Fishes of Upper Georgia. 321 



very narrow, scarcely more than half the width of the eye. The mouth 

 is moderately large, and there are teeth on the palatines. 



The preopercular spine is very large, hooked upwards and backwards; 

 and below it are two other smaller ones, the lower minute. 



The first dorsal commences behind the insertion of the ventrals. It is 

 quite high, and its upper edge is quite convex. It is but little lower than 

 the second dorsal. There are seven rays, the second, third, and fourth 

 being the highest. The second dorsal is contiguous, and the two are 

 connected by membrane. It is composed of seventeen rays. The caudal 

 fin is considerably shorter than the head. In all the fins the tips of the 

 rays project beyond the membrane. This is especially true of the pecto- 

 rals. The ventrals are immediately beneath the pectorals, and consist of 

 one spine and four soft rays. 



The pectorals are rather large, reaching to the anal, and about to the 

 fifth ray of the second dorsal. Their base of insertion is oblique and 

 somewhat curved. 



B. 6. D. VII-17. A. 13. V. I, 4. P. 14. 



The vent is much nearer to the snout than to the base of caudal. The 

 lateral line is high and parallel with the back. It vanishes at the end of 

 the anal fin. 



General color very dark, almost black, with three wide jet-black cross 

 bands, and a bar at the base of the caudal; belly pale; fins mottled and 

 barred ; no red. 



Habitat. Small tributaries of the Etowah and Oostanaula, 

 abounding in shallow rapids with Catostomus nigricans, a 

 species the young of which it much resembles in color. It 

 is locally known as "Blob," and "Muffle-Jaw." 



The most important characters of P. zopherns seem to be 

 the high first dorsal, the narrow interorbital space, and the 

 black color. This latter feature suggested the specific name. 



It is well separated from all of Dr. Girard's species, — if 

 they truly are species. To the present writer, his accounts 

 seem to be descriptions of individuals rather than of species ; 

 but my acquaintance with these fishes is too limited for me 

 to express any opinion on these matters. 



C YPRINOD ONTID^J. 



X E N I S M A . 



= Xenisma Jordan, Check List, Bull. Buff. Soc. Nat. Hist., 187G, 142. 

 (Type A', stellifera Jordan.) 



