31. CYPRINID^ CARASSIUS. 
253 
111.— PI.AGOPTEKUS Cope. 
(Cope, Proc. Amer. Phil. Soe. Phila. 18/4, 301: type Plagopterus argentissiimis Cope.) 
Body slender. Mouth terminal, a barbel at the extremitj’ of the max- 
illary. Teeth 2, 5-4, 2, hooked, without grinding surface. Body en- 
tirely scaleless. Fins as in Meda and Lcpidomeda. Size small. 
wound ; fin; in allusion to the armature of the dorsal fin.) 
426. P. iurgenafissiinus Cope. 
Body slender. Head rather broad, the muzzle slightly depressed, over- 
hanging the rather small, horizontal mouth. Lips thin, the maxillary 
reaching front of eye. Eye moderate, 4| in head. Dorsal fin entirely 
behind ventrals, the first spine curved, longer than the second ; soft 
rays of the dorsal thickened and ossified at base ; fifth ray of the ven- 
'tral bound to the abdomen by a membrane for nearly its whole length; 
pectoral rays osseous at base. Lateral line complete, slightly deflexed. 
Color clear silvery ; dorsal region dusky, with minute black dots. Head 
4; depth 0. D. II, 7 ; A. 10; teeth 2, 5-4, 2. L 2^ inches. San Luis 
Valley, Western Colorado. [Cope.) 
(Cope, Proc. Amer. Phil. Sw'. Phila. 1874, 130, aud Zohl. ‘Wheeler’s Expl. W. 100th 
Mer. V, 640.) 
112.— CARASSIUS Nilsson. 
Crucian Carps. 
(Nilsson, Prodroinus: tyi»e Cyprinus carassius L. = Carassim vulgaris Nilss. ) 
Body oblong, compressed, and elevated. Mouth terminal, without 
barbels. Teeth 4-4, molar, but compressed. Scales large. Lateral 
line continuous. Dorsal fin very long, with the third ray a stout spine, 
which is serrated behind; anal short, with a similar spine. Ventrals 
well forward. Large species of the Ifesh waters of Europe and Asia; 
often domesticated. [Carassius, a latinization of the vernacular names 
of the European Crucian Cari), Karass or Karausthe.) 
427. C. aiiratus (L.) Bleeker. — (UM-Jlsh. 
Body stout, covered with large scales. Dorsal and anal fins with the 
spines strong, coarsely serrated. Coloration olivaceous, usually orange 
or variegated in domestication. 1). II, 18; A. 11, 7 ; Lat. 1. 2(3; teeth 
4-4. L. 12 inches. China and Japan ; introduced everywhere as an 
aquarium fish, and now naturalized in many of our eastern streams. 
The variations are innumerable. 
{Cyprinus atirahts LiimteTis, Syst. Nat. ; GUuther, vii, 32.) 
