518 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 



abundant in river channels. One of the most gorgeously-colored darters, 

 but less graceful than most of them. 



{EtJtcostoma ccernlea Storer, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. 184.5, 47: PoBcUicJithys cccrnlcus 

 Agassiz, Bull. Mns. Comp. Zoiil. i, 3, 1833: PmciUchthys variatua Jordan, Mau. Vert. 

 ed. 2, 226: Amtaiichthijs pulchellus Viiillaut, 1. c. 113.) 



812. F. spei^taMlHS Agassiz. 



Very similar to the preceding, but more elongate and rather more 

 compressed; the colors similar, but the ui^per i^ortion of the sides with 

 distinct blackish stripes along the rows of the scales, and the ground 

 color of the back and sides having a j)eculiar whitish or bleached ap- 

 l>earauce. The two dorsal fins usually well separated. Scales usually 

 present below and behind eye. Head 4; depth 4 J. D. X-12; A. 11,7; 

 scales 5-40-7 ; Lat. 1. on 20-25 scales. L. 2-3 inches. Mississippi Val- 

 ley : rather less abundant than the other, and ascending small or even 

 muddy streams. Probably merely a brook variety of the preceding, 

 from which it is not always to be distinguished with certainty. 

 (Agassiz, Amer. Joiira. Sci. Arts, 1854, 304; Jordau, Mau. Vert. ed. 2, 227.) 



ec. Cheeks evideutly scaly, at least above. 



813. P. asprigenis Forbes. 



Body rather stout, compressed. Head small and pointed. Eye large, 

 longer than snout. Mouth terminal, oblique, the jaws even. Breast 

 always naked; opercles scaly; cheeks closely scaled, the lower fourth 

 rarely bare. Dorsal fins usually separated. Coloration mottled green- 

 ish ; the spinous dorsal dusky behind, in life with a broad band of blue 

 and crimson ; soft fins speckled. Head 4; depth 4^. D. XI-12; A. II, 

 8; Lat. 1. 49, the tubes develoi)ed on 34-41 scales. L. 2^ inches. Illi- 

 nois River. 



(Forbes, Bull. III. Lab. Nat. Hist, i, 41, 1877; Jordau, Mau. Vert. ed. 2, 404.) 



814. P. je§si88 Jordan «& Braytou. 



Body fusiform, rather deep and compressed. Head rather large, 

 moderately pointed. Mouth rather large, terminal, the upper jaw 

 slightly longest. Cheeks scalj^ above, the greater i)art naked; opercles 

 scaly; tbroat naked; neck above scaly. Lateral line extending nearly 

 to end of second dorsal. Fins moderate. Chestnut colored above, with 

 about 9 quadrate bar-like blotches of a dark-blue color along the sides, 

 and about 5 dark cross-blotches on the back; fins mottled with chest- 

 nut; a yellow or orange band across the dorsal; second dorsal and anal 

 speckled with golden. Head 4; depth 5. D. XII-12; A. II, 9; scales 



