FISHES OF NEW YORK 143 



the eye; the lower jaw is slightly included; the mouth is slightly 

 oblique. The width of the head equals nearly two thirds of its 

 length. The distance between the eyes equals the length of the 

 orbit. The dorsal origin is over, and the ventral origin under^ 

 the 10th scale of the lateral line. The length of the dorsal base 

 equals two thirds that of the head, and the longest dorsal ray is 

 four fifths as long as the head. The anal base is as long as the 

 postorbital part of the head and the longest ray is about two 

 thirds as long as the head. The ventral reaches nearly to the 

 vent, and the pectoral to below the 8th scale of the lateral line. 

 The lateral line is very slightly bent downward over the pec- 

 toral. The caudal is moderate in size and deeply forked. D. 

 11, 7; A. ii, 7; V. 8; P. 15. Scales 6-36 to 39-4; teeth 1, 4-4, 1 or 

 1, 4-4, in the example described, from the Susquehanna river. 

 Length 4| inches. The teeth are slightly hooked, and two or 

 three on each side have a developed grinding surface. The color 

 in spirits is light brown, the sides of body and lower half of head 

 silvery; the young have a narrow dusky median lateral band, 

 which is sometimes continued on the snout, and a more or less 

 distinct small dark blotch at the base of the caudal. The fins 



are all pale. 



The gudgeon or smelt of Pennsylvania is a variety of N. 

 hudsonius of Clinton, which ranges from Lake Superior to 

 New York and south in streams east of the Alleghanies to 

 Georgia. The southern form is the variety am a r us of 

 Girard, which exhibits some difference in its pharyngeal teeth. 

 The species is an extremely variable one. It grows to a length 

 of about 8 inches. Prof. CopQ records it as abundant in the 

 Susquehanna, specially in the lower part of the river. 



This is a handsome silvery fish, and is as much used for food 

 as its associate, the silvery minnow. 



85 Notropis whipplii (Girard) 

 Silverfin 



Cyprinella whipplii Gikard, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. PWla. 19S, 1856. 



Photogenis spilopterus Cope, Cypr. Penna. 378, 1866. 



Leuciscus spilopterus Gunthee, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. VII, 254, 1868. 



