96 ALBURNUS ACUTUS. 



Celtis. There were also several other insects that were 

 new and interesting to me, among them a beautiful Cicin- 

 DELiA, intermediate between the marginata and hlanda^ 

 lately described under the name of cuprascens-'''' 



ALBURNUS ACUTUS— SHARP-TAILED MINNOW. 



BY I. A. LAPHAM. 



Read before the Cleveland Academy of Natural Science, March 21, 1854. 



That part of the Milwaukee River extending to the first 

 dam is usually filled with a small fish known by the uni- 

 versal name of minnow, and supposed by many to be the 

 young of some larger species of fish. They are collected 

 in large quantities and boiled for the sake of the abundant 

 oil they aff"ord, and sometimes they are used as food. They 

 are found a few inches below the surface of the water, and 

 always headed up the stream. Their number in this river 

 can only be stated in millions. 



This little fish belongs to the genus Alburnus, and I pro- 

 pose to call it A. ACUTUS, from the sharp pointed lobes of 

 the caudal fin, by which, besides other important charac- 

 teristics, it may be distinguished from A. Ruhellus, Agas- 

 siz,* and from A, nitidus^ Kirtland.f The general form 

 and proportions of the fish are quite similar to those of the 



two species referred to, 

 but the head has a re- 

 markable contraction 

 above the upper lip, as 

 shown in the figure. Another peculiarity is the very 

 numerous minute black dots scattered profusely over all 

 the upper portions of the fish, being most numerous and 

 crowded along the back, posterior to the dorsal fin. 

 Length 2| to 3f inches. 



■" Agass. Lake Superior, p. 364, pi. 3, figs. 1, 2 and 3. 

 t Annals of Science, vol. 2, p. 44. 



