FISHES OF COLORADO 45 



Genus PHENACOBIUS Cope 

 The Sucker-mouthed Minnows 

 Phenacobius Cope, Proc. Acad. Nat. Set. Phila., p. 96, 1867. 



Rather small, elongate, carnivorous Cyprinids; alimentary canal short; 

 peritoneum white; mouth ventral and sucker-like; premaxillaries protractile; 

 no maxillary barbel; scales rather large, lateral line complete; first ray of the dor- 

 sal adnate to the second ; base of the first ray of the dorsal in front of the level of 

 the ventral fins. Species of the western and southern portions of the Mississippi 

 Valley. A single species is found in eastern Colorado. 



Phenacobius mirabilis (Girard) 

 Sucker-mouthed Minnow (Figs. 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24) 



Exoglossum mirabile Girard, Proc. Acad. Nat. Set. Phila., p. 191, 1856 (Arkansas River, Ft. 

 Smith). 



Sarcidium scopiferum Cope, Hayden Geol. Survey of Wyoming for 1870, p. 440, 1871 (Missouri 

 River near St. Joseph, Missouri). 



Phenacobius scopifer (Cope) — Juday, Univ. Colo. Studies, Vol. II, p. 113, 1903 (Longmont); 

 CoCKERELL, Science, N.S., Vol. XXXIV, p. 615, 191 1 (Julesburg). 



Body rather elongate, fusiform, and somewhat compressed behind the dorsal, 

 depth 4. 25 to 5 in the length to the base of the caudal; head broad and flattened 

 above, rather short and blunt, in some males covered with fine tubercles, its length 

 3.9 to 4. 5 in the length of the body to the base of the caudal; dorsal and ventral 

 profiles both sloping toward the tip of the snout ; snout broad and blunt, overhang- 

 ing the mouth; eye prominent, medium, situated about midway between the tip 

 of the snout and the posterior margin of the opercle, in the upper half of the side 

 of the head, its upper margin almost on a level with the flat portion of the top 

 of the head, its diameter about i . s in the interorbital space, i . 75 to 2 in the snout, 

 and 3.75 to 4.75 in the head; nostrUs large and prominent, directed dorsally; 

 mouth ventral and sucker-like; lips large and fleshy, the upper recurved around 

 the angles of the mouth; premaxillaries protractile; dorsal fin rather short, inserted 

 in front of the ventrals and in the anterior half of the body, the base of the first ray 

 of the dorsal being nearer the tip of the snout than the base of the caudal by the 

 length of the snout or more; dorsal rays usually 8, rarely 7 or 9; pectorals not 

 reaching the ventrals; ventrals barely if at all reaching the anal opening; anal 

 shorter than the dorsal; anal rays 7, rarely 8; caudal large, its width equal to or 

 greater than the greatest depth of the body; scales 6 or 7, 44-52, 5 or 6, rather 

 circular, with 12 to 29 apical radii and rarely one or two basal radii. 



Body above the lateral line dusky olive to brownish, mid -dorsal region with a 

 very narrow but distinct dark stripe which is more prominent in front of the dorsal 

 than behind it; a rather broad stripe of bluish, greenish or dark-blue color, along 

 the lateral line, ending in a distinct black caudal spot; a double series of small 



