674 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 



ICTIOBUS, Raf. 



(Carpiodes.) 



I. cyprinus, Le S. (C. velifer, Cope.) Silvery Carp Sucker. Skiin-back. 

 Sailfish. Spearfish. Quill-back. 



Dorsal fin long, rays twenty- six ; fontanelle present ; scales 

 large ; mouth small and horizontal, with thin lips ; muzzle conic 

 obtuse ; eye large. Chesapeake Bay to Mississippi Valley. 



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CATOSTOMUS, Le S. 



(Cyprinus. Hylomyzon, Ag.) 



C. commersoni, Lac. (teres, bostoniensis, cornmunis.) Common Sucker. 

 White Sucker. Brook Sucker. Fine-scaled Sucker. 



Fontanelle present ; body elongate, heavy at shoulders, with 

 large head, flat above ; dorsal fins short, rays nine to fourteen ; 

 mouth inferior, with thick lips, the lower with two lobes ; color 

 olivaceous ; males in spring with rosy lateral bands ; young 

 brown, mottled. Length, 18 inches. 



u The sucker is found generally in the rivers and larger creeks 

 having easy communication with them. Early in the spring 

 they accumulate in great quantities at the mouths of creeks, and 

 are taken in great numbers from such localities. At this time of 

 year they are an excellent article of food, but as the waters are 

 warmer they grow soft, and have a muddy taste." 



O. nigricans, Le S. (Hypentelium.) Hog Sucker. Black Sucker. Stone 

 Holler. Mud Sucker. Crawl-a-bottom. Hammerhead. Hog 

 Molly. Toter. Stone Lugger, &c. 



Head flat and concave between eyes ; upper lip very thick and 

 with eight to ten series of papillae on its free margin ; pectoral 

 fins very large ; dorsal ten to eleven rays ; eye rather small ; 

 olivaceous, with brassy luster on sides ; white below ; back 

 brown, with blotches; young variegated. Attains a length of 

 two feet. Ascend streams in spring to spawn. , 



" This species is nowhere abundant in the State, but is met 

 with generally in company with the following species. It is a 

 lover of mud and quiet water, and is less active and restless than 

 the mullet. The writer has met with more black suckers in 

 Crosswicks Creek, Burlington county, than elsewhere in the 

 State." [C. C. A.] 



