132 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



The back and sides are vermilion or orange red; belly silvery; 

 a broad indistinct band of violet tint runs longitudinally to the 

 tail, and divides the deep red of the back from the pale tint 

 of the lower parts; all fins red at base and pale at tips; iris 

 golden red, with a black pupil. 



Genus abramis Cuvier 

 Subgenus xotemigonus Rafinesque 



Body subelliptic, strongly compressed, both back and belly 

 curved; back narrowly compressed, almost carinated; belly be- 

 hind ventral fins forming a keel over which the scales do not 

 pass. Head small, conic; mouth small, oblique or horizontal, 

 without barbels; scales rather large; lateral line continuous, 

 strongly decurved; dorsal fin inserted behind the ventrals; anal 

 fin with its base more or less elongate; teeth 5-5, hooked, with 

 grinding surface, the edges more or less crenate or serrate; 

 alimentary canal short, though rather longer than the body; 

 size rather large. 



Several species, one of them in coastwise fresh waters from 

 Nova Scotia to Maryland, west to Dakota; another in rivers of 

 the South Atlantic states and south to Texas. A peculiar form 

 in Central park. New York city. 



75 Abramis crysoleucas (Mitchill) 

 Roach; Golden SJwier 



Cyprimis crysoleucas Mitchill, Rep. Fish. N. Y. 23, 1814. 



Cypriinis Jicmiplus Rafinesque, Amer. Month. Mag. II, 121, Dec. 1817. 



Lake George, Lake Saratoga. 

 Ab7'amis versicolor De Kav, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 191, pi. 32, fig. 103, 1842. 

 Stilbe chrysoleucas De Kay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 204, pi. 29, fig. 91, 1842. 

 Abramis americanus Gunther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. VII, 305, 1868. 

 Notemiffonvs chrysoleucas Jordan & Gilbert, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus. 



250, 1883; Bean, Fishes Penna. 53, pi. 24, fig. 42, 1893. 

 Abramis crysoleucas Jordan & Evermann, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus. 250, 



1896, pi. XLV, fig. Ill, 1900. 



The body of the roach is compressed, the back elevated and 

 the head depressed and very small. The depth of the body is 

 one third of the total length without the caudal ; the head is con- 

 tained four and two third times in this length. The eye is 



