262 FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



226. BOLEOSOMA MAOULATICEPS Cope. 

 Spotted-head Darter. 



Boleosoma maculaticeps Cope, 1870b, 269; upper Catawba River, N. C. 

 Boleosoma nigrum maculaticeps, Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 1058; Catawba River. 



Diagnosis. — Body slender, the depth less than .15 length; head .25 length; eye large, con- 

 tained 3.75 times in head; opercular spine moderate; cheeks scaleless; scales in lateral series 

 41, in transverse series 5 + 10; fins large; dorsal rays ix -h 13; anal rays i,9; caudal fin truncate. 

 Color: pale yellowish, with ill-defined series of dark spots on back and sides, with smaller spots 

 between; nape, top of head, and snout with large brown spots; fins black-barred, {maculati- 

 ceps, spotted head.) 



Known only from the upper waters of Catawba River, where it is reported to 

 be common. No one but Cope appears to have collected the species. Length, 

 2,2 inches. 



Genus lOA Jordan & Brayton. Darters. 



Small fishes inhabiting brooks with sandy bottom in the southern pine 

 lands. Body exceedingly elongate, cylindrical, and translucent; head long and 

 pointed; premaxillaries protractile; body only partly scaled; lateral line com- 

 plete; gill-membranes slightly connected; dorsal spines 7 to 9; anal fin much 

 smaller than second dorsal, with 2 spines. Probably only a single species, 

 peculiar to Virginia and North Carolina. {loa, arrow or dart.) 



227. lOA VITREA (Cope). 

 Glassy Darter. 



PcEcilichthys vitreua Cope, 1870a, 263; Walnut Creek, tributary of Neuse River. Cope, 18706, 449; Walnut 

 Creek. 



Etheostoma vitreum, Jordan, 18896, 126, 130; Tar and Neuse rivers. Evermann & Cox, 1896, .S05; Walnut 

 Creek, tributary of Neuse. 



loa vitrea, Jordan & Gilbert, 1879, 368; Neuse River at Goldsboro. Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 1064; south- 

 eastern Virginia and eastern North Carolina. 



Diagnosis. — Form very slender, the depth .14 length; head slender, pointed, contained 

 4 to 4.5 times in length; maxillary extending to front of eye; eye about equal to snout, con- 

 tained 3.6 times in head; scales in lateral series 50 to 62; cheeks and opercles covered with 

 large ctenoid scales; breast naked, a naked space on belly anterior to vent, scales on sides very 

 large and rough, back from middle of spinous dorsal forward naked; fins small; dorsal rays 

 VII to IX + 11 to 14; anal much smaller than second dorsal, the rays ii,6 to ii,9; pectorals long 

 and narrow. Color: translucent in life, with 7 green spots on back and 8 or 9 linear green 

 spots on sides; fins plain, {vitrea, glassy.) 



Cope based this species on a single specimen from Walnut Creek, a tributary 

 of the Neuse in Wake County. Jordan reports the fish as very abundant in Tar 

 River at Rocky Mount, Neuse River at Millburnie, and Little River at Goldsboro. 

 Evermann & Cox (1896) record the fish from Walnut Creek, the type locality. 

 It is also known from Dismal Swamp and from Blackwater River, tributary of 

 the Chowan, in Virginia. Length, 2 inches. 



Genus ETHEOSTOMA Rafinesque. Darters. 



The most numerous genus of darters, containing some of the most brilliant 

 and interesting species. Their form is varied, and is perhaps susceptible of 



