4 -DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF SHAD (ALOSA 

 ALABAMiE) FROM ALABAMA. 



By Barton Warren Evermann, Ph. D., 

 Ichthyologist of the United States Fish Commission. 



On April 10, 1896, the United States Fish Commission received from 

 Tuscaloosa, Ala., through the kindness of Mr. J. H. Fitts, of that city, 

 four specimens of shad which had been caught in the Black Warrior 

 Eiver. Upon comparing these specimens with numerous examples of 

 the common shad [Alosa sapidissima) from the Potomac and other shad 

 sti earns of the Atlantic coast, they were found to belong to an entirely 

 distinct and undescribed species. 



In view of the importance of this discovery, it is thought desirable 

 to publish this preliminary description in advance of a more complete 

 report upon the species. 



Alosa alabamcB Jordan & Evermann, new species. 



Types: ISTo. 47689, U. S. National Museum, a female, total length 15 

 inches; and No. 47690, U. S. National Museum, a male, total length 15 

 inches. 



Type locality : Black Warrior River, Tuscaloosa, Ala. 



Collector : J. H. Fitts, esq. 



Description of female: Head 4f ; depth 3; snout 4i; eye 4^; maxil- 

 lary 2^. Dorsal 15; anal 20; scales 55, —16 in a crosswise series; scutes 

 21+15; vertebrpe54; gillrakers 24+44 and 25+43=68. 



Body deep ; back gently and evenly arched from tip of snout to origin 

 of dorsal fin, thence descending in a regular curve to base of caudal 

 fin; ventral outline nearly straight from tip of mandible to ventrals, 

 and also from there to base of caudal. Head small, snout pointed; 

 upper lij) with a small notch, into which fits the tip of the slightly 

 projecting lower jaw; maxillary narrow; cheek much deeper than 

 long; teeth on tongue and maxillary scarcely j)erceptible. 



Origin of dorsal nearer snout than base of caudal, the fin low, the 



longest ray shorter than the base, or about equal to snout and eye; 



base of anal somewhat greater than that of dorsal, or equal to length of 



pectoral. Gillrakers 68, the longest about equal to length of snout. 



Peritoneum pale. 



208 



