146 



FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



bb. Form robust; branchiostegals 5; females nearly plain brown; males darker, with pearly 



spots heteroclitus. 



aa. Scales smaller, 44 to 48 in lateral series; body slender, depth about .2 length; color oliva- 

 ceous, with numerous dark or light vertical bars diafhanus. 



ii. Dorsal fin inserted over or slightly behind anal; scales in lateral series 38 to 42. 



c. Olivaceous with brownish spots; a small mountain species rathbuni. 



cc. Olivaceous above, silvery on sides and belly, with 6 black longitudinal stripes from head 

 to tail and (in male) 12 black crossbars; a small lowland species nottii. 



(Fundulus, from fundus, bottom.) 



123. FUNDULUS MAJALIS (Walbaum). 

 . "Minnow"; May-fish; Killi-fish. 



Cobitis majalis Walbaum, Artedi Genera Piscium, iii, 12, 1792; Long Island. 



Hydrargyra majalis. Yarrow, 1877, 214; Beaufort Harbor. Jordan & Gilbert, 1879, 384; Beaufort Harbor. 



Kendall & Smith, 1894, 21 ; Hatteras Inlet. 

 Fundulus majalis. Jenkins, 1887, 86; Beaufort. Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 639, pi. ci, figs. 271, 271a, 2716. 



Linton, 1905, 355; Beaufort. 



May-fish. Fundulus majalis. 



Diagnosis. — Form oblong, back not elevated, the depth .2.5 total length; head long, more 

 than .25 length; mouth terminal, oblique, small; teeth in a broad band, the outer teeth enlarged; 

 eye .2 length of head and .66 length of snout; scales large, 35 or 36 in longitudinal series, 13 to 

 15 in transverse series; dorsal rays 12 to 14; anal fin higher in male, the rays 10 or 11; ventrals 

 longer in male, extending beyond origin of anal. Color: Male (from Beaufort), back olive, 

 sides and belly bright salmon yellow, lower fins clear yellow, pectorals and anal partly dusky, 

 posterior edge of caudal dark, dorsal nearly all black, a large black ocellated spot on last rays; 

 opercles and under parts of head suffused with black; cheeks, top of head, and mouth bronze 

 yellow, about 18 narrow dusky vertical bars. Female, olivaceous above, white below, 4 black 

 longitudinal stripes, 1 or 2 black crossbars at base of tail, {majalis, relating to May.) 



The may-fish abounds from Massachusetts to Florida, in bays, salt-water 

 ponds, and the lower courses of rivers. It reaches a length of 8 inches, and is the 

 largest of the killi-fishes; the usual length is less than 6 inches, the female being 

 larger than the male. The fish is often found in large droves in shallow bayous 

 and coves, and marshy creeks, and a single haul of a fine-meshed collecting seine 

 may yield a thousand or more. Spawning occurs in summer. The young are 

 marked by black vertical stripes. 



In Beaufort specimens, the young of both sexes are marked with 14 or 15 

 narrow vertical bars. The external sexual characters appear at variable sizes. 



