SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE OF FISHES. 101 



by two species, found only in the Tennessee basin; these may be distinguished as 

 follows: 



i. Snout very long and prominent, twice length of eye, projecting much beyond mouth; no 



distinct black lateral band catarnctoe. 



ii. Snout shorter and less prominent, not twice length of eye, projecting but little beyond 

 mouth; a distinct lateral band atronasus. 



{Rhinichthys , snout-fish.) 



88. RHINICHTHYS CATARACTS (Cuvier & Valenciennes). 

 Long-nosed Dace. 



Gobio cataractae Cuvier & Valenciennes, Histoire Naturelle des Poissons, xvi, 315, 1842; Niagara Falls, N. Y. 

 Rhinichthys cataractae. Bean, 1903, 914; Boilings Creek, tributary of French Broad River. Jordan & Evermann, 

 1896, 306. 



Diagnosis. — Body long, not elevated, rounded, depth .2 total length; head long, .25 total 

 length; snout flat, narrow, and prominent, mouth inferior; eye .2 length of head and .5 

 length of snout; scales 62 to 68 in lateral series, 22 in transverse series; dorsal rays 8, anal rays 

 7. Color: back olive or black, usually mottled, below pale; no sharply defined lateral band; a 

 black spot on opercle; spring males with lips, cheeks, and lower fins crimson. Length, 5 inches. 

 (cataradcp, of the cataract, i.e., Niagara Falls.) 



This species is found from New England to the basins of the Columbia and 

 the Rio Grande. Its existence in North Carolina waters has recently been 

 determined by the collection of specimens in Boilings Creek, a tributary of the 

 French Broad, by Mr. H. H. Brimley, and in Middle Creek, a tributary of the 

 Little Tennessee, by Mr. D. P. Cabe. 



89. RHINICHTHYS ATRONASUS (Mitchill). 

 Black-nosed Dace. 



Cyprinus atronasus Mitchill, Transactions Literary and Philosophical Society of New York, i, 1815, 460; Wal- 



kiU River, N. Y. 

 Argyreus lunatus. Cope, 18706, 459; French Broad River. 



Rhinichthys obtusus, Jordan, 18896, 152; north and south forks of Swannanoa River. 

 Rhinichthys atronasus croceus, Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 308. 



Diagnosis. — Body little compressed, depth contained 4.5 times in total length; head 

 broad, .25 total length; upper jaw projecting, mouth small; eye small, .2 length of head; 

 scales, 70 in lateral series; dorsal rays 7, anal rays 6. Color: back olive with dark mottlings, 

 under parts silvery; a black lateral band margined with creamy yellow; a dusky blotch on base 

 of dorsal fin; males with lateral band and lower fins red. Length, 3 inches, (atronasus, black- 

 nosed.) 



The black-nosed dace inhabits clear cold streams and brooks, from New 

 England to Minnesota and thence to Alabama and Virginia. In North Carolina 

 it has a very limited distribution, being recorded from that state only in tribu- 

 taries of the French Broad. Cope reports it, under the name of Argyreus lunatus, 

 as common, and Jordan found it in the north and south forks of Swannanoa River 

 near Black Mountain. The form represented in the Tennessee basin is the 

 variety croceus of Storer. 



