144 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 



109. <fc. Bnccra .Tor. & Hrayt. TTarc-llp Sucker; Cut- Tip*; Split-montli Sucker; 



Sucker} Rabbit-mouth Sucker. 



Head short, conical, with lengthened snout, the region between the 

 eyes llattened and with prominent mucous ridges. Cheeks and lower 

 part tit' head rather swollen. Opercle much reduced, its greatest length 

 scarcely greater than the diameter of the eye. Head about 4f in length. 

 Kye 1' in length of head, about 2 in length of the snout, its situation 

 thus quite posterior. Length of the top of the head 2f in the distance 

 from the snout to the base of the dorsal. Body rather slender, the form 

 being between that of Moxostoma cervinum and Jf. in<i<T<>l<'i>i(lo1um, the 

 depth 4 3 in the length. Dorsal fin rather low, its rays I, 12; A. I, 7; 

 V. 0. Scales 5-45-5. Color olive or bluish brown above; sides and 

 belly silvery ; lower fins faintly orange. Ohio Valley and southward. 

 A singular species, abundant in some sections (Scioto River, Clinch 

 Kiver, rhiekamauga River), but overlooked by naturalists until lately. 



(Layncliila Ittara Jordan & Brayton, Proc. Acnil. Nat. Sci. Pliila. 1877, 280: Lagochila 

 laccra Jordan. Man. Vert. ed. "2, oil : Jordan, Man. Vert. cd. '2, 406; Jordan, Bull. U. 

 s.. Nat. Mas. xii, 106.) 



FAMILY XXXL CYPRINID.E. 



(The Carps.) 



4 



Cyprinoid fishes with the margin of the upper jaw formed by the pre- 

 ma \illaries alone and the lower pharyngeal bones well developed, falci- 

 form, nearly parallel with the gill-arches, each provided with 1-3 series 

 of teeth in small number, 4-7 in the main row, and a less number in the 

 others if more are, present. Head naked. Body scaly (except in Mcrtn, 

 I'liifltijitmix, riio.rinellu8, and .1 n1]n/ge). Barbels 2 or 4 ; absent in most 

 of our genera, and not large in any. Belly usually rounded, rarely 

 compressed, never serrated. Gill-openings moderate, the membranes 

 broadly joined to the isthmus. Brachiostegals always .".. dills 4, a 

 slit behind the fourth. Pseiulobranchire present (except .in Orihodon, 

 etc.). ^" adipose tin. Dorsal I'm short in American species, elongate 

 in many Old World forms. Ventral lins abdominal. Air-bladder 

 usually large, commonly divided into an anterior and posterior lobe, 

 rarely \\aiiting, not enclosed in a bony capsule. Stomach without 

 appendages, appearing as a simple enlargement of the intestines. 

 1'Mies of moderate or small sixe, inhabiting the fresh waters of the 

 Old World and of North America. C.enera about 200; species nearly 

 1.1)00; excessively abundant wlu-w found, both in individuals and 

 specie-, and, from their great uniformity in sixe, form, and coloration, 

 constituting one of the most difficult groups in natural history in 



