168 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY; III. 



blotches, which are sometimes confluent into an irregular dusky baud. 

 Such little fishes usually have the lateral line imperfect. On such, the 

 nominal species Moxostoma trisignatwn was based. 



The male fishes in the spring show a more or less distinct pinkish or 

 rosy lateral band. The males and females ascend the small streams in 

 the spring for the purpose of depositing their spawn. The coincidence 

 of their times of migration with that of some of the early settlers of Illi- 

 nois, who used to come up from New Orleans in the spring, returning 

 in the fall, has given to the natives of that State the slaug name of 

 " Suckers", as natives of Michigan were called " Wolverenes "5 of Minne- 

 sota, "Gophers"; of Wisconsin, "Badgers"; of Indiana, "Hoosiers"; of 

 Ohio, ''Buckeyes"; and of Missouri, "Pukes". 



I have elsewhere adopted the name "cowmernoni" for this species, 

 inasmuch as there is little doubt that it is the "Cyprin commersonien " * 

 of Lacepede, as has long since been noticed by Valenciennes. 



Dr. Giinther quotes, in the synonymy of Catostomus teres, "Cyprinus 

 commersonnii Lacepede"; but, on examination of Lacepede's work, I am 

 unable to find that he uses the name commersoni, or in fact any classical 

 name whatever for the species, and as priority of date can hardly be 

 claimed for a French name like "Cyprin commersonien J \ I am compelled 

 to fall back on MitchilPs very appropriate name teres for the species. 

 The identity of C. teres of Mitchill, C. communis and C. bostoniensis of Le 

 Sueur, C. reticulatus oi Richardson, (7. gracilis of Kirtland, and C.pallidw 

 of DeKay has been long since shown, and has been generally admitted 

 by late writers, C. nigricans of Storer and Thompson, from the Con- 

 necticut, is evidently the dusky brook form of this species, and not 

 the true nigricans of Le Sueur. It is equally evident that the species 

 called C. aureolus by Valenciennes and Giinther is the present one and 

 not Myxostoma aureolum. Agassiz's Catostomus for sterianus is doubtless 

 the common lake form of C. teres, us indicated by Dr. Giiuther. The 



* The following is Lace"pede's description of bis "Le Cyprin Commersonien" : 

 " Onze rayons a. la dorsale; huit a la nageoire de 1'anus; dix a chaque ventrale; 

 huit on ntuf a chaque pectorale ; la nageoire du dos et celle de 1'anus quadrilateres; 

 1'anal 6troite ; 1' angle de Pextre'mite' de cette derniere nageoire tres aigu; la caudale 

 en croissant; la ligne laterale droite; la niachoire supe"rieure plus avance"e que celle 

 d'en bas ; les e"cailles arrondies et tr&s petites. 



"Le commersonien, dont nous publions les premiers la description, et que le savant 

 Coramerson a observe", pre~sente un double orifice pour chaque narine ; sa tete est d^uu6e 

 de petites e"cailles ; ses veutrales et ses pectorales sont arrondies & leur extre'mite' ; la 

 dorsale s'e"leve vers le milieu de la longueur totale de la poisson." 



