FISHES 91 



Key to the Families of Haplomi 



ai No lateral line present; fishes of small size i. UmbrldcB. 



as Lateral line present; fishes of large size 2. Esocidce. 



Family i. Umbridae. — Mud minnows. Body elliptical, broad 

 anteriorly, compressed posteriorly; teeth well developed and on the 

 premaxillaries, mandibles, vomer and palatines; maxillaries toothless; 

 no lateral line; no pyloric cieca; dorsal tin more or less posterior in posi- 

 tion; scales large; branchiostegals 6 or 8; tail fm rounded: i genus and 3 

 species of small fishes living near the bottom of ponds and sluggish 

 streams. 



Umbra Muller. With the characters of the family': 3 species, 2 in 

 the United States. 



r^.^v^ ^^fXM^VSilVV 







'^S vyS^Vv7' 





Fig. 43. — Umbra pygyncea (from Jordan is' Evertnann). 



U. limi (Kirtland). Length 100 mm.; head 3.75; depth 4.25; color 

 olive green, with 14 narrow irregular pale transverse dark bars; rays of 

 dorsal fin 14; anal 8; scales 35 : Quebec to Minnesota and southward to 

 the Ohio river and Iowa; common in the basin of the Great Lakes. 



U. pygmcEa (Dekay) (Fig. 43). Length 100 mm.; head 4; depth 4-5; 

 color dark greenish, with about 12 narrow longitudinal pale stripes and a 

 dark transverse bar at the base of the tail fin; rays of the dorsal fin 13; 

 anal 7 ; scales 35 : coastwise streams and swamps from Long Island to the 

 Neuse River; locally common. 



Family 2. Esocidae. — Body elongate, slender, compressed pos- 

 teriorly; head long and flat; mouth very large, with a projecting lower 

 jaw; maxillaries with a supplementary bone; teeth strong and on 

 the premaxillaries, vomer, palatines, mandibles and tongue; head naked 

 above and more or less scaled on the sides; scales small; lateral line 

 weak, wanting in the young; tail forked; dorsal fin opposite the anal 

 and near the tail; branchiostegals 12 to 20; no pyloric ca^ca: i genus; 

 fresh water fish of moderate or large size noted for their fierceness and 

 voracity. 



