132 



FISHES OF ILLINOIS 



FIG. 29 



NOTROPIS ANOGENUS FORBES 



Forbes, 1885, Bull. 111. State Lab. Nat. Hist., II. 2, 138. 

 M. V., 55; J. & E., I, 259; L. ( 16. 



A small, weak species, very similar in general appearance to N. heterodon, 

 but with complete lateral line, and always clearly distinguishable from that 

 species by its black peritoneum and its very small and extremely oblique 

 mouth, the maxillary standing at an angle of no more than 40 with the 

 vertical. Length \% inches; body moderately elongate, considerably com- 

 pressed, the depth 4.3 to 4.5 in length; caudal peduncle rather slender and 

 longer than head. Color dark above, yellowish beneath; sides silvery with a 

 distinct plumbeous to blackish lateral band, extending from a small dark 

 spot at base of caudal along sides and through eye to end of snout, tipping the 

 chin; scales of back quite thickly specked with black over most of their sur- 

 faces; the third row above lateral line only narrowly edged with dusky; the 

 two rows covered by the lateral band rather densely dusted with fine specks 

 among which are occasional much larger ones; fins faintly dusky. Head 

 small, 4.3 to 4.5 in length, bluntly conic, its width 1^ in its length; in- 

 terorbital space 2.6 to 2.9; eye 3.1 to 3.3; nose short and blunt, 4.5 to 4.8 

 in head; mouth very small, terminal, extremely oblique, the tip of the upper 

 lip at about same level as upper margin of pupil; maxillary 4.5 to 5.1 in head, 

 scarcely twice diameter of pupil, not reaching back of anterior nostril; 

 isthmus less than pupil. Teeth 4-4, with well developed grinding surfaces, 

 sometimes plain, sometimes crenate; teeth more or less hooked at tip; intestine 

 1.2 to 1.3 times length of head and body; peritoneum black. Dorsal fin with 

 8 rays; about one scale behind ventrals, a little nearer base of caudal than 

 muzzle; longest dorsal ray somewhat more than head; and rays 7; pectorals 

 less than % to ventrals; ventrals reaching vent. Scales 5 or 6, 34 to 37, 3 

 or 4; rows before dorsal 13 or 14. 



This well-marked species was described by the senior author 

 in 1885 from 24 specimens collected in the upper Fox River at 

 McHenry, 111. It has since been taken in the state but once. 

 A well-marked specimen was found in Fourth Lake in 1892. Dr. 

 Meek found the species in Cayuga Lake, N. Y., in 1888, and has 

 recently obtained a number of excellent specimens from northern 



