r 
492 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 
has spent along life in scientific labors in the South, and who has 
thereby done much to increase our knowledge of the peaine ry and nat- 
ural history of his own and neighboring States. 
GENUS BOLEOSOMA, DeKay. 
4. Boleosoma maculatum, Agassiz. (No. 27, 443.) 
B. brevipinne, Corn, Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. 1870, 268. 
A single specimen of a Boleosoma was obtained in Horsehunter Creek 
at Macon. An examination indicates that it is B. maculatum, although 
it does not agree wholly with descriptions of that species. It is much 
paler than specimens of that species obtained in the streams about 
Indianapolis. There are no dark bars on the back, and the spots usually 
found along the lateral line ae not as conspicuous as common. The tin 
formula is D. VIII, 12; A. I, 8. Lateral line 50. 
I do not believe “thant the separation of B. olmstedi and B. maculatum 
as distinct species can be maintained. The characters most relied on in 
distinguishing them are the difference in length of the soft dorsal, the 
difference in the number of scales along the lateral line, and the smooth- 
ness or scaliness of the cheeks. I have examined specimens in the 
State collection at Normal, Ill., labeled B. maculatum, that appear to 
combine these characters in all sorts of ways. Some have sealed cheeks, 
595 Vertical rows of scales, and dorsal fin-rays X, 12. Another specimen 
noted has sealed cheeks, 48 rows of scales, ane dorsal rays VIII, 11. 
Another has bare cheeks, 53 scales, dorsal IX, 12. Another, hie 
cheeks, 46 scales, dorsal rays IX, 13. Specimens there labeled JB. 
olmstedi seem to be in no way different.* 
As to color, I have specimens from Western Illinois that are almost 
black, especially the head, the vertical and the ventral fins. These are 
males .in their breeding dress, but they appear to be unusually dark. 
GENUS NANOSTOMA, Putnam. 
5. Nanostoma zonale (Cope) Jordan. (No. 27,417.) . 
Pacilichthys zonalis, CopE, Journ, Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1869, 212. 
Nanostoma zonale, JORDAN, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. No. 10, 6, 1877. 
Two specimens of this beautiful species were seined in a shallow and 
sandy creek flowing into the Chickasawha River at Enterprise. They 
differ in no way from described specimens, except that none of the 
transverse bands anterior to the anal fin pass around the lower part of 
the body. Even in this respect they are like a specimen mentioned by 
Cope from the Miami River, in Indiana. The belly, throat, and spaces 
between the bars below the lateral line are, in spirits, pure white. 
*Since the above lines were penned I have received the October number of the 
American Naturalist, from which I learn that Prof. 8. A. Forbes, of the Illinois State 
Laboratory of Natural History, in his interesting article on ‘‘ The Food of the Darters”, 
regards the two so-called species as identical. Professor Jordan also informs me that 
he now considers the two forms as merely ‘‘ subspecies”. 
