115 



An Aberrant Etheostoma. 



W. J. MOENKHAUS. 



While seiuiiig iu Tippecanoe Lake during tlie summer of 1896, there 

 was talien among a great many Etheostoma caprodes a single very aber- 

 rant specimen of darter. I have been unable to identify it with any de- 

 scribed species. Its close affinity to Etheostoma caprodes and to Etheos- 

 toma aspro at once strikes one, and a closer study shows it to be in many 

 respects intermediate between these two species. 



The specimen is rather large, although not too large for an Etheostoma 

 aspro, measuring 78 mm. in length. The form of the head and body is 

 very much like Etheostoma aspro. The snout is evidently longer and the 

 interorbital space broader. The cheeks, opercle and nape are scaled. The 

 color pattern, on the whole, also resembles more closely that of Etheos- 

 toma aspro. The barred character of Etheostoma caprodes in the upper 

 half plainly shows itself. Along the side is a series of nine large dark 

 blotches, more or less confluent with intermediate smaller ones. The 

 dorsal, pectoral and caudal fins are barred. The ventral and anal fins, 

 plain. 



In the table are given measurements and counts of the aberrant spec- 

 imen and the two most nearly related species: 



Three possibilities present themselves: (1) The specimen may be 

 merely an unusually aberrant form of Etheostoma caprodes or of Etheos- 

 toma aspro; (2) it may be a new species; (3) it may be a hybrid. 



In regard to the first, it may be said that, considei-ing all the charac- 

 ters, it is scarcely within the range of normal local variability of either 

 species. If we consider the spines and rays, the scales and the proportions 

 as set forth in the above table, it would seem easiest to consider it a vari- 



