384 KEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



streams of more recent origin and have never been connected at any 

 time with any of the streams containing tront. Such a history as this 

 for the Cheyenne, together with the shallow, muddy, alkaline char- 

 acter of its lower portion, seems to be a reasonable explanation of the 

 absence of trout from the Black Hills. 1 



The effect of the peculiar alkaline water of the Cheyenne and the 

 lower courses of the streams flowing from the Black Hills has been to 

 reduce the fishes to a nearly uniform pale, faded, or bleached appear- 

 ance. Except those found above the alkali water, they are apparently 

 almost wholly without pigment cells of any kind. Perhaps the most 

 extreme case of bleaching is that of the flat-headed minnow, Platygo- 

 bio gracilis, which, of all American fishes, seems to be the one most 

 perfectly adapted to these alkali streams. 



ANNOTATED LIST OF THE FISHES FOUND IN THE MISSOURI 



RIVER BASIN. 



m this list we give under each species all the localities in this basin 

 from which it has been recorded. The references are arranged in 

 chronological order, and the localities are given in the terms of the 

 original record, except when a modification of the wording seemed 

 desirable for sake of clearness. When in the original reference the fish 

 was designated by some name different from the one by which it is now 

 recognized, the name employed in the original reference is given in 

 parenthesis. The name of the authority and the date of each refer- 

 ence are also given in parenthesis, thus enabling the reference to be 

 connected with the appropriate title in the bibliography given on 

 pages 350-379. 



The nomenclature and sequence of species adopted in this paper 

 agree essentially with the forthcoming " Fishes of North and Middle 

 America," by Jordan & Evermann. 



1. Ichthyornyzon concolor (Kirtland). Silver Lamprey. One small specimen, 4£ 



inches long, from Crow Creek, Chamberlain, South Dakota. This is the 

 most western point from which this species has been reported. It has also 

 been recorded from Kansas by Professor Snow, and from Cottonwood 

 Creek, Kans. (as Petromyzon argenteus, Graham, 1885) ; Osage River (Cragin, 

 1885a). 



2. Ichthyornyzon castaneus Girard. Chestnut-colored Lamprey. The only refer- 



ence to the occurrence of this lamprey in the Missouri Basin is by Prof. 

 F. W. Cragin (1885), who obtained four specimens at the mouth of Mill 

 Creek, Shawnee County, Kans. These specimens were found attached to 

 buffalo-fish. 



'In his paper "On the North American species of salmon and trout," printed in 

 the U. S. Fish Commission Report for 1872-73, Dr. Suckley, in giving the habitat of 

 Salmo lewisi, credits it to the " Black Hills, Nebraska (Dr. Hayden). " We have been 

 unable to verify this reference, and believe it to be erroneous. It is possible the 

 specimen came from the headwaters of the North Platte, in what is now known as 

 the Laramie Range. In that case the trout was tialmo 7>iykis8 stomias. 



