LAMPREYS AND FISHES OF INDIANA. 167 



This is undoubtedly the most formidable fish of our rivers. Rafin- 

 esque says that the leugth is from four to ten feet, and that one was caught 

 which weighed 400 pounds. He further says that it sometimes lies 

 asleep or motionless on the surface of the water, and may be mistaken for 

 a log or a snag. It must, according to the same writer, be taken* with a 

 net or a strong cord, since neither the prongs of the gig nor rifle balls 

 will penetrate its scales. Like the other gars, it is not regarded as fit for 

 food. As regards the food-habits of the fish, Mr, Stearns writes that it 

 will eat anything. It preys largely upon all the fishes smaller than itself, 

 and its young are believed to be destructive to the eggs and young of 

 other species. Dr. Jordan {11, '85, 801) states that it is difficult to dis- 

 tinguish this gar specifically from L. platostomus. I do not think that 

 satisfactory characters separating them have been proposed. Dr. A. 

 S. Packard, iu his text-book on Zoology, states that the eggs are laid in 

 rope-like masses and hung on the snags of sunken logs. 



Order 4. HALECOMORPHI. 



This order, more closely than any of the preceding, approaches the 

 members of the Physostomi. The vertebrte are biconcave, the mandible 

 consists of fewer bones than it does in Lepisosteus, the maxillary is not 

 transversely segmented, and the tail is not strongly heterocercal. 



Body rather elongate ; the snout not long. Dorsal fin long. Teeth 

 not fluted. This order takes its name from its affinities with the shads. 



Family AMIID.E. 

 THE BOW-FINS. 



Form elongated. Head short, terminating in a rounded snout ; cov- 

 ered with hard, corrugated bones. Teeth not fluted ; on most of the 

 bones of the mouth, including the maxillaries. Body clothed with firm 

 cycloid scales. Tail not strongly heterocercal. 



Genus AMIA Linn. 



Mouth horizontal. Maxillary furnished with a supplementary bone. 

 Teeth on maxillaries, premaxillaries, vomers, palatines and pterygoids. 

 A bony plate between the rami of the jaws. No spiracles. Cheeks cov- 

 ered with a bony plate. Gill-membranes free from isthmus and from 

 each other. Lateral line present. Dorsal fin long ; anal fin short. Con- 

 tains only a single known living species. 



