepshead have also
occurred in the same collections 20 times, ami that the yellow bass
ami the sheepshead have been taken together 31 times. The cor-
responding ratios of associative occurrence are 5.21 for the two
species of bass, 7.95 for the white bass and the sheepshead, and
11 .91 for the sheepshead and the yellow bass. That is, the species
which compete directly for the same food are found far less fre-
quently together in the same situations, proportionately to the
abundance of each, than are those which depend on different foods.
Family COTTID^
(THE SCULPINS)
Body moderately elongate, fusiform or compressed, tapering back-
ward from the head, which is broad and depressed; body naked or vari-
ously armed with scales, prickles, or bony plates, never uniformly scaled ;
lateral line present; skeleton osseous; vertebras 30 to 50; ventrals tho-
racic, rarely wanting, I, 3 to I, 5; dorsals separate or somewhat con-
nected, the spines 6 to 18, usuallv slender and sometimes concealed in
skin; anal fin without spines; caudal rounded; no mesocoracoid ; gills 3£
or 4, the slit behind the last small or obsolete; gill-membranes broadly
connected, often joined to the isthmus; pseudobranchise present; gill-
rakers short, tubercle-like or obsolete; preopercle usuallv with 1 or more
spinous processes at its upper angle; third suborbital connected with pre-
opercle by a bony backward extension or stay; premaxillary protractile;
no supplemental maxillary; teeth in villiform orcardiform bands <>n jaws,
and often on vomer and palatines; pyloric ca;ca usually 4 to 8; air-bladder
commonly wanting.
*Si ience, Vol. XXII., p. 376.
(22)
326 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
The sculpins chiefly inhabit rocky pools and shores of northern
regions; many species found in inland waters; genera about 60;
species 250. None are valued as food.
Key to Genera and Species of COTTIDjE found in Illinois
a. Ventrals with a concealed spine and four soft rays Cottus.
b. Preopercular spine short, usually inconspicuous, usually less than * eye;
interorbital space nearly as wide as or wider than eye, 3.8 to 5.6 in head;
depth of caudal peduncle 1.5 to 2 in its length; maxillary to middle of
eye; dark cross-bars usually present ictalops.
bb. Preopercular spine long, J to as long as* eye, strongly curved upward, back-
ward, and inward, the skin of the head carried upward by the spine on
each side in an ear-like manner; top of head flat, the interorbital space
very narrow, little more than half of eye and contained 8 times in head,
the' eyes directed nearly upward; caudal peduncle very slender, its depth
about 3.3 in its length; maxillary scarcely past front of orbit; color
spotted or mottled, without distinct cross-bars ricei.
aa. Ventrals with a concealed spine and three soft rays Uranidea.
c. Preopercular spine less than £ eye; interorbital space about half of eye, 7.5
to 8.5 in head; caudal peduncle moderately slender, its depth 2.2 to 2.4
in its length; maxillary to middle of orbit; sides irregularly spotted, with-
out bars kumlienii.
Genus COTTUS (Artedi) Lixx.eus
(miller's thumbs)
Body fusiform, skin smooth or more or less velvety, prickles, if pres-
ent, not bony or scale-like; preopercle with a simple spine at its angle,
which is usually curved upward, its base more or less covered with skin,
rarely obsolete; gill-membranes separated by a wide isthmus, over which
the membranes do not form a fold; no slit behind fourth gill: villiform
teeth on jaws and vomer, and sometimes on palatines; dorsals nearly or
quite separate; ventrals each with a concealed spine and 4 soft rays;
lateral line present. These are sculpins of small size, inhabiting clear
waters of the northern portions of Europe, Asia, and America; species
numerous.
COTTUS ICTALOPS (Rafinesque)
(common sculpin; miller's thumb)
Rafinesque, 1821), Ichth. Oh., 85 (Pegedictis).
<", . II, 15S (richardsoni); |. X- G . <>"» (richardsoni) : M. V.. 149 (richardsoni) ; J.
& I.. II. 1950; X. il (Pegedichthys alvordi) ; J, 50 (Potamocottus alvord'i,
wilsoni. and meridionalis) ; F. F . 1 <>, 68 (Potamocottus meridionalis) ; F., 62
(Uranidea richardsoni); L , 30.
Length 3 to 7 inches; body robust forward, subcylindrical, tapering
rapidly hack of spinous dorsal; depth 3.7 to 4.3; width about J depth;
♦According to Jordan and Evermann; our single specimen with spine J of eye.
COTTUS — MILLER'S THUMBS 327
depth caudal peduncle 1 . 5 to 2 in its length. Color "olivaceous, more
or less barred and specked with darker; fins mostly barred or mottled"
(Jordan and Evermann). All our specimens have evident oblique dusky
bars on posterior half of body. Head 3 to 3.5. convex above, the eyes
directed outward as much as upward; width of head almost as great as
its length; interorbital space 3.8 to 5.5; nose 2.8 to 3.4; mouth wide
and lips very thick, maxillary 1.7 to 2 . 1 in head, to middle of orbit;
upper preopercular spine short, usually less than half eye and rather
inconspicuous; lower spines concealed in skin; isthmus 1 .3 to 1 5 times
eye; palatines with teeth. Dorsal VII to IX, 16 to 18; first dorsal scarcely
f height of second; caudal spatulate; anal 13 to 15; pectorals to vent.
Body entirely destitute of scales; a few prickles, often indistinct, behind
pectorals; top of head warty; lateral line continuous or interrupted pos-
teriorly.
This species inhabits clear, rocky brooks and lakes of the middle
and northern United States, ranging from Kansas and the Dakotas
to New York and Virginia. In our collections, which number 10 in
all, it has been taken only in northern and southern Illinois: once in
McHenry county ; once from the Du Page near Joliet ; six times fr< im
rocky spring branches in Union county ; and once each in springs in
Calhoun and Jersey counties.
About 25 per cent, of the food of six specimens taken in southern
Illinois consisted of small fishes. Aquatic larvas formed about 40
per cent, of the food, and the rest was mostly Crustacea (Asellus).
In the clear streams and lakes of the north this fish has been found
to be extremely destructive to the eggs and fry of trout.
COTTUS RICEI Nelson
Nelson, 1S76, Bull. 111. State Lab. Nat. Hist., I. 1, 40.
J. & ('».. 694 (Uranidea spilota) and 935 (U. ricei) ; M. V., 148; J. & E., II, 1952; J.,
50 (Tauridea spilota); L., 30.
Length (of <>ur single specimen) 2\ inches; body rather slender, regu-
larly tapered to the very slender caudal peduncle; depth 4.9; width
about same as depth; depth caudal peduncle 3.3 in its length. Color
(in spirits) brownish olive, sides irregularly and faintly mottled; faint traces
of 2 dusky bars on caudal peduncle ; last membranes of second dorsal dusk v .
Head very flat above, the eyes directed nearly upward; width of head
equal to its length; interorbital space flat, very narrow, 8.2 in head;
nose 3.6, the posterior nostril with conspicuous raised edges, tube-like;
mouth narrow, smaller than in last species, and lips thinner, the maxil-
lary scarcely past front of orbit, 2 . 9 in head ; preopercular spine long, §
of eye*; lower preopercular spines short and mostly concealed; the upper
spine hooked backward and upward, carrying with it the skin of the head
in an auricular flap-like appendage, giving the fish a buffalo-like appear-
*Equal to eye, according to Nelson.
328 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
ance; isthmus twice eye; palatine, teeth obscure (present in Nelson's
type). Dorsal VII, 16, the first § height of second; caudal spatulate; anal
ravs 13 ; pectorals to front of anal. Body scaleless, axils and top of head
with prominent spinules; lateral line continuous.
Here described from a single specimen taken by the senior author
in 1881, from a depth of 600 feet in Grand Traverse Bay, off Old
Mission, Mich. Lacking access to Mr. Nelson's type, we refer the
present specimen to C. ricei, notwithstanding disagreement with
Nelson's description in one or two particulars, our specimen lacking
the dorsal carination described by Nelson, and having the head
smooth.
Genus URANIDEA De Kay
Preopercular spines small; usually no trace of teeth on palatines;
ventrals reduced to a concealed spine and 3 soft rays; otherwise as in
Coitus. Cold streams and springs of the United States; species 9 or 10;
size small.
URANIDEA KUMLIENII Hoy
Hoy. 1876, in Nelson, Bull. 111. State Lab. Nat. Hist., I. 1, 41.
J. & E., II, 1067; J., 50; L., 30.
Length 2\ inches; body slender, gradually tapering to the rather
slender caudal peduncle ; depth 5 to' 5 . 2 ; width slightly less than depth ;
depth caudal peduncle 2.2 to 2.4 in its length. Color brownish olive,
faintly mottled (in preserved specimens); spinous dorsal with a promi-
nent dusky blotch on anterior and posterior two or three membranes;
membranes of soft dorsal dusky toward base; pectorals reticulated with
duskv. Head rather flatfish above, but more convex than in Cotius ricei,
3 . 1 to 3 . 4 ; as wide as long ; interorbital space 7.5 to 8 . 6 ; nose 3.3 to 3 . 6 ;
mouth rather narrow, but large, maxillary to middle of orbit, 2 .2 to 2 .4
in head; preopercular spine about half of eye; lower spines not promi-
nent; isthmus not greater than eye; palatines without exposed teeth.
Dorsal VII or VIII, 15-17; first dorsal f height of second; caudal narrow,
spatulate; anal 12; pectorals to front of anal. Body nearly smooth; top
of head and axils with some prickles; lateral line usually interrupted pos-
teriorly (in one specimen continuous, but the pores on caudal peduncle
sunken and inconspicuous).
Described from 3 specimens, taken in deep water in Traverse
Bay, off Old Mission, Mich., by the senior author in 1881. Our
specimens have not the lower jaw projecting, as called for in original
description. Careful comparison with examples of U. gracilis from
McLean, New York,* has been made, showing that our specimens
►Courtesy of T. L. Hankinson.
URANIDEA 329
differ from that species chiefly in the presence of prickles in the axils
— evidently a variable character as shown by our collections — and
in the height of the first dorsal, which is £ the length of the head (£
the head in specimens of U. gracilis examined). It appears not
impossible that the present form should be regarded as a variety of
gracilis.
330 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Order ANACANTHINI
(the cod-like fishes)
Skeleton bony; vertebrae numerous, the anterior simple; no spines in
any of the fins; ventrals jugular, below or in front of the pectorals; tail
isocercal (i. e., the vertebrae in a right line and becoming progressively
smaller backward) ; pectoral arch suspended from the skull ; no meso-
coracoid; scapular foramen nearly always between the hypercoracoid
and the hypocoracoid, and not in the hypercoracoid as typical in Acan-
thopteri; air-bladder without open duct.
A large group, confined mostly to the cold depths of the ocean
and to the northern seas ; a few fresh water representatives. Many
of the marine species are among our most important food fishes.
Family GADIDjE
(the codfishes)
Body more or less elongate; tail tapering, coniform; scales small,
cycloid; skeleton osseous; vertebrae numerous; ventrals jugular, the pel-
vic bones loosely attached to the clavicular symphysis by ligament;
dorsal fin extending almost length of back, forming 1, 2, or 3 fins; anal
long, single or divided; caudal distinct or confluent with dorsal and anal;
no spines in any of the fins, all the rays being articulated; no mesocora-
coid; hypercoracoid without foramen; gills 4, a slit behind the fourth;
gill-membranes separated or somewhat united, commonly free from the
isthmus; no pseudobranehiae ; posterior edge of preopercle usually cov-
ered by skin; mouth large, terminal; chin with a barbel; pyloric caeca usu-
ally numerous, sometimes few or none; vent submedian; air-bladder gen-
erally well developed.
The cods inhabit chiefly the seas of northern regions; a single
genus confined to fresh waters. Genera about 25 ; species about
140. Many of the species are of great value as food fishes.
Genus LOTA (Cuvier) Oken
(burbots)
Body long and low, compressed behind; head depressed ; anterior nos-
trils each with a small barbel; chin with a long barbel; gill-openings wide,
the membranes free from the isthmus; each jaw with broad bands of
LOTA BURBOTS 331
equal villiform teeth; vomer with a broad crescentic band of villiform
teeth; no teeth on palatines; dorsal fins 2, the first short, the second long
and similar to the anal; caudal rounded, its outer rays procurrent; scales
very small, embedded; vertical fins scaly. One or two species; confined
to the fresh waters of northern regions.
LOTA MACULOSA (Le Sueur)
(burbot; ling; eel-pout)
Le Sueur. 1817, J. Ac. Xat. Sci. Phila., I, 83 (Gadus).
G., IV, 350 (vulgaris, parti; |. & G., 802; M. V., 162 (lota); J. & E., Ill, 2550; NT.,
42 (lacustris); J., 51 (lacustris) ; F., 62; F. F., II. 7, 433; L., 30.
Length 2 feet; body extremely elongate, not much compressed, ex-
cept posteriorly, the back low and the profile long and straight; depth
7.6; greatest width of body about . 7 to .9 greatest depth. Color "dark
olive, thickly marbled and reticulated with blackish, yellowish or dusky
beneath; young often sharply marked, the adult becoming dull grayish;
vertical fins with dusky margins" (Jordan and Evermann). Head broad
and depressed, 4.7 to S in length; width head 1 . 6 in its length; interor-
bital space flat, 3.4 to 3.6; nose 2\ times eye. 3.4 to 3.5, each nostril
with a short barbel {\ eye); mouth horizontal, rather large, maxillary
past back of pupil, 2.5 to 2 . 6 ; chin with a single median barbel 1 \ times
length of eye; gill-rakers short, about 3+6. Dorsal 12 or 13, 70 to 75, the
second very long and low, its longest rays less than half head; caudal
rounded, its outer rays procurrent, the separation between caudal, dorsal,
and anal slight; anal rays about 65; ventrals inserted before pectorals;
pectorals \\ in head. Scales very small, embedded, 27 to 30 in an oblique
series from front of second dorsal to lateral line; cheeks and opercles with
very small embedded scales; all fins more or less seal}-.
The range of this species is throughout New England and the
Great Lake region and northward to the Arctic zone, in lakes and
sluggish streams-; occasionally taken in the Ohio and the upper Mis-
sissippi. Additional to its occurrence in Lake Michigan, we have
specimens on record also from the Illinois River at Peoria, Havana,
Meredosia, and Naples, from the Rock River at Milan, and from the
Mississippi at Rock Island. These are all cases of the occurrence of
a single fish in a place, and there is nothing to indicate any perma-
nent invasion of our rivers by this species.
The burbi it lives in deep water, where it lies during the day under
the shelter of stones (Brehm). It is exceedingly voracious, not
even sparing its own kind. Zadock Thompson* says that he has
taken specimens with the abdomen so much distended with food
as to give the fish the appearance of a globefish or toadfish. One
♦Evermann and Kendall, Rep. U. S. Fish Comm., 1894, p. 603.
332 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
specimen sixteen inches long, examined by him, contained ten dace,
none of which was less than four inches long. Fishes constituted
about 80 per cent, of the food of specimens studied by the senior
author in 1888, the remainder being crawfishes. Among the fishes
recognized was a single whitefish, the remainder being the common
yellow perch (Perca flavescens).
The flesh of the burbot is coarse and tasteless, and is seldom used
for food. It is, in fact, of less value than any other American fresh-
water fish of its size unless it be the gar, which it doubtless equals in
destructiveness where it is abundant. Its interest to the scientist
lies in its being the single fresh-water representative of the cod family
in our waters. It is unknown by name to most of our river fisher-
men. It has been described to us by one of them as a fish "with a
skin like a bullhead and a head like a dogfish, with a chin bristle."
If the exception be made that very small scales are present, this
brief description will suffice very well for the recognition of the
species if found astray in our rivers or bottom-land lakes.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 333
Selected Bibliography
General Works on Fishes
Boulenger, G. A.
1895. Catalogueof the fishes in the British Museum. Ed. 2. Vol.1.
Lond., Taylor & Francis.
Brice, J. J.
1898. A manual of fish culture based on the methods of the U. S.
commission of fish and fisheries. Rep. U. S. fish comm., 1897, pp.
1-261, pi.
Bridge, T. W., and Boulenger, G. A.
1904. Fishes. Cambridge natural history, vol. 7, pp. 139-727, illus.
Dean, Bashford.
1895. Fishes, living and fossil. 300 pp. illus. N. Y., Macmillan.
(Columbia univ. Biol. ser. 3.)
Goode, G. B.
1888. American fishes; a popular treatise upon the game and food
fishes of North America. 496 pp. illus. N. Y., Standard Book
Co.
1903. American fishes; a popular treatise upon the game and food
fishes of North America. New ed. 562 pp. illus. col. pi. Bost.,
Dana Estes & Co.
Goode, G. B., and associates.
1884-1887. The fisheries and fishery industries of the United States.
7 vols, text and atlas. Wash., Government.
Giinther, A. C. L. G.
1859-1870. Catalogue of the fishes in the collection of the British
Museum. 8 vols. Lond., Taylor & Francis.
1880. An introduction to the study of fishes. 720 pp. illus. Edin.,
Black.
Jordan, D. S.
1888. Manual of the vertebrates of the northern United States. Ed. 5.
375 pp. Chic, McClurg.
1905. A guide to the study of fishes. 2 vols, illus. N. Y., Holt.
334 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Jordan, D. S., and Evermann, B. W.
1896-1900. The fishes of North and Middle America. Bull. U. S.
national museum, no. 47, pts. 1-4, 3313 pp. pi.
1902. American food and game fishes. 573pp.illus.col.pl. N.Y.,
Doubleday.
Jordan, D. S., and Gilbert, C. H.
1882. Synopsis of the fishes of North America. Bull. U. S. national
museum, no. 16, 1018 pp.
Stevenson, C. H.
1898. The preservation of fishery products for food. Bull. U. S.
fish comm., vol. 18, pp. 335-563, pi.
1904. Utilization of the skins of aquatic animals. Rep. U. S. fish
comm., 1902, pp. 283-352, pi.
Papers on Illinois Fishes
Kennicott, Robert.
1855. Catalogue of animals observed in Cook county, Illinois. Trans-
actions 111. agricultural society, vol. 1, pp. 577-595.
Nelson, E. W.
1876. A partial catalogue of the fishes of Illinois. Bull. 111. state
lab. nat. hist., vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 33-52.
1878. Fisheries of Chicago and vicinitv. Rep. U. S. fish comm.,
1875-76, pp. 783-800.
Jordan, D. S.
1878. A catalogue of the fishes of Illinois. Bull. 111. state lab. nat.
hist., vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 37-70.
Forbes, S. A.
1878. The food of Illinois fishes. Bull. 111. state lab. nat. hist., vol.
1, no. 2, pp. 71-89.
1879. On some sensory structures of young dog-fishes. Amer. quar-
terly microscopical journal, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 257-260, pi.
1880. On the food of young fishes. Bull. 111. state lab. nat. hist.,
vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 66-79.
1880. The food of fishes. Bull. 111. state lab. nat. hist., vol. 1, no. 3,
pp. 18-65. Also in Rep. 111. state fish comm., 1884, pp. 90-127.
1880. The food of the darters. Amer. naturalist, vol. 14, pp. 697-
703.
1881. A rare fish in Illinois [Chologaster]. Amer. naturalist, vol. 15,
pp. 232-233.
1881. Food of young whitefish — Coregonus clupeijormis. Bull. U.S.
fish comm., vol. 1, pp. 19-20, 269-270.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 335
Forbes. S. A. — continued
1883. The food of the smaller fresh-water fishes. Bull. 111. state lab.
nat. hist., vol. 1, no. 6, pp. 65-94.
1883. The first food of the common whitefish (Coregonus clitpei-
formis Mitch.). Bull. 111. state lab. nat. hist., vol. 1, no. 6, pp. 95-
109. Also in Rep. U. S. fish comm.. 1881, pp. 771-782.
. A catalogue of the native fishes of Illinois. Rep. 111. state fish
comm., 1884, pp. 60-89.
1885. Description of new Illinois fishes. Bull. 111. state lab. nat.
hist., vol. 2, pp. 135-139.
1888. Studies of the food of fresh-water fishes. Bull. 111. state lab.
nat. hist., vol. 2, pp. 433-473.
1888. On the food relations of fresh-water fishes: a summary and dis-
cussion. Bull. 111. state lab. nat. hist., vol. 2, pp. 475-538.
1888. The food of the fishes of the Mississippi Valley. Transactions
Amer. fisheries society, vol. 17, pp. 1-17.
Garman, H.
1890. A preliminary report on the animals of the Mississippi bottoms
near Quincy, Illinois, in August, 1888. Part 1. Bull. 111. state
lab. nat. hist., vol. 3, art. 9, fishes, pp. 134-148.
Illinois fishermen's association.
1899 . Annual reports giving the estimated amount and kinds
of fish caught, and value of same. Rep. 111. state fish comm.,
Oct. 1, 1896, to Sept. 30, 1898, pp. 5-7; Oct. 1, 1898, to Sept. 30,
1900, pp. 20-21; Sept. 30, 1900, to Oct. 1, 1902, pp. 30-31.
Large, Thomas.
— . A list of the native fishes of Illinois, with keys. Rep. 111. state
fish comm., Sept. 30, 1900, to Oct. 1, 1902. 30 pp. illus.
Richardson, R. E.
1904. A review of the sunfishes of the current genera Apomotis, Lepo-
mis, and Eupomotis , with particular reference to the species found
in Illinois. Bull. 111. state lab. nat. hist., vol. 7, pp. 27-35.
Forbes, S. A., and Richardson, R. E.
1905. On a new shovelnose sturgeon from the Mississippi river. Bull.
111. state lab. nat. hist., vol. 7, pp. 3 7-44, pi.
336 fishes of illinois
Miscellaneous Papers
Abbott, C. C.
1861. Notes on the habits of .4 phredoderus sayanus . Proc. Academy
nat. sci. Phil, 1861, pp. 95-96.
1870. Notes on fresh-water fishes of New Jersey. Amer. naturalist,
vol. 4, pp. 99-117.
1870. Further notes on New Jersey fishes. Amer. naturalist, vol. 4,
pp. 717-720.
1874. Notes on the cyprinoids of central New Jersey. Amer. natur-
alist, vol.' 8, pp. 326-338.
1878. Notes on some fishes of the Delaware river. Rep. U. S. fish
comm., 1875-76, pp. 825-845.
Agassiz, Alexander.
1878. The development of Lepidosteus. Proc. Amer. academy arts
and sciences, vol. 14, pp. 65-76, pi. 1 col. pi.
Agassiz, Louis.
1854. Notice of a collection of fishes from the southern bend of the
Tennessee river in the state of Alabama. Amer. journal science
and arts, ser. 2, vol. 17, pp. 297-308, 353-369.
Atkins, C. G.
1905. Culture of the fallfish or chub. Amer. fish culturist, vol. 2,
p. 189.
Bean, T. H., ed.
1890. Observations upon fish and fish culture. Bull. U. S. fish
comm., vol. 10, pp. 49-61.
Berg, L. S.
1904. Zur systematik der Acipenseriden. Zoologischer Anzeiger,
vol. 27, pp. 665-667.
Bollman, C. H.
1892. A review of the Centrarchidce, or fresh-water sunfishes, of
North America. Rep. U. S. fish comm., 1888, pp. 557-580, pi.
Bridge, T. W.
1878. On the osteology of Polyodon folium. Philosophical trans.
Royal society Lond., vol. 169, pp. 683-733, 3 pi.
1897. On the presence of ribs in Polyodon (Spatularia) folium. Proc.
Zool. society Lond., 1897, pp. 722-724.
Clark, F. N.
1893. History and methods of whitefish culture. Bull. U. S. fish
comm., vol. 13, pp. 213-220.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 337
Cole, L. J.
1905. The German carp in the United States. Rep. U. S. fish comm.,
1904, pp. 525-641, pi.
Collinge, W. E.
1885. On the presence of scales on the integument of Polyodon folium.
Journal anatomy and physiology, vol. 19, pp. 485-487.
Cope, E. D.
1866. Synopsis of the Cyprinidce of Pennsylvania. Transactions
Amer. philosophical society, n. s. vol. 13, pp. 351-399.
Culbertson, Glenn.
1904. Note on the breeding habits of the common or white sucker.
Proc. Indiana academy sci., 1903, pp. 65-66.
Dawson, Jean.
1905. Breathing and feeding mechanism of the lamprevs. Biol,
bull, vol. 9, pp. 1-21, 91-111.
Dean, Bashford.
1895. Early development of gar-pike and sturgeon. Journal mor-
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1896. Early development of Amia. Quarterly journal microscopical
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Dean, Bashford, and Sumner, F. B.
1897. Notes on the spawning habits of the brook lamprey (Petro-
myzon wilderi). Transactions N. Y. academy sci., vol. 16, pp. 321-
324, 1 pi.
Eigenmann, C. H.
1896. Fishes, spawning seasons. Proc. Indiana academy sci., 1895,
p. 252.
1899. The eyes of the blind vertebrates of North America. 1. The
eyes of the Amblyopsidce. Archiv fur Entwicklungsmechanik der
Organismen, vol. 8, pp. 545-617, pi.
Evermann, B. W.
1891. A report upon investigations made in Texas in 1891. Bull. U.
S. fish comm., vol. 11, pp. 61-90, pi.
1899. Report on investigations by the U. S. fish commission in Mis-
sissippi, Louisiana, and Texas in 1897. Rep. U. S. fish comm.,
1898, pp. 287 312. pi.
1902. Description of a new species of shad (Alosa ohiensis), with
notes on other food-fishes of the Ohio river. Rep. U. S. fish comm..
1901, pp. 275-288.
338 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Evermann, B. W., and Kendall, W. C.
1902. Annotated list of the fishes known to occur in the St. Law-
rence river. Rep. U. S. fish comm., 1901, pp. 227-240.
Evermann, B. W., and Smith, H. M.
1896, Whitefishes of North America. Rep. U. S. fish comm., 1894,
pp. 283-324, pi.
Eycleshymer, A. C.
1901. Observations on the breeding habits of Ameiurus nebulosus.
Amer. naturalist, vol. 35, pp. 911-918.
Gage, S. H.
1893. Lake and brook lampreys of New York, especial^ those of
Cavuga and Seneca lakes. Wilder quarter-century book, 1868-
1893, pp. 421-493, pi.
Gardner, A. P.
1883. Experiments in the pond culture of trout, suckers, and catfish.
Bull. U. S. fish comm., vol. 3, pp. 417-420.
Gill, Theodore.
1905. Family of cyprinids and the carp as its type. Smithsonian
miscellaneous collections, vol. 48, pp. 195-217, pi.
Goode, G. B.
1882. Notes on the lamprevs — Petromyzontidtz. Bull. U. S. fish
comm., vol. 2, pp. 349-354.
Gurley, R. R.
1902. The habits of fishes. Amer. journal psychology, vol. 13, pp.
408-425.
Heckel, Jacob.
1841. Scaphirhynchus , eine neue Fischgattung aus der Ordnung der
Chondropterygier mit freien Kiemen. Zoolog. Abhandl. Ann.
Wiener Museums Naturgesch., vol. 1-2, pp. 69-78, 1 pi.
Henshall, J. A.
1880. Black bass vs. green bass. Forest and stream, vol. 14, pp.
510-511.
1881. Book of the black bass. 463 pp. illus. Cin., Clarke.
1903. Hass, pike, perch, and others. 410 pp. illus. N. Y., Mac-
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Hessel, Rudolph
1878. Carp and its culture in rivers and lakes : and its introduction
in Amerii a Rep. U. S. fish comm., 1875-76, pp. 865-900.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 339
Imms, A. D.
1904. Notes on the gill-rakers of the spoonbill sturgeon, Polyodon
spathula. Proc. Zool. society Lond., 1904, vol. 2, pp. 22-35, 1 pi.
Jordan, D. S.
1878. A synopsis of the family CatostomidcB. Bull. U. S. national
museum, no. 12, pp. 97-230.
1879. Notes on certain typical specimens of American fishes in the
British Museum and in the Museum d'histoire naturelle at Paris.
Proc. U. S. national museum, vol. 2, pp. 218-226.
Jordan, D. S., and Copeland, H. E.
1876. Johnny darters. Amer. naturalist, vol. 10, pp. 335-341.
Jordan, D. S., and Fordice, M. W.
1 885. Review of the North American species of Petromyzotitidcs. An-
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Kendall, W. C.
1902. Habits of some of the commercial cat-fishes. Bull. U. S. fish
coram., vol. 22, pp. 399-109.
Kirsch, P. H., and Fordice, M. W.
1889. Review of the American species of sturgeons (Acipenseridce) .
Proc. Academy nat. sci. Phil., 1889, pp. 245-257.
Kirtland, J. P.
1840-1847. Descriptions of the fishes of the Ohio river and its tribu-
taries. Boston journal nat. hist., vol. 3, pp. 338-352, 469-482;
vol. 4. pp. 16-26, 231-240, 303-308; vol. 5, pp. 21-32, 265-276.
330-344, pi.
Lydell, Dwight.
1902. The habits and culture of the black bass. Bull. U. S. fish
comm., vol. 22, pp. 39-44, 1 pi.
Mark, E. L.
1890. Studies on Lepidostens. Part 1. Bull. Museum comparative
zool., Harvard, vol. 19, pp. 1-128, pi.
Marshall, W. S., and Gilbert, N. C.
1905. Notes on the food and parasites of some fresh-water fishes
from the lakes at Madison, Wisconsin. Rep. U. S. fish comm.,
1904, pp. 513-522.
340 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Milner, J. W.
1874. Report on the fisheries of the Great Lakes and the species
of Coregonus or whitefish. Rep.U. S. fish comm., 1872-73, apx. A,
pp. 1-89.
1874. New species of Argyrosomus and Coregonus. Rep. U. S. fish
comm., 1872-73, pp. 86-89.
Moenkhaus, W. J.
1894. Variation of North American fishes. I. The variation of
Etheostoma caprodes Rafinesque. Amer. naturalist, vol. 28, pp.
641-660, pi.
1896. Variation of North American fishes. II. The variation of
Etheostoma caprodes Rafinesque in Turkey lake and Tippecanoe
lake. Proc. Indiana academy sci., 1895, pp. 278-296.
1898. Material for the study of the variation of Etheostoma caprodes
Rafinesque and Etheostoma nigrum Rafinesque in Turkey lake and
Tippecanoe lake. Proc. Indiana academy sci., 1897, pp. 207-228.
Mulertt, Hugo.
1883. Habits of the black-headed minnow. Forest and stream, vol.
20, p. 450.
Page, W. F.
1894. Feeding and rearing fishes, particularlv trout, under domesti-
cation. Bull. U. S. fish comm., vol. 14, pp. 289-314. .
Pappenheim, P.
1905. Uber die Acipenseriden-gattung Scaphirhynchus. Sitzungs-
bericht der Gesellsch. naturforsch. Freunde zu Berlin, 1905, pp.
5-7.
Reed, H. D.
1900. The structure of the poison glands of Schilbeodes gyrinus.
Proc. Amer. ass'n advancement sci., vol. 49, pp. 232-233.
Reese, A. M.
1900. Lampreys in captivity. Biol, bull., vol. 1 , pp. 161-162.
Reighard. Jacob.
1900. Breeding habits of the dog-fish, Amiacalva. Abstract. Rep.
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pp. 574-575.
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s. vol. 17, p. 531.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 34]
Reighard, Jacob — continued
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Ryder, J. A.
1882. The Protozoa and protophytes considered as the primary or
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1, pp. 236-251. Also in Rep. U. S. fish comm., 1881, pp. 755-
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Seal, W. P.
1890. Observations on the aquaria of the U. S. fish commission at
Central station, Washington, D. C. Bull. U. S. fish comm., vol.
10, pp. 1-12, pi.
Shufeldt, R. W.
1900. Notes on the psychologv of fishes. Amer. naturalist, vol. 34,
pp. 275-281.
Smiley, C. W.
1883. Answers to 118 questions relative to German carp. Bull.
U. S. fish comm., vol. 3, pp. 241-248.
Smith, H. M.
1890. Report on an investigation of the fisheries of Lake Ontario.
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1893. Statistics of the fisheries of the United States. Bull. U. S.
fish comm., vol. 13, pp. 389-417.
1894. The fisheries of the Great Lakes. Rep. U. S. fish comm.,
1892, pp. 363-462.
1898. Statistics of the fisheries of the interior waters of the United
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vol. 22. pp. 376-378.
Smith, H. M., and Snell, M. M., compilers.
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pi. maps.
Stranahan, J. J.
1897. The methods, limitations, and results of whitefish-culture m
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1897. Lampreys of central New York. Bull. U. S. fish comm., vol.
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(23)
342 FISHES OF ILLINOIS
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1871. Habits of the black bass. Amer. naturalist, vol. 5, pp. 361—
364.
Townsend, C. H., ed.
1902. Statistics of the fisheries of the Great Lakes. Rep. U. S.
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1882. Ichthyological papers by George Powers Dunbar, with a
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1900. On the nesting habits of the brook lamprey (Lampetra
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1887. On some of the affinities between the GanoiJci CJiondrostei
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Errata.
Page ci: line 1 of paragraph below list, for ninety- six read ninety-eight; line 7 of
same, for thirty-three read twenty nine
Page 11, under figure, for J. & E., and after Lampetra wilderi, for Jordan &
Evermann, read G <■■
Page 171, line IS from bottom, for Illinois read Ohio.
Page 298. line 20, after probably read near.
INDEX
343
Index
Abramis, 103, 125
crysoleucas, 95, 99. 100, 101,
126-128
Acanthini, 330
Acanthopten, 14, 220-329
Acipenser, 21, 24
huso, 22
rubicundus, 22, 24-26
ruthenus, 22
sturio, 22
Acipenserids, 1, 21-29
affinis, Gambusia, 210, 215
albus, Parascaphirhynchus, xcii, 28
Alewives, 48
Alligator-gar, lxx, lxxix, lxxxix,
xcvii, xcviii, 35-36
Alosa, 48, 49
ohiensis, 49
alosoides, Hiodon, 43
Ambloplites, 235, 242
rupestris, 234, 243-244
amblops, Hybopsis, 99, 100, 101,
165
Amblyopsidse, 2, 202, 217-219
Amblvopsis, 219
Ameiurus, 176, 183, 184, 195
lacustris, 183, 184-185
melas, 184, 185, 188, 190-192
natalis, 183, 185-186, 191
nebulosus, 184, 187-190, 191, 192
as prey of lampreys, 7
nigricans, 179, 184
ponderosus, 179, 184
American Carp, 74
Eel, 59-60
Perch, 276-278
pike-perches, 271-275
Amia, 38
calva, 38-41
Amiidee, 1, 37-41
Ammocrypta, 271, 301
pellucida, cvii, 280, 301-303
Anacanthini, 14, 330-332
Anguilla, 59
chrysypa, 59-60
anguilla, Ictalurus, lxxiii, lxxxii,
lxxxix, xcvii, xciii, cxix, 177, 179
Anguillidae, 2, 58-60
anisurum, Moxostoma, 89, 93
annularis, Pomoxis, 237, 238, 240
anogenus, Notropis, lxxii, lxxxi,
lxxxix, xci, xevi, xcviii, 131, 132
anomalum, Campostoma, c, cviii,
99, 100, 101, 110
Aphredoderida?, 3, 218, 220, 228-
231
Aphredoderus, 229
sayanus, cii, 229-231
Aplodinotus, cvii, 323
as food for fishes, 275
grunniens, 323-325
Apodes, 14, 58-60
Apomotis, 247
Argyrosomus, 50, 53-54
artedi, 54-55
hoyi, 54, 55
nigripinnis, 54, 55
prognathus, 54, 55
tullibee, 54, 55
artedi, Argyrosomus, 54
asprella, Crystallaria, lxxvi, lxxxv,
xc, xci, xcii, 300
Aspro, 278
aspro, Hadropterus, cvii, 280, 286,
303
Atherinidse, 2, 220, 226-22S
atherinoides, Notropis, 99, 100,
101, 131. 151
atromaculatus, Semotilus. 99, 100
atronasus, Rhinichthys. 160, 162
aureolum, Moxostoma, cvii, cviii,
89, 90, 93
344
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Banded Darter, lxxvi, lxxxv,
lxxxviii, c, cv, exiii, 304-306
Bass, Black, cxviii. cxx, 7, 108. 109,
233, 238, 247, 262
as food for fishes, 208, 275
fishes eaten bv, 97, 175, 270
Calico, 240-241
Large-mouthed Black, lxxv,
lxxxiv, lxxxvii, ci, cvii, cxii,
cxix. 267-269
Prairie, 39
Rock, lxxiv, lxxxiv, lxxxviii,
cv, cvii. cxii, cxviii, cxix,
233, 242, 243-244, 246, 247,
250
Sea, 318-322
Small-mouthed Black, lxxv,
lxxxiv, lxxxvii, c, cvii. cviii,
cxii, cxix, 108, 244, 263-266,
267, 268, 269
Strawberry, 241
Striped, cxx. 319-320
Warmouth, 245-247
White, lxxvi, lxxxvi, lxxxviii,
c, civ, cvii, cxiii, cxviii, cxix,
319, 320, 322. 325
Yellow, lxxvi, lxxxvi, lxxxvii, c,
civ, cxiii, cxviii, cxix, 321-322,
325
Big-eved Chub, 165-166
Big-mouth Buffalo, 68-70
Billfish, 31-34
Black Bass, cxviii, cxx. 7, 108, 109,
233, 238, 247, 262
as food for fishes, 208, 275
fishes eaten by, 97, 175, 2 70
Large-mouthed, lxxv,
lxxxiv, lxxxvii, ci, cvii,
cxii cxix, 267-269
Small-mouthed, lxxv, lxxxiv,
lxxxvii. c, cvii, cviii, cxii,
cxix, 108, 244, 263-266, 267,
268,269
Bullhead, lxxiii, Ixxxiii, lxxxvii,
ci. cviii, cix, cxix, 1 76, 185,
188, 190 192
Crappic, lxxiv. lxxxiv, lxxxvii,
cxii, cxix, 238. 240-241
-head .Minnow, lxxi, Ixxxi,
lxxxvii, cv, ex. 117 1 1 9
Black — continued
-horse, lxx, lxxx, lxxxix, xcvii,
65-66
-nosed Dace, lxxiii, lxxxii,
lxxxviii, 162-163
-sided Darter, lxxv, lxxxv,
lxxxvii, ci, cxiii, 286-287
darters. 283-290
Sucker, 66
Blackfin, lxxii, lxxxii, lxxxvii,
ci, cxi, 154-156
blennioides, Diplesion, cvii, 280,
292
blennius, Notropis, cvii, cviii, 99,
100, 101, 131. 137
Blindfishes, 217-219
Bloodsucker, 6
Blue-breasted Darter, lxxvi, lxxxv,
lxxxviii, 306
Blue Cat, lxxiii, lxxxii, lxxxix,
xcvii, xcviii, cxix, 178-179
Fulton, 179, 181
Herring, 48-49
. -spotted Sunfish, cxix, 248-2 50
Sunfish, 257-259
Bluefin, 55
Bluegill, lxxv, lxxxiv, lxxxvii, cvii,
cxii, cxix, 234, 235. 237, 257-259
Blunt-nosed Carp, lxxi, lxxx,
lxxxviii, cix
Minnow, lxxi, lxxxi, lxxxvii, ci,
ex, 119-121, 127
River Carp, 77-78
Boleichthys, 2 71, 315
fusiformis, lxxvi, lxxxvi,
lxxxviii, ci, civ, cvii. cxiii, 280,
315-316
Boleosoma, 271, 281, 294, 303
camurum, lxxv, lxxxv, lxxxviii,
ei, cviii, cxiii, 280, 294, 298-
300
nigrum, 294-298
Bowfin, 38-41
Bowfins, 3 7
Bream, 12<> 128
Breams, 125 128
breviceps, Moxostoma, c, 89, 91
Brindled Stonecat, lxxiii, Ixxxiii,
lxxxix. xc. xcvii, ci, civ, cvii,
eix, 200 201
IXDEX
345
Brook Lamprey, lxx, Ixxix. xc, xci,
xcii, 11-12
Silverside, lxxiv, lxxxiv. lxxxvii,
cviii, cxii, 227-228
Stickleback, Lxxiv, lxxxiii,
Ixxxix, xcvi, xcviii, 222-223
Trout, 263
Brown Bullhead, 176, 185, 186,
187-190, 192
as prey of lampreys, 7
bubalus, Ictiobus, 67, 68. 71, 72
buccata, Ericymba, lxxii, lxxxii,
lxxxviii, xcvii, ci, civ, cviii, cxi,
99, 100, 101, 156
Buffalo, Big-mouth, 68-70
-fish, 62, "63, 67, 109
as food for fishes, 39, 63
as prey of lampreys, 7, 10
-fishes, cvii. cxviii, cxx, 62, 63,
75
Mongrel, lxx, lxxx, lxxxviii, cv,
cix, cxix, 70-72
Ouillback. 72-73
Razor-backed, 72-73
Red-mouth, lxx, lxxx, lxxxviii,
cix, cxix, 68-70
Round, 70-72
Small-mouth, lxx, lxxx, lxxxviii,
cix, cxix, 72-73
Bullhead, Black, Ixxiii, lxxxiii,
lxxxvii, ci, cviii, cix, cxix, 176,
185, 188, 190-192
Brown, 176, 185, 186, 187-190,
192
as prey of lampreys, 7
Common, Ixxiii. lxxxiii, lxxxviii,
c, civ, cvii, cix, cxix, 187-190
Minnow, lxxii. lxxxi, lxxxvii, ci,
ex, 128-130
Slick, 186
Speckled, 187-190
Yellow, Ixxiii, lxxxiii, lxxxvii,
ci, cviii, cix, cxix. 1 76, 185—
186, 191, 192
fishes eaten by, 1 7 5
Bullheads, cxviii, 174, 176, 183—
192, 195
as food for fishes, 194, 275
fishes eaten by, 63, 97, 270
Bull-pouts, cxx, 188
Burbot, lxxvi, lxxxvi, Ixxxix, xcvii,
cxix, 331-332
as food for fishes, 56
fishes eaten by, 270
Burbots, 331-332
Calico Bass, 240-241
calva, Amia, 38
Campostoma, 96, 103, 110
anomalum, c, cviii, 99, 100, 101,
110-112
camurum, Boleosoma, lxxv, lxxxv,
lxxxviii, ci, cviii, cxiii. 280,
298
Etheostoma, 303, 306
canadense griseum, Stizostedion,
272, 274-275
Stizostedion, xcix, c. 175, 272
caprodes, Percina. 280. 281, 285
Carp, cxx, 67, 104-110
American, 74
and minnows, 94-171
as prey of lampreys, 10
Blunt-nosed, lxxi, lxxx, lxxxviii,
cix
River, 77-78
Common River, 76-77
European, cxviii, cxix, 103
German, 104-110
Lake, lxxi, lxxx, lxxxviii, xcvi,
xcviii, c, civ, cxix, 79-80
-like fishes, 61-171
Quillback, lxxi, lxxx, lxxxviii. c,
~ cix, 78-79
River, lxxi. lxxx. lxxxviii. cvii,
cix, cxix, 77-78
Silver, 78
-suckers, 74-80
carpio, Carpiodes, cvii, 75, 76
Cyprinus, 104
Carpiodes, 64, 74-75
carpio, cvii, 75, 76-77
dilTonnis, cvii, 75, 77-78
thompsoni, xcix, 75, 77, 79-80
velifer, cvii, cviii, 75. 77. 78 7')
castaneus, Ichthyomyzon, 10
Cat, Blue, Ixxiii. lxxxii, Ixxxix,
xcvii, xcviii, cxix. 1 78 17')
Chuckle-headed, 178 179
Duck-bill, 17
346
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Cat — continued
Fulton, 178-179
Mississippi, 179
Morgan, 193-194
Tadpole, lxxiii. lxxxiii. lxxxvii,
ci, cix, 197-198
Spoonbill. 16-20
Yellow, 193-194
cataractas, Rhinichthys, xcii, 160
Catfish, 108. 109
Great Lake, lxxiii, Ixxxii, xci,
xcii. xcvi, xcviii
Lake, exix
of the lakes, 184-185
Catfishes, cxviii, cxx, 172-201
as food for fishes, 268, 275
as prey of lampreys, 7, 10
Catostomidae, 2, 61-94
Catostomus, 64, 83-84
catostomus, 84
commersonii, 7, 84, 85-86
nigricans, c, 62, 64, 84, 86-88
Cave-fish, xcii. xcvii, 218-219
cavuga atrocaudalis, Notropis,
lxxii, 134
Notropis, lxxii, lxxxi, lxxxviii,
xcvii, xcix, c, civ, cvii, ex, 99,
101, 130, 133
Centrarchidas, 3, 63, 221, 231, 232-
269, 320
Centrarchus, 235, 241
macropterus, 234, 241-242
cepedianum, Dorosoma, 45
Chaenobrvttus. 236, 245
gulosus, 234, 245-247
Channel-cat, lxxiii. Ixxxii, lxxxvii,
ci, cix, cxix, 180-183, 266
Channel-cats, 175, 177-183
chlora, Cliola, 139
Chologaster, 218
papilliferus, lxxiv, lxxxiii, xc,
xcii, xcvi, 218-219
Chondrostei, 13, 21-29
Chrosomus. 103, 112
erythrogaster, 101, 112 113
chrysochlori I '■ >molobus, 48
chrysops, Roccus, xcix, 319
chrys) pa, Anguilla, 59
Chub; Big-eyed, 165-166
Creek, 12J 123
Chub — co n t inued
Flat-headed, lxxiii, Ixxxii, lxxxix,
xcii, xcvi, 170-171
Greased, 110-112
River, lxxiii, Ixxxii, lxxxvii, c,
cxi, 167-170
Silver, lxxiii, Ixxxii, lxxxix,
xcvii, ci, cxi, 165-166
Storer's, lxxiii, Ixxxii, lxxxviii,
c, cxi, 166-167
-sucker, lxxi, lxxx, lxxxviii, ci,
civ, cvii, cix, 62, 81-82
Chub-suckers, 80-82
Chuckle-headed Cat, 178-179
Cisco, 54-55
Mooneye, 55
Ciscoes, 53-55
Cliola, 103, 128
chlora, 139
vigilax,99, 100, 101. 119,128-103
Clupeida?, 2,42,47-50
clupeiformis, Coregonus, 51
Cod-like fishes, 330-332
Codfishes, 330-332
cceruleum, Etheostoma, cvii, cviii,
280, 304, 309
commersonii, Catostomus, 7, 84, 85
Common Bullhead, lxxiii, lxxxiii,
lxxxviii, c, civ, cvii, cix, cxix,
187-190
Pike, cxix, 207-209
Red-horse, lxxi, lxxx, lxxxvii,
cvii, cviii, ex, cxix, 90-91
River Carp, 76-77
Sculpin, 326-327
Shiner, lxxii, Ixxxii, lxxxvii, c,
cxi, 147-149
Stonecat, lxxiii
Sucker, lxxi, lxxx, lxxxvii, c,
cvii, cix, cxix, 62, 85-86
Top-minnow, lxxiv, lxxxiii,
lxxxvii, ci, cxi
Whitefish, 51-53
concolor, Ichthyomyzon, 9
Coregonus, 50, 51
clupeiformis, 51 53
quadrilateralis, 51, 53
cornutus, Notropis, c, cvii, cviii, 99,
100, 101. 131. 147
corporalis, Semotilus, 123
INDEX
347
Cottidse, 3, 221, 325-329
Cottogaster, 271. 290,303
shumardi, lxxv, lxxxv, lxxxviii,
xcvii, cvii, cxiii, 279, 290-291
Cottus, 326
ictalops, 326-327
ricei, lxxvi. lxxxvi. xc, xci, xcii,
xcvi, xcviii, 326. 327-328
Crappie. cxviii. cxx, 108, 109
Black, lxxiv, lxxxiv, lxxxvii,
cxii. cxix, 238, 240-241
Pale, 2 56
Ringed. 239
White, lxxiv. lxxxiv, lxxxvii, ci,
cxii, cxix, 238-239
Crappies, cvii, 233, 235, 247, 256
fishes eaten by, 97, 270
Creek Chub, 121-123
Cristivomer, 51, 55
namaycush, 56-57
Croaker, 323-325
crysoleucas, Abramis, 95, 99, 100,
'101. 126
Crystallaria, 271, 300
asprella, lxxvi, lxxxv, xc, xci,
xcii, 300-301
Cushawn, 194
cyanellus, Lepomis, 235, 248
Cycleptus, 64, 65
elongatus, 65-66
Cycloganoidea, 13, 37-41
cyprinella, Ictiobus, 67, 68, 71
Cyprinidae, 2, 61, 62. 94-171
Cyprinus, 104
carpio, 104-110
Dace as food for fishes, 332
Black-nosed, lxxiii, lxxxii,
lxxxviii, 162-163
Horned, lxxi, lxxxi, lxxxvii, ex,
121-123-
fishes eaten by, 97
Long-nosed, lxxii, lxxxii, xc,
xi ii, xcvi, 160-161
Red-bellied, lxxi, lxxxi. lxxxviii,
c, cv, ex, 1 12-1 13
Darter. Banded, lxxvi, lxxxv,
lxxxviii. c, cv, 304-306
Black sided, lxxv, lxxxv, lxxxvii,
ci, cxiii, 286-287
Darter — continued
Blue-breasted, lxxvi, lxxxv,
lxxxviii, cxiii, 306
Fan-tailed, lxxvi, lxxxvi,
lxxxviii, c, cxiii, 313—314
Green-sided, lxxv, lxxxv, lxxxix,
xcvii, civ, cxiii, 292-294
Johnnv, lxxv, lxxxv, lxxxvii,
cxiii, 294-298
Least, lxxvi, lxxxvi, lxxxviii,
cxiii, 317-318
Rainbow, lxxvi, lxxxv, lxxxviii,
c, cxiii, 309-311
Sand, lxxvi, lxxxv, lxxxviii. ci,
cxiii, 279, 301-303
Darters, cvii, 63, 270, 2 78-318
Black-sided, 283-290
Sand, 301
diaphanus, Fundulus, xcix, 210,
212
nienona, Fundulus, 211
difformis, Carpiodes, cvii, 75-77
Diplesion, 271, 291-292, 303
blennioides, cvii, 280, 292-294
dispar, Fundulus, cvii, 210, 212,
216, 217
dissimilis, Hybopsis, xcix, c, cvii,
164
Dogfish, lxx, lxxix, lxxxviii, ci, cv,
cix, cxix, cxx, 38-41, 203
fishes eaten by, 63. 97
dolomieu, Mieropterus, 262, 263
Dorosoma, 45
cepedianum, 45
as food for fishes, 273
Dorosomidae, 2, 42, 45-47
Dough-belly, 110-112
Drum, cxviii, 109
Fresh-water, cxx, 323-325
Drums, 322-325
river, 323
Duck-bill Cat, 17
duquesnei, Placopharynx, lxxi,
lxxxi, lxxxix, 93
Eel, lxx, lxxx, lxxxix, cxix
American, 59 60
-cat, cxix
Fresh water, 59-60
-pout, 331 332
348
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Eels, 6, 58
true, 58
Elassoma, 231
zonatum, 232
Elassomidae, 3, 221, 231-232
elongatus, Cycleptus, 65
emiliae, Opsopceodus, lxxi, lxxxi,
lxxxviii, ci, ex, 99, 101, 124
Ericymba, 104, 156
buccata, lxxii, lxxxii, lxxxviii,
xcvii, ci, civ, cviii, cxi, 99, 100,
101, 156-158
Erimyzon, 64, 80
sucetta oblongus, 81-82
erythrogaster, Chrosomus, 101, 112
Esocidae, 2, 202, 205-209
Esox, 205
lucius, 205, 207-209
masquinongy, 205, 209
ohiensis, 209
vermiculatus, 205, 206-207
Etheostoma, 271, 303-304
camurum, 303, 306
coeruleum. cvii, cviii, 280, 304,
309-311
flabellare, 280, 303, 304, 313-314
iowas, lxxvi, lxxxv, 304, 306-307
jessiae, lxxvi, lxxxv, lxxxvii, ci,
cxiii,280, 304,307-309, 3 10, 311
obeyense, lxxvi, lxxxvi, xc, xcii,
xevi, xcviii, 303, 304, 311-312
squamiceps, lxxvi, lxxxvi, xc,
xcii, xcvii, xcviii, cxiii, 303,
304, 312-313
zonalc, xcix, cvii, 280, 303, 304-
306
Etheostominae, 270, 278-318
Eucalia, 222
inconstans, 222-223
Eupomotis, 236, 247, 259
gibbosus, xcix, 234, 247, 259,
260-262
hems, Ixxv, Ixxxiv, xc, xcii, xevi,
xcviii, 259-260
European Carp, cxviii, cxix, 103
euryorus, Lepomis, lxxiv, Ixxxix,
xci, 248. 252
Eventognathi, 61-171
evermanni, Hadropterus, lxxv,
lxxxv, Ixxxix, xci, 283, 284
evides, Hadropterus, lxxv, lxxxv,
xc, xci, xcii, xevi, cxiii, 283, 288
exilis, Scbilbeodes, 196, 199
Fallfishes, 121
Fan-tailed Darter, lxxvi, lxxxvi.
lxxxviii, c, cxiii, 313-314
Fathead, 117-119. 128-130
Fatheads, 117
Fiddler. 180-183
Fine-scaled Sucker, 85-86
as prey of lampreys. 7
suckers, 83-88
Fishes, carp-like, 61-171
cod-like, 330-332
herring-like, 42
limophagous, cviii
pike-like, 202
salmon-like, 42
shad-like, 42
spiny-rayed, 220-329
Five-spined sticklebacks, 222
flabellare, Etheostoma, 280, 303,
304, 313
Flat-belly, 194
Flat-headed Chub, lxxiii, lxxxii,
Ixxxix, xcii, xevi, 170-171
flavescens, Perca, cix, 276, 332
flavus, Noturus, xcix, c, cxvii, 176,
194, 200, 201
Flier, 241-242
Freckled Stonecat, lxxiii, lxxxiii,
lxxxviii, xcvii, xcviii, 198-199
Fresh-water Drum, exx, 323-325
Eel, 59-60
Fulton, Blue, 179, 181
Cat, 178-179
White, 179
Fundulus, 210, 211
diaphanus, xcix, 210, 212
menona, 211-212
dispar, cvii. 210, 212-213, 216,
217
notatus, 210, 213-215, 216, 217
furcatus, Ectalurus, 177, 17S, 184
fusiformis, Boleichthys, lxxvi.
lxxxvi, lxxxviii, ci, civ, cvii, cxiii,
280, 315
INDEX
349
Gadidae, 3,330-331
Gambusia, 207, 210, 215
affinis, 210, 215-217
Gar, Long-nosed, lxx, lxxix,
lxxxviii. cv, cix, 31-34
Short-nosed, lxx, lxxix, lxxxviii,
c, civ, cix, 34-3 5
garmani, Lepomis, 253
( iar] (ikes, 30-36
Gars, fishes eaten by, 97
Gaspergou, 324
Gasterosteidse, 2, 220, 221-224
German Carp, 104-110
gibbosus, Eupomotis, xcix, 234,
247, 259, 260
gilberti, Notropis, lxxii, lxxxi,
lxxxviii, ccv.cvii, ex, 99, 101, 139
Gizzard-shad, lxx, lxxix, lxxxvii,
cxi, cxix, 45-47, 63
as food for fishes, 63, 175, 268,
273, 275
gladius, Psephurus, 15
Goggle-eye, 243-244
Golden Shad, cxix, 48-49
Shiner, lxxi, lxxxi, lxxxvii, ci, ex,
126-128
gracilis, Platygobio, 170
Uranidea, 328, 329
Grass Pike, lxxiii, lxxxiii, lxxxvii,
ci, cxi, 206-207
Gray Pike. 2 74-275
Greased Chub, 110-112
Greaser, 186
Great Lake Catfish, lxxiii, lxxxii,
xci, xcii, xevi, xcviii
Trout, cxix, 55, 56
Mississippi Catfish, 184
Green-sided Darter, Ixxv. Ixxxv,
Ixxxix, xcvii, civ, cxiii, 292-294
Green Sunfish, lx.xiv, lxxxiv,
lxxxvii, ci, cvii, cxii, 235,
246, 24S 250, 256
fishes eaten by, 97
Grindle, 38 41
Grinnel, 39
grunniens, Aplodinotus, 323
gulosus, Chasnobryttus, 234, 245
guttatus, Percopsis, xcix, cvii, 225
gyrinus, Schilbeodes, 176, 196, 197,
"200, 201
Hadropterus, 271, 283-284
aspro. cvii, 284, 286-287, 303
evermanni, lxxv, lxxxv, Ixxxix,
xci, 283, 284
evides, lxxv. lxxxv, xc, xci. xcii,
xevi, 283, 288-289
ouachitae, lxxv, lxxxv, xc, xcii.
xevi, xcviii, 284, 288
phoxocephalus, lxxv, lxxxv,
lxxxvii, cvii, cviii, cxiii, 280,
284, 285-286, 287, 303. 316
scierus, lxxv, lxxxv, Ixxxix. 284,
289-290
Hagfishes and lampreys, 5
Haplomi, 14, 202-219
Harelipped Sucker, lxxi, lxxxi, xc,
xcii, xevi, xcviii
Hemibranchii, 14, 220
heros, Eupomotis, lxxv, lxxxiv, xc,
xcii, xevi, xcviii, 259
Herring, Blue, 48-49
Lake, lxx, lxxx, xc, xci, xcii,
xevi, xcviii, cxix, 54-55
as food for fishes, 57
-like fishes, 42
Toothed, lxx, lxxix, lxxxviii,
cvii, cxi, 44-45
heterodon, Notropis, lxxii, lxxxi,
lxxxvii, c, cvii, cviii, ex, 95, 99,
100, 101, 134
Hickory -shad, 45-47
as food for fishes, 2 73. See also
Gizzard-shad
Hiodon, 43
alosoides, 43- 44
tergisus, cvii, 43, 44-45
Hiodontidas, 2, 42-45
Hogmolly, 86 88
Hogsucker, lxxi, lxxx, lxxxvii, c,
cvii, cix, 62, 86-88
Horned Dace, lxxi, lxxxi, lxxxvii,
ex. 121 123
fishes eaten bv, 97
Pout, 183-192
Horny head, 167 170
hoyi, Argyrosomus, 54, 55
hudsonius, Notropis, xcix, 99, 100,
101, Ml. Ill
humulis, Lepomis, 234, 235, 2 In.
255
350
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Huro nigricans, 268
huso, Acipenser, 22
Hybognathus, 103, 114
nubila, lxxi, lxxxi, lxxxix, xci,
xcii, cv, 101, 114, 116
nuchalis, 99, 100, 101, 114-115
Hybopsis, 104, 163
"amblops, 99, 100, 101, 165-166
dissimilis, xcix, c, cvii, 164-165
hyostomus, lxxiii, lxxxii, lxxxix,
xcvii, 163-164
kentuckiensis, xcix, c, cvii, cviii,
99, 100, 101, 167-170
storerianus, 99, 100, 166-167
hyostomus, Hybopsis, lxxhi, lxxxii,
lxxxix, xcvii, 163
Hvperoartii, 5-12
Ichthyomyzon, 6, 9
castaneus, 10
concolor, 9-10
ictalops, Cottus, 326
Ictalurus, 174, 176, 177
anguilla, lxxiii, lxxxii, lxxxix,
xcvii, xcviii, cxix, 177, 179-180
furcatus, 177, 178-179, 184
punctatus, 177, 180-183
Ictiobus, 64, 66
bubalus, 67, 68, 71, 72-73
cyprinella, 67, 68-70, 71
urus, 68, 70-72
illecebrosus, Notropis, lxxii, lxxxi,
lxxxix, civ, ex, 101, 131, 140
inconstans, Eucalia, 222
interrupta, Morone, xcix, 320, 321
iowae, Etheostoma, lxxvi, lxxxv,
304, 306
ischyrus, Lepomis, lxxiv, lxxxiv,
lxxxviii, xcvii, 248, 250
Isospondyli, 14, 42-57
Jack-salmon, 272 274
jejunus, Notropis, lxxii, lxxxii.
'lxxxviii, c, rxi, 99, 100. 131, 150
jessies, Etheostoma, lxxvi, lxxxv,
lxxxvii, c i, cxiii, 280, 304, 307,
310, 311
Johnny Darter, lxxv. lxxxv.
lxxxvii. cxiii. 294 298
Jumper, 268
kentuckiensis, Hybopsis, xcix, c,
cvii, cviii, 99, 100, 101, 167
Killifishes, cvii, 210-217
kumlienii, Uranidea, lxxvi, lxxxvii,
xc, xci, xcii, xevi, xcviii, 328
Labidesthes, 227
sicculus. cviii, 227-228
Labrus salmoides, 268
lacustris, Ameiurus, 183, 184-185
Lagochila, 64, 94
Lake Carp, lxxi, lxxx, lxxxviii,
xcviii, c, civ, cxix, 79-80
Catfish, cxix
Herring, lxx, lxxx, xc, xci, xcii,
xevi, xcviii, cxix, 54-55
Sturgeon, lxx, lxxix, lxxxix,
cxviii, cxix, 24-26
Trout, lxx, lxxx, xc, xci, xcii,
xevi, xcviii, 263
Lamper eels. 6
Lamperns, 6
Lampers, 6
Lampetra, 6, 9, 11
planeri, 7, 8
wilderi, xcii, 7, 8, 11-12
Lamprey, Brook, lxx, lxxix, xc,
xci, xcii, 11-12
Sea, 6
Silvery, lxx, lxxix. lxxxviii, 9-10
Small Black, 11-12
Lampreys, 5, 12-25
river, 9
Large-mouthed Black Bass, lxxv,
lxxxiv, lxxxvii, ci, cvii. cxii,
cxix. 267-269
Least Darter, lxxvi. lxxxvi,
lxxxviii, cxiii, 317-318
Leeches as food of Brown Bullhead,
188
Lemon-fin, 145-147
Lepisosteidas, 1, 30-36
Lepisosteus, 3 1
osseus, 31-34
platostomus, 31, 34-35
tristcechus, 31, 35-36
Lepomis, 234. 236, 247-248
cyanellus, 235,248-2 50
euryorus, lxxiv, lxxxiv, lxxxix,
xci, 248, 252-253
[NDEX
351
Lepomis — continued
garmani, 253
humulis, 234, 235, 248, 255-25 7
ischvrus, lxxiv, lxxxiv, lxxxviii,
xcvii, 248 250-251
megalotis, 234, 248, 254-2 55
miniatus, lxxv, lxxxiv, lxxxviii,
cxii, 234, 248,253
pallida, 268
pallidus, 234, 237, 248, 257-259
symmetricus, lxxiv, lxxxiv,
Ixxxix, xcvii, xcviii, 248, 251-
252
Leptops, 176, 193
olivaris, cvii, 193, 194
limi, Umbra. 203
Ling, 331-332
Little Pickerel, cxix, 206-207
Log-perch, lxxv, lxxxv, lxxxviii,
cxii,.281-283
Log-perches, 281-283
Long-eared Sunfisli, lxxv. lxxxiv,
lxxxviii, ci, civ, cvii, cxii, cxix,
234, 235, 254-255
Long-nosed Dace, lxxii, lxxxii, xc,
xcii, xcvi, 160-161
Gar, lxx, lxxix, lxxxviii, cv, cix,
31-34
Sucker, Ixxx. Ixxxix, xci. xcii,
xcvi, xcviii, 84
I.< mgjaw, 55
Loricati. 221
Lota, 331
maculosa, 331-332
lucius, Esox, 205, 207
lutrensis, Xotropis, 99, 100, 101,
143
lythrochloris, Xenotis, 255
Mackinaw Trout, 56
macropterus, Centrarchus, 234, 241
maculosa, Lota, 331
marinus, Petromyzon, 6
unicolor, Petromyzon, 7
Marsipobranchii, 5-12
masquinongy, Esox, 205, 209
ohiensis, Esox, 209
megalotis. Lepomis, 234, 248, 254
melanops, Minytrema, 83
melas, Ameiurus, 184. 185, 188, 190
menona diaphanus, Fundulus, 211
.Menona Top-minnow, lxxiv, Ixxxiii,
lxxxviii, xcvii. xcviii. c, cv, cxi,
211-212
Mi< roperca, 271, 317
punctulata, cvii, 280, 317-318
Micropterus, 236, 262
dolomieu, 262, 263-266
salmoides, 262, 267-269
Miller's Thumb, lxxvi, lxxxvi.
lxxxviii, xci, c, 326-32 7
thumbs, 326-328
miniatus, Lepomis, lxxv. lxxxiv,
lxxxviii, cxii, 234, 248. 253
Minnow, Black-head, lxxi. lxxxi.
lxxxvii. cv. ex. 117-119
Blunt-nosed, lxxi, lxxxi, lxxxvii,
ci. ex, 119-121, 127
Bullhead, lxxii, lxxxi, lxxxvii, ci,
ex. 128-130
Perch, 281
Rosy-faced, 153-154
Silver-mouthed, 156-158
Silvery, lxxi, lxxxi, lxxxvii, ci,
ex, "114-1 15
Spot-tailed, lxxii, lxxxi, lxxxvii,
c, cv, ex, 141-143
Steel-colored, 145-147
Straw-colored, lxxii. lxxxi,
lxxxvii, e, ex, 137-138
Sucker-mouthed, lxxii, lxxxii,
lxxxvii, cxi 158-160
Minnows, cvii
and carp, 94-171
as food for fishes. 32, 34, 39, 44,
194, 207, 228. 231, 268, 273
sucker-mouthed, 158
Minytrema, 64, 82
melanops, 83
mirabilis, Phenacobius, 99, 100, 158
Mississippi Cat, 179
Catfish, Great, 184
.Missouri Sucker, cxix, 65-66
miurus, Schilbeodes, 176, 19<>, 200
Mongrel Buffalo, lxx, lxxx, lxxxviii,
CV, cix, cxix, 70-72
Mooneye, lxx, lxxix, Ixxxix, xcvii,
xcviii, 44
Cisco, 55
Northern, cxix, 43, 44
352
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Mooneyes, 42-45
Morgan Cat, 193-194
Morone, 318, 320
interrupta, xcix, 320, 321-322
Moxostoma, 64, 88, 89, 93
anisurum, 89-90, 93
aureolum, cvii.cviii, 89, 90-91,93
breviceps, c, 89, 91-92
Mud-cat, lxxiii, lxxxiii, lxxxviii, ci,
cvii, cix, cxix, 193-194
fishes eaten by, 97, 175
Mud-jack, 39
Mud-minnow, lxxiii, lxxxiii,
lxxxviii, cvii, cxi, 203-205
Mudfish, 39, 203-205
Mudfishes, 202-205
Muskallunge, lxxiv, lxxxiii, lxxxix,
xcvi, xcviii, 209
Namaycush, 56
namaycush, Cristivomer, 56
natalis, Ameiurus, 183, 185, 191
nebulosus, Ameiurus, 7, 184, 1S7,
191, 192
Nematognathi, 14, 172-201
Nigger-belly, 194
Nigger-lips! 180
nigricans, Ameiurus, 179, 184
Catostomus, c, 62, 64, 84, 86
Huro, 268
nigripinnis, Argyrosomus, 54, 55
nigrum, Boleosoma, 294
Nine-spined Stickleback, lxxiv,
lxxxiii, lxxxix, xci, xcii, xcvi,
xcviii, 224
sticklebacks, 224
nocturrius, Schilbeodes, 196, 198
Northern Mooneye, cxix, 43 44
notatus, Fundulus, 210, 213, 216,
217
Pimephales, cii, 99. 100, 101, 107,
1 10, 127
Notropis, 96, 103, 130 isi
anogenus, lxxii. Ixxxi, lxxxix,
xci, xcvi, xcviii, 131,132 1 33
atherinoides, 99, 100, 101, 131,
151 153
blennius, cvii, cviii, W, 100, 101,
131, 137-138
cayuga, lxxii, Ixxxi. lxxxviii.
Notropis eayuga — continued
xcvii, xcix, c, civ, cvii, ex,
99, 101, 130, 133
atrocaudalis, lxxii, 134
cornutus, c, cvii, cviii, 99, 100,
101, 131, 147-149
gilberti, lxxii, Ixxxi, lxxxviii,
c, cv, cvii, ex, 99, 101, 131,
139-140
heterodon, lxxii, Ixxxi, lxxxviii,
c, cvii, cviii, ex, 95, 99, 100,
101, 130, 134-136
hudsonius, xcix, 99, 100, 101,
131, 141-143
illeeebrosus, lxxii, Ixxxi, lxxxix,
civ, ex, 101, 131, 140-141
jejunus, lxxii, lxxxii, lxxxviii, c,
cxi, 99, 100, 131, 150-151
lutrensis, 99, 100, 101, 131, 143-
145
phenaeobius, lxxii, Ixxxi, lxxxix,
xci, xcvi. 131, 138-139
pilsbryi, lxxii, lxxxii, lxxxix,
xci, xcvi, xcviii, 131, 149-150
rubrifrons, lxxii, lxxxii, lxxxviii,
xcvii, xcix, c, cv, cvii, cxi, 101,
131, 153-154
scvlla, 139
umbratilis, 99, 100, 131
atripes, 154-156
whipplii, 99, 100, 101, 131, 145-
147
Noturus, 176
flavus, xcix, c, cvii, 176, 194-196,
200, 201
nubila, Hybognathus, lxxi, Ixxxi,
lxxxix, xci, xcii, cv, 101, 116
nuchalis, Hvbognathus, 99, 100,
101, 114
( il n \ ense, Ktheostoma, lxx\ i.
lxxxvi, xc, xcvi, xcviii, 303, 304,
311
ohiensis, Alosa, 49
Ohio Shad, 49-50
olivaris, Leptops, cvii, 193
( Ipsopceodus, 103, 124
emili;c. lxxi, Ixxxi, lxxxviii, ci,
ex, 99, 101, 124-125
INDEX
353
Orange-spotted Sunfish, lxxv,
lxxxiv, lxxxvii, ci, cxii, 255-257
osseus, Lepisosteus, 31
ouachitse, Hadropterus, lxxv,
lxxxv, xc. xeii, xcvi, xcviii, 284,
288
Paddle-fish, lxx, Ixxix, lxxxviii,
xcvii, cxviii, exix, 16-20
Paddle-fishes, 15-20
Pale Crappie, 256
pallida, Lepomis, 268
pallidus, Lepomis, 234, 237, 248,
257
Platygobio, 171
papilliferus, Chologaster, lxxiv,
lxxxiii, xe, xcii, xcvi, 218
Parascaphirhvnchus, 24, 28
albus, xcii, '28-29
Pavement-toothed Red-horse, 92
pellucida, Aramocn'pta, cvii, 280,
301
Perca, 248, 270, 275-276
flavescens, xcix, 276-2 78, 332
Percesoces, 14, 220
Perch, American, 276-278
as food for fishes, 192, 332
Minnow, 281
Ringed, 276-278
River, 275-276, 277
White, <xx. 323-325
Yellow, lxxv, lxxxv, lxxxvii,
xcvii, c, cv, cvii, cxii, cxix,
cxx, 247. 270, 276-278. 332
as food for fishes, 332
fishes eaten by, 97
Perches, 269-318 '
Percida;, 3, 221, 269-3 IS
Percina, 2 71, 281
caprodes. 280, 281- 283, 285
Percoidei, 220
Percopsidae, 2, 220, 225-226
Percopsis, 225
guttatus, xcix, cvii, 225 226
Petromyzon. 6
marinus, 6
unicolor, 7
Petromvzonida=, 1, 5-12
Phenacobius. 104, 158
mirabilis, 99, 100, 158-160
phenacobius, Notropis, lxxii, lxxxi,
lxxxix, xci, xcvi, 138
phoxocephalus, Hadropterus, lxxv,
lxxxv, lxxxvii, cvii, cviii, cxiii,
280, 284, 285, 287, 303, 316
Pickerel, 207-209
fishes eaten by, 97
Little, cxix. 206-207
Pigmy Sunfish, lxxiv, lxxxiv, xc,
xcii, xcvi, xcviii, 232
sunfishes, 231-232
Pike, lxxiv, lxxxiii, lxxxviii. xcvii,
xcviii, c, cv, 266
Common, cxix, 207-209
fishes eaten by. 63
Grass, lxxiii, lxxxiii. lxxxvii, ci,
cxi, 206-207
Gray, 2 74-2 75
-like fishes. 202
-perch, lxxv, lxxxv, lxxxviii, cxii,
272-274
-perches, American, 2 71-275
Wall-eyed, cxviii, cxix, 2 70, 2 72-
2 74
fishes eaten by, 97
Pikes, 205-209
pilsbryi, Notropis, lxxii, lxxxii,
lxxxix. xci. xcvi, xcviii, 131, 149
Pimephales, 103, 117
notatus, cii, 99, 100, 101, 117,
119-121, 127
promelas. 99, 100. 101, 117 119
Pirate-perch, lxxiv, lxxxiv, lxxxviii,
ci, civ, cviii, cxii, 229-231
Pirate-perches, 229-231
Pisces, 13-332
Placopharynx, 62, 64, 92
duquesnei, Ixxi, lxxxi, lxxxix,
93-94
planeri, Lampetra, 7, 8
platorhynchus, Scaphirhynchus, 27
platostomus, Lepisosteus, 31, 34
Platvgobio, 104, 170
gracilis, 170-171
pallidus, 171
Plectospondyli, 14
Pceciliidae, 2, 202, 210 217
Polyodon, lf>
spathula, 15, 16-20
Polyodontidae, 1, 15-20
354
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Pomolobus, 48
chrysochloris, 48-49
Pomoxis, 235, 237-238
annularis, 237, 238-239, 240
sparoides, 235, 237, 238. 240-241
ponderosus, Ameiurus, 179, 184
Pout, Horned, 183-192
Prairie Bass, 39
prognathus, Argyrosomus, 54, 55
promelas. Pimephales, 99, 100, 101,
117
Psephurus gladius, 15
Pseudoscaphirhynchus, 22
Pumpkinseed, or Pumpkinseed Sun-
fish, lxxv, lxxiv, lxxxvii, c, cv,
cvii, cxii, cxix, 234, 259, 260-262
punctatus, Ictalurus, 177, 180
punctulata, Microperca, cvii, 280,
317
pungitius, Pygosteus, xci, 224
Pygosteus, 222, 224
pungitius, xei, 224
quadrilateralis, Coregonus, 51, 53
Quillback Buffalo, 72-73
Carp, or Quillback, lxxi, lxxx,
lxxxviii, c, eix, 78-79
Rabbit-mouth Sucker, 94
Rainbow Darter, lxxvi, lxxxv,
lxxxviii, c, cxiii, 309-311
Razor-backed Buffalo, 72-73
Red-bellied Dace, lxxi, lxxxi,
lxxxviii, c, cv. ex, 112-113
Red-horse, cxviii, 88-92
Common, lxxi, lxxx, lxxxvii, cvii,
cviii, ex, cxix, 90-91
Pavement-toothed, 92
Short-headed, lxxi, lxxx, lxxxviii,
c, civ, ex, cxix, 91-92
Red-mouth Buffalo, lxx, lxxx,
lxxxviii, cix, cxix, 6S-70
Red Sturgeon, 24-26
Redeye, 243-244
Redfin, lxxii, lxxxi, lxxxvii, cv, ex,
143-145
Rhinichthvs, 104, 160
atronasus, 160, 162-163
cataracts;, xcii, 100-161
Rhomboganoidea, 13. 30-36
ricei, Cottus, lxxvi, Ixxxvi, xc, xci,
xcii, xevi, xcviii, 327
Ringed Crappie, 239
Perch, 276-278
River Carp, lxxi, lxxx, lxxxviii,
cvii, cix, cxix, 76-77
Chub, lxxiii, lxxxii, lxxxvii, c,
cxi, 167-170
drums, 323
lamprevs. 9
Perch, 275-276, 277
Roach, 126-128
Roccus, 318, 319
chrysops, xcix, 319-320
Rock Bass, lxxiv, lxxxiv, lxxxviii,
cv, cvii, cxii, cxviii, cxix, 233,
242, 243-244, 246, 247, 250
Sturgeon, 24-26
Rosy-faced Minnow, 153-154
Round Buffalo, 70-72
Sunfish, lxxiv, lxxxiv, lxxxix. xc,
xevi, xcviii, ci, cvii, cxii, 234,
237, 241-242
rubicundus, Acipenser, 22, 24
rubrifrons, Notropis, lxxii, lxxxii.
lxxxviii, xcvii, xcix, c, cv, cvii,
cxi, 101, 131, 153
rupestris, Ambloplites, 234, 243
ruthenus, Acipenser, 22
salmoides, Labrus, 268
Micropterus, 262, 267
Salmon-like fishes, 42
Salmon-trout, 56
Salmonidce, 2, 42, 50-57
Salmoperea?, 14, 22
Salvelinus, 51
Sand Darter, lxxvi, lxxxv,
lxxxviii, ci, cxiii, 279, 301-303
darters, 301
-pike, cxix, 274-275
fishes eaten by, 175
Sauger, lxxv, lxxxv, lxxxviii,
xcvii, c, cv, cxii, 270, 274-275
sayanus, Aphredoderus, cii, 229
Scaphirhynchus, 24, 26
platorhynchus, 27-28
Schilbeodes, 176, 196
exilis, 196, 199-200
gyrinus, I/O, 196, 1<>7 198. 200,
IXDEX
Schilbeodes gyrinus — continued
201
miurus. 176, 196, 200-201
nocturnus. 196, 198-199
Sciaenidae, 3, 221, 322-325
scierus, Hadropterus, Ixxv, lxxxv,
lxxxix, 284, 289
Sculpin, Common, 326-327
Sculpins, 325-329
scvlla, Notropis, 139
Sea Bass, 318-322
Lamprey, 6
Selachostomi, 13, 15-20
Semotilus, 104, 121
atromaculatus. 99, 100, 121-123
corporalis, 123
Serranida;. 3, 221, 318-322
Shad, 49
as food for fishes, 60, 173
Golden, cxix, 48-49
-like fishes, 42
Ohio, 49-50
Sheatfish, 173
Sheepshead, lxxvi, lxxxvi, lxxxviii,
cvii, cxiii, exviii, cxix, exx,
323-325
as food for fishes, 275
fishes eaten by, 63
Shiner, Ixxii, lxxxii, lxxxvii, ci,
cxi, 151-153
Common, lxxii, lxxxii, lxxxvii,
c, cviii, cxi, 147-149
Golden, lxxi, lxxxi, lxxxvii, ci,
cviii, ex, 126-128
Spotted, lxxiii, lxxxii, lxxxviii,
c, cv, cxi, 164-165
Short-headed Red-horse, lxxi, lxxx,
lxxxviii, c, civ, ex, cxix, 91-92
Short-nosed Gar, lxx, lxxix,
lxxxviii, c, civ, cix, 34-35
Shovel-cat, 17
Shovel-fish, 17
Shovel-nosed Sturgeon, lxx, lxxix,
lxxxix, xcvii, exviii, cxix, 27-
28
sturgeons, 22, 26
shumardi, Cottogaster, lxxv, lxxxv,
lxxxviii, xcvii, cvii, cxiii, 279,
290
sicculus, Labidesthes, cviii, 227
Siluridse. 2. 172-201
Silver Carp, 78
Chub, lxxiii, lxxxii, lxxxix, xcvii,
ci, cxi, 165-166
-mouthed Minnow, 156-158
Silverfin, lxxii, lxxxii, lxxxvii, ci,
ex, 145-147
Silversidc, Brook, lxxiv, lxxxiv.
lxxxvii, cviii, cxii, 22 7 228
Silversides, 226-228
Silvery Lamprey, lxx, lxxix.
lxxxviii, 9-10
Minnow, lxxi, lxxxi, lxxxvii, ci,
ex, 114-115
Skipjack, lxx, lxxx, lxxxviii. 48-49
Slender Stonecat, lxxiii, lxxxiii,
lxxxix, 199-200
Slick Bullhead, 186
Small-mouth Buffalo, lxx. lxxx,
lxxxviii, cix, cxix, 72-73
Black Bass, lxxv, lxxxiv,
lxxxvii, c, cvii, cviii, cxii,
cxix, 108, 244, 263-266, 267,
268, 269
Soldier-fish, 309-311
Spade-fish, 17
sparoides, Pomoxis, 235, 237, 238,
240
spathula, Polyodon. 15, 16
Speckled Bullhead, 187-190
Spiny-rayed fishes, 220
Spoonbill, exx, 17
Cat, 16-20
Spoonbills as prey of lamprevs, 7,
10
Spot-tailed Minnow, lxxii, lxxxi,
lxxxvii, c, cv, ex, 141-143
Spotted Shiner, lxxiii, lxxxii.
lxxxviii, c, cv, cxi, 164-165
Sucker, cxix, 83
squamiceps, Etheostoma, lxxvi,
lxxxvi, xc, xcii, xcvii, xcvni,
cxiii, 303, 304, 312
Steel-colored Minnow, 145 147
Sterlet, 22
Stickleback, Brook, lxxiv, lxxxiii,
lxxxix, xevi, xcvni, 222-223
Nine-spined. lxxiv, lxxxiii.
lxxxix, xci, xcii, xcvi. xeviii,
224
356
FISHES OF ILLINOIS
Sticklebacks. 221-224
five-spined, 222
nine-spined, 224
Stizostedion, 270, 271-272
canadense, xcix, c, 175, 272
griseum, 2 72, 274-275
vitreum, 272-274
Stonecat, lxxxiii, lxxxviii, xcvii, c,
civ, cvii, cix, 194-196
Brindled, lxxiii, lxxxiii, lxxxix,
xc, xcvii, ci, civ. cvii. cix, 200-
201
Common, lxxiii
Freckled, lxxiii, lxxxiii,
lxxxviii, xcvii. xcviii, 198-199
Slender, lxxiii, lxxxiii, lxxxix,
199-200
Stonecats, cviii, 174, 175, 176
Stone-roller, lxxi, lxxxi, lxxxvii, c,
ex, 62, 86-88, 110-112
Stone-rollers. 110-112
storerianus, Hybopsis, 99, 100, 166
Storer's Chub, lxxiii, lxxxii,
lxxxviii, c, cxi, 166-167
Straw-colored Minnow, lxxii, lxxxi,
lxxxvii, c, ex, 137-138
Strawberry Bass, 241
Striped Bass, exx, 319-321
Sucker, lxxi, lxxx, lxxxviii, ci,
cvii, ex, 62, 83
Top-minnow, lxxiv, lxxxiii,
lxxxvii, cxi
Sturgeon, Lake, lxx, lxxix, lxxxix,
cxviii, cxix, 24-26
Red. 24-26
Rock, 24 26
Shovel-nosed, lxx, lxxix, lxxxix,
xcvii, cxviii, cxix, 27 28
White, lxx, lxxix, xc, xcii, 28-29
Sturgeons, 21-29
shovel-nosed, 22, 26
sturio, Acipenser, 22
sucetta oblongus, Erimyzon, 81
Sucker, Common, lxxi, lxxx,
lxxxvii, c, cvii, cix, cxix, 62,
85-86
Black, 66
Fine scaled, 7, 83, 85
as prey of lampreys, 85-86
Harelipped, lxxi, lxxxi, xc, xcii,
Sucker, Harelipped — continued
xcv, xcviii
Long-nosed, lxxx, lxxxix, xci,
xcii, xevi, xcviii, 84
Missouri, cxix, 65-66
-mouthed Minnow, lxxii, lxxxii,
lxxxvii, cxi, 158-160
Rabbit-mouth, 94
Spotted, cxix, 83
Striped, lxxi, lxxx, lxxxviii, ei,
cvii, ex, 62, 83
Sweet, 81
White-nosed, lxxi, lxxx, lxxxviii,
ex, cxix, 89-90
Suckers, cxviii, 61-94, 109
as food for fishes, 63
fine-scaled, 83-88
Sunfish, 63, 108, 109
Blue, 257-259
Blue-spotted, cxix, 248-250
Green, lxxiv, lxxxiv, lxxxvii, ci,
cvii, cxii, 235, 246, 248-250,
256
fishes eaten by, 97
Long-eared, lxxv, lxxxiv,
lxxxviii, ci, civ, cvii, cxii, cxix
234, 235, 254-255
Orange-spotted, lxxv, lxxxiv,
lxxxvii, ci, cxii, 255-257
Pigmy, lxxiv, lxxxiv, xc, xcii,
xevi, xcviii, 232
Pumpkinseed, 259, 260-262
Round, lxxiv, lxxxiv, lxxxix, xc,
xevi, xcviii. ci, cvii, cxii, 234,
237, 241-242
Sunfishes, cxviii, exx, 232-269
as food for fishes, 192, 194. 207,
20S, 273, 275, 320
fishes eaten bv, 63
Pigmy, 231-232
Sweet Sucker, 81
svmmetricus, Lepomis, lxxiv,
lxxxiv, lxxxix, xcvii, xcviii,
248, 251
Tadpole Cat, lxxiii, lxxxiii, lxxxvii,
ci, cix. 197 19S
Teleostomi, 13
tergisus, Hiodon, cvii, 43, 44
INDEX
357
thompsoni, Carpiodes, xcix, 75, 7 7,
79
Toothed Herring, lxx, lxxix,
lxxxviii, cvii, cxi, 44-45
Top-minnow, 213-215
as food for fishes, 207
Common, lxxiv, lxxxiii, lxxxvii,
ci, cxi
Menona, lxxiv, lxxxiii, lxxxviii,
xcvii, xcviii, c, ci, cxi, 211-212
Striped, lxxiv, lxxxiii, lxxxvii,
cxi
Viviparous, lxxiv, lxxxiii, lxxxix,
xcvii, xcviii, ci, cxi, 215-217
Top-minnows, 210, 211
tristcechus, Lepisosteus, 31, 35
Trout, 266, 269
as food for fishes, 327
Brook, 263
Great Lake, cxix, 55, 56
Lake, lxx, lxxx, xc, xci, xcii,
xcvi, xcviii, 263
Mackinaw, 56
-perch, lxxiv, lxxxiii, lxxxviii,
xcvii, xcviii, c, cv, cvii, cxi,
225-226
-perches, 225-226
Tullibee, 55
tullibee, Argyrosomus, 54, 55
Typhlichthys, 219
Umbra, 203
limi, 203-205
umbratilis atripes, Notropis, 154
Notropis, 99, 100, 131
Umbrida?, 2, 202-205
Uranidea, 326, 328
gracilis, 328, 329
kumlienii, lxxvi, lxxxvi, xc, xci,
xcii. xcvi, xcviii, 326, 328-329
urns, Ictiobus, 68, 70
velifer, Carpiodes, cvii, cviii, 75,
77, 78
vcrmiculatus, Esox, 205, 206
vigilax, Cliola, 99, 100, 101, 119,
128
vitreum, Stizostedion, 272
Viviparous Top-minnow, lxxiv,
lxxxiii, lxxxix. xcvii, xcviii, ci,
cxi, 215-217
Wall-eyed Pike, cxviii, cxix, 270,
272-274
fishes eaten by, 97
Warmouth, lxxiv, lxxxiv, lxxxvii,
ci, cvii, cviii. cxii, cxix, 234, 245-
247, 250, 261
Wels, 173
whipplii, Notropis, 99, 100, 101,
131, 145
White Bass, lxxvi. lxxxvi, lxxxviii.
c, civ, cvii, cxiii, cxviii, cxix,
319-320, 322, 325
Crappie. lxxiv, lxxxiv, lxxxvii,
ci, cxii. cxix, 238-239
Fulton. 179
-nosed Sucker, lxxi, lxxx,
lxxxviii, ex, cxix, 89-90
Perch, exx, 323-325
Sturgeon, lxx, lxxix, xc, xcii,
28-29
Whiterish, lxx, lxxx, xc, xci, xcii,
xcvi, xcviii, cxix, 54, 55
as food for fishes, 56, 332
Common, 51-53
Whitefishes, 51, 266
wilderi, Lampetra, xcii, 7, 8, 11
Xenotis lythrochloris, 255
Yellow Bass, lxxvi, lxxxvi, lxxxvii,
c, civ, cxiii, cxviii, cxix, 321-
322, 325
Bullhead, lxxiii, lxxxiii, lxxxvii,
ci, cviii. cix. cxix, 176, 185-
186, 191, 192
fishes eaten by, 17 5
Cat, 193 I'M
Perch, lxxv, lxxxv, lxxxvii,
xcvii, c, cv, cvii. cxii, cxix,
exx, 247, 270, 276-278, 332
as food for fishes, 332
fishes eaten by, 97
zonale, Etheostoma, xcix. cvii, 280,
303, 304
zonatum, Elassoma, 232
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