104 FISHES OF ILLINOIS 



kk. Lower portion of head with an appearance of being swollen, the suborbitals, 

 interopercles, and dentaries with greatly distended mucus cavities, ap- 

 pearing externally as transverse vitreous streaks; teeth 4-4 or 1, 4-4, 1... 

 Ericymba. 



jj. Lower lip with two lateral fleshy lobes, separated at the middle by the more 

 or less horny and knob-like chin; scales rather small, 40 to 60 in lateral 

 line; teeth 4-4 Phenacobius. 



ee. Maxillary with a barbel* at or near its extremity (sometimes quite small and 



difficult to make out, especially in preserved specimens). 



I. Barbel on upper side of maxillary and distinctly in front of its posterior tip; 

 mouth exceptionally large, maxillary 2.4 to 2.8 in head; scales 50 to 60; 

 teeth 4 or 5 in main row, 1, 2, or in lesser row Semotilus. 



II. Barbel terminal on the maxillary, situated in the axil formed at meeting of 

 upper and lower lip -grooves; maxillary more than 2.8 in head. 



m. Premaxillaries not protractile; scales small, 60 to 70; dorsal fin posterior; 



teeth 2. 4-4. 2 Rhinichthys. 



mm. Premaxillaries protractile. 



n. Scales 35 to 45 in lateral line; teeth 4-4, or 1, 4-4, 1 or Hybopsis. 



nn. Scales small, 50 to 60 in lateral line; head much depressed and flattened 

 above; teeth usually 2, 4-4, 2 Platygobio. 



GENUS CYPRINUS (ARTEDI) LINNAEUS 



THE CARP 



Mouth with four long barbels; teeth molar, broad and truncate, 1, 1, 

 3-3, 1,1; dorsal fin very long, with a stout spine which is serrated behind; 

 anal fin with a serrated spine. Native to fresh waters of Asia; introduced 

 into ponds and streams of both Europe and America, where they are now 

 abundant. 



CYPRINUS CARPIO LINNAEUS 



EUROPEAN CARP 

 (3 PLATES) 



Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., Ed. X, 320. 



G., VII, 25; J. & G., 254; M. V., 50; J. & E., I, 201; L., 13. 



Length 2 feet or over; body robust, compressed; back considerably 

 elevated; general form resembling that of the buffalo-fishes (Ictiobus); depth 

 in length 2.75 to 3.4 (as a rule less than 3); depth caudal peduncle 1.2 to 1.4 

 in its length. Color olivaceous, upper parts dusky to bluish; lower part of 

 sides and belly more or less yellowish. Head conical, tapering rapidly from 

 above to the tip of the pointed snout, 3 to 4 in length; width of head 1.4 to 

 1.6 in its length; interorbital space nearly flat, 2.3 to 2.7 in head; eye 5.5 to 

 6.8 in head; nose bluntly pointed, 2.6 to 3.3 in head; mouth rather small, 

 anterior, oblique, the maxillary not reaching past anterior nostril, 3.3 to 3.9 

 (usually about 3.5) in head; two pairs of maxillary barbels, the upper shorter, 

 the lower longer than eye; teeth broad and truncate with molar surfaces, 

 in three rows, 1, 1 or 2, 3-3, 1 or 2. 1; intestine longer than body; peritoneum 

 gray, often more or less specked. Dorsal and anal fins each with a large 



* Read 1 and 11 for exact indication of location of barbel. 



