Jordan and Evcrmann. — Fishes of North America. 1951 



somewhat depressed ; interocular space with a groove ; preopercle witli a 

 short, sharp spine, little hooked, directed backward and upward, mostly 

 covered by the skin ; below this are 2 smaller concealed opines ; subopercle 

 with a stoutish spine, dii-ected forward. Skin smooth, except the region 

 immediately behind the pectorals, which is beset with very small, sharp 

 prickles, which are sometimes obsolete ; lateral line conspicuous, continu- 

 ous, or interrupted behind ; first dorsal low and feeble ; pectoral fins large, 

 their length nearly equal to that of the head, their tips usually reaching 

 beyond the origin of the soft dorsal ; ventral fins moderate ; isthmus very 

 broad, the gill membranes not forming a fold across it. Olivaceous, more 

 or less barred and speckled with darker; fins mostly barred or mottled. 

 Length 3 to 7 inches. Middle and Northern States, abounding in all clear, 

 rocky brooks and lakes east of the Dakotas and Kansas to New York and 

 Virginia, extending southward along the Alleghanies to North Carolina and 

 northern Alabama, especially abundant in limestone springs and entering 

 caves. Extremely variable ; very destructive to eggs of trout. (Ictabirus, 

 the cattish; wi/j eye; ''the name means cat's eye; eyes like those of the 

 catfishes with oblong eyes." Rafinesque.) 



Note. — As here nnilerstood, Cottus ictalops is a "widespread and abundant species, vary- 

 ing in different regions, as is the case with most nonmigratory species. In this, as iu 

 others of similar range, the inhabitants of each stream may show local peculiarities. A 

 number of these forms have received from Dr. Girard specific names, which are accom- 

 panied by detailed descriptions. Large collections of these fishes show that numerous 

 similar "species" still exist undescribed, as it is a rare thing to find a specimen which 

 exactly agrees in all respects with any of the species in Dr. Girard's "Monograph of the 

 Fresh-Water Cottoids." In this work the figures and long descriptions give characters 

 of individuals, not of species. 



Pegedictis ictalops,* Rafinesque, Ichth. Ohiensia, 85, 1820, spring near Lexington, Ken- 

 tucky. 



Coitus richardsoni,f AaASSiz, Lake Superior, 300, 1850, north shore of Lake Superior 

 (Coll. Louis Agassiz and Dr. C. T. Jackson); Giraed, Monograph Fresh-Water 

 Cottoids N. A., 39; GiJNTHEE, Cat., II, 158; not Trachidermis richardsoni, Heckel. 



Cottus 6airdu, + GiKAED, Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv.Sci.,ii, 1850, 410, and Monograph Cottoids, 

 44, with plate, Mahoning River, Poland, Ohio. (Coll. S. F. Baird.) 



Cottus meridionalis,^ Gieaed, Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci., ii, 1850, 410, and Girard, 

 Monograph Cottoids, 47, James River, Virginia. (Coll. S. F. Baird.) 



* In spite of the errors in description, there can be no doubt that Rafinesque's " cat's 

 eye Springfish." Pegedictis ictalops, is the present species; the dorsal rays are counted 

 wrongly, and the scales are said to be small. Nevertheless, "in the distorted perspective 

 of his mental vision" Rafinesque could have had nothing else. In other words, his 

 description was drawn up hastily and in part from memory. 



t The form called Cottus richardsoni, Agassiz, is rather slender, with the vent rather 

 more posterior than usual, placed midway between the snout and the tip of the caudal; 

 in the others it is nearly midway between the snout and the middle of the caudal. Lake 

 Superior. A specimen taken by Dr. Jordan in Lake Superior at Marquette, Michigan, 

 agrees with Cottus ictalops from southern Missouri. It is a little more slender, the color 

 a little darker and less definite, the cross bars fainter, the dark punctulations more 

 conspicuous. The vent has the usual position, although Dr. Girard figures the vent in 

 Ills Lake Superior specimens, types of Cottus richardsoni, as fartlier back than iu Cottus 

 ictalops. In his figure of Cottus richardsoni the vent is a shade nearer base of caudal 

 than posterior margin of eye. In all specimens we have seenitis nearlymidway between 

 nostril and caudal. D. VIII, 18 ; A. 12, in the specimen from Marquette. 



I The form called Cottus hairdi, Girard, is small and slender, with the spinous dorsal 

 very low, and the palatine teeth less developed than in the other forms. Cayuga Lake, 

 New York, to Ohio. 



5 Cottus meridionalis, Girard, is rather robust, with the dorsal fins scarcely connected, 

 and the mouth larger, tlie maxillary extending to opposite posterior border of eye; the 

 preopercular spine is sharp and directed well upward. Pennsylvania to North Carolina, 

 along tlae Alleghanies ; abundant. 



