98 



The American Angler 



Coast that grow to a large size, about 

 eighteen inches. They are mainly 

 found in the rivers Gila (whence the 

 generic name) and Colorado of the 

 West, abounding in both waters, and 

 eaten very generally in New Mexico 

 and Arizona. Their popular names 

 vary in different localities, but those of 

 "chub" and "mullet" are most preva- 

 lent. I have selected two species for 

 description, being the largest, and more 

 likely to excite the interest of the angler 

 should he happen to get fast to either 

 of them. 



Gila elegans. — This is the typical 

 species of the genus, growing to eigh- 

 teen inches, but of rather ungraceful 

 form. It is known as Bony-tail, or Gila 

 trout. The back in front of the dorsal 

 fin is elevated into a hump, and the ped- 

 uncle is long and slender, the profile 

 of the back behind the hump being 

 abruptly oblique, giving the fish an un- 

 usual and ungainly appearance, the 

 ugliness of which is increased by its 

 short, broad head and depressed snout, 

 the front of the head from behind the 

 eyes being broad and sunken, the 

 posterior part high, so that the profile of 

 the head forms a concave arch. The 

 eye is small and placed low ; the fins are 

 all long, narrow and curved, the pecto 

 rals reaching the ventrals. The upper 

 arm or lobe of the tail fin is slightly 

 longer than the lower ; the scales over- 

 lap but slightly, and are much smaller 

 on the back and belly than on the sides, 

 where, however, they are much greater 

 in length than depth. The length of 

 the body is five times more than that of 

 the head, and the same proportion ex- 

 ists as to the depth in length ; the dorsal 

 fin contains nine and the anal ten rays. 

 The coloration is bluish above and paler 

 below. 



Gila robusta or "Round-tail" has a 

 stouter peduncle and is not quite so im- 



gainly in form as G. elegans, although 

 the profile of the back shows nearly the 

 same elevation in front of the dorsal fin, 

 but not so great an obliquity posteriorly. 

 The angler must be careful in differ- 

 entiating this species from G. elegans,. 

 and will be greatly aided by measuring 

 the peduncle or fleshy part of the tail 

 (from end of anal fin to base of tail fin), 

 which will show it to be one-third 

 longer than its least depth, while in G. 

 elegans it is seven times as long. The 

 body is four times longer than the head, 

 and five times that of the greatest depth 

 of the fish ; the dorsal and anal fins have 

 nine rays each, and the color of the fish 

 is plain or grayish, not pronounced. It 

 grows to eighteen inches. 



Several other nominal species of Gila 

 have been described in the books ; 

 among them G. emorii, which is iden- 

 tical with G. elegans ; G. gracilis, G. 

 ziinnensis, G. grahami, G. offinis, and 

 G. nacrea, all of which are simply 

 synonyms of G. robusta ; and G. sem- 

 inuda, described by Professor Cope 

 from the Rio Virgin, Utah. But as this 

 last has not been seen since first de- 

 scribed, it, too, is of doubtful validity. 



There is a little chub, or dace, of six 

 inches or more, Leiicisciis hydrophlox, 

 which the angler will meet with in 

 Blackfoot creek, Idaho, and probably in 

 other waters of that section. It may be 

 known by its long anal fin, olive color 

 above with a dusky lateral border, and 

 below this a crimson band, under which 

 will also be found a blackish band run- 

 ning along the lateral line to the base ^ 

 of the caudal fin. The cheeks, sides 

 and belly in the males are crimson 

 anteriorly and silvery in the females. 



The Utah mullet or chub of Utah 

 Lake, Lencisns lineatiis, is one of the 

 largest and most widely distributed of 

 our cyprinoids. It reaches a length of 

 fifteen to twenty inches, and is found 



