oUS NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Fundulus majalis GUNTIIER, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. VI, 322, 1866; JORDAN & 

 GILBERT, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus. 331, 1883; BEAN, 19th Rep. Comrn. 

 Fish. N. Y. 274, pi. XXII, figs. 28 & 29, 1890; Fishes Penna. 84, pi. 27, 

 fig. 51, 1893; JORDAN & EVERMANN, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus. 639, 1896, 

 pi. CI, figs. 271, 2710, 271&, 1900; BEAN, 52d Ann. Kept. N. Y. State 

 Mus. 98, 1900. 



The body is stout, oblong, not very deep or greatly com- 

 pressed. The head is contained nearly two and one half times 

 in the total length without caudal, and the depth four times. 

 The snout is moderately long, one and one half times as long 

 as the eye; the eye one fifth as long as head. The scales are 

 moderately large, those on the head about equal to the average 

 of those on the body; scales on the cheeks in about three longi- 

 tudinal rows; about 12 rows between dorsal origin and nape. 

 The pectoral in both sexes equals the distance from, the middle 

 of the eye to the end of the head. The ventral and anal are 

 longer in the male than in the female. In the male the ventral 

 is one half as long as the head, in the female only about two 

 fifths of the head. The longest anal ray of the male equals 

 four fifths of the length of the head, while in the female it is 

 scarcely more than one half as long as the head. The dorsal 

 of the male is differently shaped from that of the female, its 

 last rays being nearly as long as the longest, while in the female 

 the last ray is not much more than one half the length of 

 longest ray. D. 13-14; A. 11. Scales 35-15. 



The sexes may be at once distinguished by their difference 

 in color, the female having several narrow lateral stripes, while 

 the male has distinct cross bands varying from 12 to 20 in num- 

 ber. In the male the sides and upper parts are dark olivaceous; 

 the sides are silvery, lower parts a beautiful yellowish green; 

 the sides are also marked by a varying number of dark bands, 

 the width of which varies also. A large black spot on the 

 operculum. The dorsal is olivaceous with a black blotch, some- 

 times circular in form, on the last three or four rays. The 

 pectorals are yellowish; ventrals yellowish green; anal oliva- 

 ceous; caudal orange. In the female the lower parts are white, 

 upper parts olivaceous, and along the sides is a median dark 



