174 ^ NATURALIST IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION 



Fig. 189.— 

 Nymph of the 

 dragon fly, Gom- 

 phus spicatus. 



persist under such conditions. The burrowing dragon-fly nymph 

 (Gomphus spicatus) finds the somewhat muddy bottom congenial. 

 As the chara takes complete possession its tangled growth fur- 

 nishes a safe hiding-place for a new lot of fish — 

 mud minnows, golden shiners, the chub sucker, 

 the bullhead, and the tadpole cat. 



The nymph of G. spicatus (Fig. 189) when full 

 grown is over an inch long. The body is flat, 

 hairy on the margins, and the legs are hairy. 

 The abdomen tapers gradually to a point. The 

 color is green, the eyes black. The adult flies in 

 May and June. 



The mud minnow (Fig. 190) is about 4 inches 

 long. The upper parts are brownish olive, 

 mottled with black. The sides are barred in dark with bluish 

 intervals, underside yellow, fins olive green. The golden shiner 

 (Fig. 191), also called 



bream or roach, is 6-8 .^.^r^wm^W^^^ws^^^^^: ^ 



inches long when full ^^^"h^M^^^^^-WW^^ 

 grown. The body IS deep, . «^*^* .^ -^... , . v. _ 



compressed, and tapers 



both toward head and Fig. 190.— Mud minnow, rw5m /fw^, reduced 



tail. The head is small. ^^^' 



The lateral line sags distinctly. The color is dark olive green. 



The sides are silvery with golden reflections. ' 



In the chub sucker (Fig. 192) the dorsal fin is short and 

 contains from ten to eighteen developed rays. The lateral line 

 is wanting. The adult is only some 10 inches long. The color 

 is brownish-olive, with coppery luster above, paler below. The 

 young are longitudinally striped, the most conspicuous color 

 band being one of purplish black running through the eye and 

 along the side to the caudal fin. Below this the sides shade off 

 to a white or silvery belly. 



The bullheads and catfishes have fleshy projectors, ''feelers" 

 or barbels about the mouth. The brown bullhead (Fig. 193) has 



