FISH OF ONTARIO. 95 



SUBGENUS COTTOGASTER. 



(100) Copeland's Darter. 



(Cottogaster copelandi.) 



Body rather slender and elongate ; head rather large and long, some- 

 what narrowed. Mouth small, horizontal, subinferior; cheeks naked; 

 opercles and neck each with a few scales ; throat naked ; ventral plates 

 well developed ; scales moderate ; strongly ctenoid. 



I). X. to XII., 10 to 12; A. II., 8 or 9. Scales, 6-44 to 56-8. 



Colour, brownish olive; a series of rather small, horixontally oblong 

 black blotches along the lateral line, forming an interrupted lateral band ; 

 back tassellated ; blackish streaks forward and downward from eye ; ven- 

 tral fins dusky in the male ; vertical fins with dusky specks ; a small ink- 

 like speck at base of caudal, persistent in most specimens; a black spot 

 on anterior rays of spinous dorsal. 



Length, about three inches. The range of a variety of this species, 

 C. c. putnami, is from Lake Champlain to Lake Huron. It will therefore 

 probably be found in our waters, though I have not yet obtained it. 



GENUS BOLEOSOMA (TESSELLATED DARTERS.) 



Body moderately elongate, fusiform, but slightly translucent; head 

 small, narrowed forward, the profile convex; mouth small, horizontal, the 

 lower jaw included ; premaxillary protractile ; maxillaries not adnate to 

 preorbital ; vomerine teeth present ; scales large ; lateral line continuous or 

 interrupted behind ; belly with ordinary scales ; gill membranes broadly 

 or narrowly connected ; dorsal spines usually nine, very slender and flex- 

 ible, soft dorsal much larger than anal ; anal normally with a single, short 

 slender spine, the first soft ray simple, but articulate; ventrals well sep- 

 arated ; pyloric caeca, three to six ; frontal region of skull very short and 

 narrow; parietal region flattish above; no supraoccipital crest. Size small, 

 very active little fishes. 



(101) Johnny Darter. 



(Boleosoma nigrum.) 



Body slender, fusiform ; head conical ; snout somewhat decurved ; 

 mouth small, subinferior, lower jaw included within the upper. Gill covers 

 scaly, cheeks naked except in occasional individuals ; nape usually scaled. 



D. VIII. to X., 10 to 14; A. I., 7 to 9. Scales, 5-44 to 55-9. 



Colour, olivaceous ; the back with brown tessellations ; sides with 

 many W-shaped blotches. The head is speckled above, in males usually 

 black. In the breeding season the whole anterior part of the male is often 

 black. A dark line forward from the eye and sometimes another down- 

 ward. Length, about two and a-half inches. This species is common 



