442 Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 



sided Darter (Diplesion blennioides) . He is not like the Etheo- 

 stoma cceruleum, an animated rainbow, but he has the beauty of 

 green grass, wild violets, and mossy logs. As we watch him in the 

 water, with his bright blended colors and gentle ways, once more, 

 with Old Izaak, 'we sit on the cowslip banks, hear the birds sing, 

 and possess ourselves in as much quietness as the silent silver 

 streams which we see glide so quietly by us.' During the ordinary 

 business of the year, Diplesion, like most sensible fishes and men, 

 dresses plainly. It is not easy to get time for contemplation when 

 the streams are low and food is scarce. Besides, a plain coat may 

 ward off danger as well as facilitate attack. At all times, how- 

 ever, he may be known by these marks : The fins are all large ; the 

 back is covered with zigzag markings, while on the lower part of 

 the sides are 8 or 9 W-shaped olive spots; these are more or less 

 connected above, and sometimes form a wavy line. The eyes are 

 prominent; the snout is very short and rounded; while the little 

 inferior mouth is puckered up as if for saying 'prunes and prisms, 

 prunes and prisms.' But when the first blue birds give warning 

 by their shivering and bodiless notes that spring is coming on, 

 then Diplesion puts on his wedding clothes and becomes, in fact, 

 the Green-sided Darter. The dorsal fins become of a bright grass 

 green, with a scarlet band at the base of each ; the broad anal has 

 a tinge of the deepest emerald; while every spot and line upon 

 the side has turned from an undefined olive to a deep rich green, 

 such as is scarcely found elsewhere in the animal world excepting 

 on the heads of frogs. The same tint shines out on the branch- 

 ing rays of the caudal fin, and may be seen struggling through the 

 white of the belly. The blotches nearest the middle of the back 

 become black, and thickly sprinkled everywhere are shiny specks 

 of clear bronze orange. In the aquarium Diplesion is shy and 

 retiring, too much of a fine lady to scramble for angleworms or to 

 snap at the "bass feed." She is usually hidden among the plants 

 or curled up under an arch of stones or in a geode." Jordan and 

 Copeland. 



61. IOWA DARTER 



ETHEOSTOMA IQW-fE Jordan & Meek 



(Plate 34) 



The Iowa Darter is a common species in the upper Missouri 

 Valley from Iowa and Nebraska north to Assiniboia, and eastward 

 to Indiana. It is found farther northward and farther westward 

 in the Missouri basin than any other darter. At Lake Maxin- 

 kuckee it is represented by a closely related species, the Aubee- 



