2% Pishes of the Ohio 



The Head, including the operculum and snout, is longer than 

 one half the total length of the fish, and the snout exceeds 

 the united length of the head and operculum. Nostrils dou- 

 ble, situated immediately above and before the eyes. Spira- 

 cles behind and above the eyes, on a line with the nostrils 

 and edge of the snout. Jaws expansive, thin, flexible, carti- 

 laginous, acutely margined and minutely denticulate. The 

 lower jaw closes within the upper. The palatine arch, the 

 lingual cartilage, and the inner extremities of the first pair of 

 branchial arches are furnished with numerous small teeth. 



Body sub-cylindric, flattened laterally, and tapering from 

 the pectoral fin to the tail. Skin scaleless ; smooth in the 

 recent specimen, but asperous when dried. Vent prominent, 

 situated beneath the dorsal fin. 



All the fins numerously rayed, and all except the caudal 

 one, trapezoidal, and inserted on fleshy and elevated bases. 



Caudal Pin expanded, bi-lobed ; the lower lobe shorter, 

 broader, and less oblique than the upper, which is serrated on 

 its superior edge. 



Color. The head, back and sides are of a beautiful steel 

 blue, the throat and abdomen white, and the gill-covers macu- 

 lated by stellate impressions. 

 Length, from one to five feet. 

 Habitat. The Ohio river and its tributaries. 

 Observations. This species is distinguished from the 

 Platirostra edentula, of Lesson, by possessing numerous teeth, 

 by the snout being on a line with the back, by the greater 

 length of the appendage of the operculum, by the form, size, 

 and direction of the lobes of the caudal fin, and by the 

 smaller size and less oval form of the body. 



It is taken in considerable numbers in the Licking river, 

 near Cincinnati, and exposed for sale in the markets. Its 

 flesh, I am informed, is tough and not palatable, though it is 

 occasionally eaten. 



During the winter it does not forsake our streams, but se- 

 cretes itself in the mud and beneath logs in the deepest 

 waters. The peculiarly shaped nose seems designed to enable 

 it to search in the mud for its favorite food ; and we often find 



