A PARTIAL CATALOG-UE OF THE FISHES 

 OF ILLINOIS. 



By E. W. NELSON. 



Owing to the slight attention the ichthyology of the region herein 

 treated has received, the present catalogue must necessarily be very incom- 

 plete. 



With the exception of Mr. R. Kennicott's list of fishes of Cook 

 coxmty, (111. Agl. Report) in which only thirty species are mentioned, and 

 occasional descriptions of new species or the mention of the receipt of speci- 

 mens from within our limits in the .papers of various writers, nothing has 

 been definitely known regarding the ichthyic fauna of the state. During 

 the last three or four years, considerable collections of fishes have been 

 made in various parts of the state, under the auspices of the Illinois Mu- 

 seum of Natural History. 



The present paper is based mainly upon this material, which, through 

 the generosity of the management of the above-named institution, i have 

 been enabled to study. I am also greatly indebted to Prof. S. A. Forbes, 

 Curator of the Museum, for notes upon the distribution and peculiarities of 

 structure in many of the species. To Dr. D. S. Jordan, of Irvington, 

 Indiana, I am under obligations for the loan of specimens, for invaluable aid 

 in verifying doubtful identifications, and for notes on the distribution of 

 many of the species, especially iu the Wabash valley. 



The collections in the Museum have been made principally by Prof. 

 Forbes, in the following localities : Illinois river from La Salle to Pekin : 

 the Vermilion river in La Salle county ; Mackinaw creek in McLean county ;. 

 Rock river at Oregon ; Pecatonica river at Freeport; the Ohio and Missis- 

 sippi rivers at Cairo ; the outlet of Big Lake, in Jackson county ; Callahan 

 and Drury creeks, in Union county ; Lake Michigan at Chicago, and some 

 of the smaller tributaries of the above-named streams. In addition to 

 these, small collections have been made by myself, from the Calumet river 

 and its tributaries, in Cook county : Lake Michigan, at Chicago : small 

 tributaries of the lake at Waukegan, and the Fox river at Geneva. Where 

 species are included upon the authority of others, due credit is given. As 

 will be seen by the list of localities, the streams from which collections 

 have been made are nearly all tributaries, directly or through the Illinois, 

 to the Mississippi, thus leaving the Wabash and Ohio with their tributa- 

 ries comparatively unexplored, except portions of the Wabash valley, 

 where collections have been made for Prof. Jordan ; and so little work 



