CALL FISHES OF THE OZARK REGION. 73 



MEMORANDA ON A COLLECTION OF FISHES 



FROM THE OZARK REGION 



OF MISSOURI. 



BY R. ELLSWORTH CALL. 

 (Read before the Academy, May 27th, iSSy.) 



The collection upon which these notes are based was made during 

 a portion of the months of June and July, 1886. The major portion of 

 the collection, which comprised, all told, several thousand specimens, 

 was obtained in the West Fork of the Black River and its smaller trib- 

 utaries, Reynolds County; and in Jack's Fork and its tributaries, 

 Shannon County — the Jack's Fork system being tributary to the Cur- 

 rant River. A smaller proportion of the material was taken in the 

 Piney River, Texas County, a tributary to the Gasconade. A very 

 small collection was made, in early June, in the Meramec River. Dent 

 Count) r , a tributary to the Mississippi. It will therefore be seen that, 

 with the exception of the two last-named localities, the material comes 

 from the southern drainage of the Ozark Mountains. While present- 

 ing nothing new to science in the way of species, the collection is 

 nevertheless valuable as throwing some light upon the icthyc fauna of a 

 region hitherto unexplored, as well as adding something to our knowl- 

 edge of the geographical distribution of certain forms. 



The character of the streams in which the collections were made is 

 worthy of mention. Without exception, the streams on the southern 

 slope were limpid, cold, and rapidly-flowing, with rocky and pebbly 

 beds. Occasionally only were long reaches of comparatively still 

 water, with muddy bottom, to be found. Collecting under these cir- 

 cumstances was difficult, and rendered doubly so by the small size of 

 the seine employed. Hence it was that but few of the larger forms of 

 fish were obtained, the major portion being shallow-water and top- 

 swimming species. 



The region is sparsely settled, and the fish appear to be little dis- 

 turbed, and then only are those forms which attain a maximum size 

 the quest of residents. Nearly all the fish secured by the local 

 sportsmen are taken by the process of "gigging," a process withal 

 which requires no little experience and skill. The species chiefly 

 taken in that manner are the small-mouthed black-bass ( Micropierus 



[Peoo. D. A. N. 8., Vol. V.] 10 [Dec. 20, 1887.] 



