FUNDULUS- — KILLIFISHES 213 



nected in wavy lines as in females, and with about 10 narrow transverse 

 V)ars of duskv 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.Q 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 

 iaw 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 

 nearlv 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 of 

 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 con-sisted of insects, fulty 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 

 29th of May, 1896. 



FUNDULUS NOTATUS (Rafinesque) 

 (top-minnow) 



Rafinesque, 1820, Ichth. Oh., 86 (Semotilus). 



G., VI, 314 and 313 (Haplochilus pulchellus and aureus) ; ]. & G., 339 (Zygonectes) ; 

 M. v., 86 (Zygonectes); J. & E., I, 659; X., 42 (Zygonectes); J., 52 (Zygonectes); 

 F.. 72 (Zygonectes); F. F., I. 6, 71 (Zygonectes); L., 22. 



Length 2h to 3 inches; body moderately elongate, flattened above, 

 little compressed anteriorly; depth in length 4.4 to 5.3; greatest width 

 more than f greatest depth; depth caudal peduncle 1.5 to 2.1 in its 



(IS) 



