Series Ostariophysi 165 



tasteless. Most of the others are flavorless and full of small 

 bones. One species, Opsariichthys uncirostris, of Japan is an 

 exception in this regard, being a fish of very delicate flavor. 



In America 225 species of CyprinidcB are known. One hun- 

 dred of these are now usually held to form the single genus 



FIG. 124. White Chub, Notropis hudsonius (Clinton). Kilpatrick Lake, Minn. 



Notropis. This includes the smaller and weaker species, from 

 two to seven inches in length, characterized by the loss, mostly 

 through degeneration, of special peculiarities of mouth, fins, and 

 teeth. These have no barbels and never more than four teeth 



FIG. 125. Silver-jaw Minnow, Ericyrttba buccata Cope. Defiance, Ohio. 



in the main row. Few, if any, Asiatic species have so small 

 a number, and in most of these the maxillary still retains its 

 rudimentary barbel. But one American genus (Orthodcn) has 

 more than five teeth in the main row and none have more than 

 two rows or more than two teeth in the lower row. By these 

 and other peculiarities it would seem that the American species 

 are at once less primitive and less complex than the Old World 



