190S.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 517 



A SYNOPSIS OF THE CYPRINID^ OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

 BY HENRY W. FOWLER. 



Though my studies on our local fishes began in 1897 and have 

 since continued, I have not paid especial attention to the Cyprinidae 

 till recently. The more or less complete collections made in that 

 time, in the southeastern portion of the State at least, have made it 

 possible for me to give some study to the individual variation of cer- 

 tain characters in detail and to local distribution. The results 

 are introduced in the present paper, together with notes and redescrip- 

 tions of typical specimens of species described from within the pre- 

 scribed limits. The examination of the mass of material, which in 

 the cases of the common forms usually consists of large series of 

 hundreds of specimens, has enabled me to present a fairly accurate 

 summary. 



As so many of our western streams are polluted, or becoming so, 

 the fish-fauna will probably soon be largely, if not wholly, exterminated, 

 especially in the larger basins. I have found this condition to exist 

 in a number of streams of lesser size. This is all the more unfortu- 

 nate for our present purpose, as the greater variety of forms is found 

 in these larger streams, or about them, the mountain-brooks usually 

 being noteworthy for their paucity of species. 



The first complete account of our Cyprinidas was Cope's elaborate 

 memoir published many years ago.^ Though exhaustive so far as 

 his material and observations would permit at the time, the work 

 is veiy incomplete, besides being encumbered by various notes, descrip- 

 tions and discussions more or less irrelevant. It is, however, of great 

 value, not only in making known a number of new forms and as a 

 contribution to systematic ichthyology, but in discussing the 

 distribution and to some extent the habits of the various species. 

 Previous to this work all the accounts or records of the CyprinidsB 

 of Pennsylvania were to be found in a few scattered papers. Later, in 

 Cope's account of the fish-fauna of the State,^ a work intended more as 



> Synopsis of the Cypriiiidae of Pennsylvania, Tr. Am. Philos. Soc. Phila., 

 XIII, n. s., 1869, pp. 351-399, Pis. 10-13. 



2 The Fishes of Pennsylvania, Rep. State Comm. Fish., 1879-80 (1881), pp. 59- 

 145, figs. 1-44. 



