320 Fishes of Upper Georgia. 



COTTID.2E. 

 POTAMOCOTTUS. 



-cCottus (Artedi) "Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., 1748." (" Type C. gobio." 

 Europe.) 

 <Cottus Girard. Monograph N. Am. Freshwater Cottoids, 1851. 



— Potamocottus Gill. Troc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 18G1, 41. 

 (Type P. carolince.') 



— Pegedichthys Jordan. Man. Vert., 1876, 244. (Type P. ictahirops, 

 not of Raf.) 



14. POTAMOCOTTUS ZOPHERUS. Sp. nov. 



A species of this genus occurs in great abundance in trib- 

 utaries of the Etowah and Oostauaula, particularly in Love- 

 joy, Rocky, and Silver Creeks. 



Of the hundred or more specimens secured, none appear 

 to be mature, and but three of them have reached a length of 

 three inches. From these three large specimens the present 

 description is drawn. 



For the purpose of comparison with Girard's descriptions 

 I have here followed the order of his account of C. meridion- 

 alis, a species probably as closely related to P. zopherus as 

 any mentioned in Girard's Monograph. Its nearest relations, 

 however, seem to be with P. Carolines. If P. zopherus, 

 meridionalis, Carolines, and dlvordii should prove ultimately to 

 be varieties of one species, I shall not be surprised, although 

 I have at present no evidence that such is the case. 



Body rather slender, the greatest depth 5f in total length, or 4| without 

 caudal. Body not greatly tapering, the least depth about one-fourteenth 

 of the total length. The greatest thickness of the body is a trifle more 

 than the greatest depth. 



The head is just one-third of the length without the caudal fin, or more 

 than one-fourth, that fin included. Its width is about equal to the length 

 of its upper surface. 



The eyes are large and close together; their form is circular, and their 

 diameter is one-fourth the length of the head. The interorbital space is 



