124 NORTHERN FISHES 



Figure 15. Quillback, Carpiodes cyprinus, 10 inches long. 



dorsal fin are much elevated, nearly or more than equaling the length of 

 the base of the fin. The lips are full, thick, and flesh colored in life, and the 

 halves of the lower lip unite at an acute angle. The snout is long and 

 bluntly pointed. The nostrils are posterior to the tip of the lower jaw. 

 The distance from anterior nostril to end of snout is greater than the 

 diameter of the eye. The color is light olive above, silvery on the 

 sides, and pale on the fins. Minnesota specimens have from 26 to 30 

 dorsal rays, the number usually ranging from 27 to 29. The scales in the 

 lateral line of local specimens range from 37 to 41, usually numbering 

 38-40. This species is usually small in southern Minnesota, seldom ex- 

 ceeding 12 inches in length, and has but little commercial value except 

 in Red Lake and Lake of the Woods, where it reaches a larger size. 



The quillback ranges from Lake of the Woods through all the Great 

 Lakes except Lake Superior, and southward to Alabama and Kansas. 

 It is also present in some of the Atlantic coastal waters. In Wisconsin 

 Greene (1935) reported this species from the lower Wisconsin River, 

 Rock River, and Lake Winnebago. Cox (1897) reported the quillback 

 from the Minnesota, Blue Earth, and Pomme de Terre rivers. In Min- 

 nesota, quillbacks occur occasionally in the Mississippi and are probably 

 even more abundant in its smaller tributaries than in the stream itself. 

 A few have been taken in the Upper Mississippi River near Wolf Lake, 

 but they are rare there (Surber, 1920). Wagner (1908) reported them 

 from Lake Pepin. At present they are very abundant in Lake of the 

 Woods and are the only members of this genus collected from there in 

 recent years. Those from Lake of the Woods are much larger than those 

 caught elsewhere and commonly reach a weight of 5 to 6 pounds. They 

 have been called "quillback buffalo" at Lake of the Woods but are 

 marketed there under the name of "carp." 



In past years the pound-net fishermen found a ready market for 

 these fish, which reached considerable commercial importance, bringing 

 about the same price per pound as the introduced carp. At the Red 



