110 Bulletin 47, United States National Museum. 



silvery below ; vertical fins and posterior part of the body with round 

 black spots, which are more distinct in the young ; very young with a 

 blackish lateral band. Head 3 in length; depth 12. D. 8; A. 9; V. 6; 

 P. 10. Lat. line about 62. L. about 5 feet. Great Lakes and risers of the 

 United States from Vermont to the Rio Grande; generally abundant and 

 quite variable, the local variations having given rise to many specific 

 names.* Southern specimens are often more distinctly spotted. A de- 

 tailed comparison of many specimens, from different parts of the country, 

 will probably show the existence of recognizable subspecies, but this 

 comparison is yet to be made, (osseus, bony.) 



Esox osseus, LiNNA'.us, Syst. Nat., Ed. x, 1758, 313, after Artedi, based oil Acus maxima squamosa, 



viridis, the Greeu Gar Fish of Catesby, 1738, pi. 30, Virginia. 

 Esox viridis, GMELIN, Syst. Nat., 1389, 1788, also after Catesby. 



Lepisuslcus gavailis, LACPDE, Hist. Poiss., v, 333, 1803, "lakes and rivers of both Indies." 

 Lepisosteus oxyurus, RAFINESQUE, Ichtb. Ob., 73, 1820, Ohio River. 

 Lepisosteus longirostris, RAFINESQUE, I. c., 74, 1820, Ohio River. 

 Lepisosteus huronensis, RICHARDSON, Fauna Bor. Amer., in, 237, 1836; Penetanguishene, Lake 



Huron; GUNTHER, Cat., vin, 330, 1870. 

 Lepidosteus gracilis, AOASSIZ, Poissons FossileB, n, 2, 183G. 

 Lepidosteus osseus GCyrw EH, Cat., vm, 330, 1870. 

 Lepisosteus semiradiatus, AQASSIZ, 1. c., 11, 2, plate 2, 1836. 

 Lepidosteus osseus, JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 91, 1883. 



Sarcltirus vittatus, and Sarchirus argenleus, RAFINESQUE, Ichtb. Oh., 86, 1820, (young), Ohio River. 

 Lepisosteus bison, DE KAY, New York Fauna: Fishes, 271, 1842, Buffalo, New York. 

 Lepisosteus lineatus, THOMPSON, Hist. Vermont, 145, 1842, Lake Champlain. 

 Macrognathus loricatus, GRONOW, Cat. Fish., 148, 1854, after Linnteus. 

 Lepidosteus leptorhynchus, GIRARD, Pac. R. R. Expl., 351, 1858, Devil River, Texas. 

 Lepidosteus crassus, COPE, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Pbila., 1805, 8G, Bombay Hook, Delaware River. 

 Lepidosleus otariun, COPE, I c., 80, " Platte River near Fort Riley;" but Fort Riley was on the 



the Kansas River. 



Subgenus CYLINDROSTEUS, Raflnesque. 



152. LEPISOSTEUS PLATOSTOMUS, Rafinesque. 



(SHORT-NOSED GAR.) 



Snout usually about i longer than the rest of the head, sometimes about 

 equal to it, its length 5 to 6 times its least width. Colors of L. osseus or 

 rather darker. Head 3 in length ; depth 8. D. 8 ; A. 8 ; V. 6. Lat. line 

 about 56. L. 2 to 3 feet. Great Lakes and southern and western rivers, 

 with the preceding, but less abundant northward. Still more variable 

 than the preceding; possibly more than 1 species confounded; not al- 

 ways readily distinguishable from the young of the next. (TrAarvj-, broad ; 

 oTOfj,a } mouth.) 



Lepisosteus platostomus, RAFINESQUE, Icbth. Oh., 72, 1820, Ohio River. 

 Lepisosteus albus, RAFINESQUE, 1. c., 73, Ohio River. 

 Lepisosteus platystomus, GUNTHER, Cat., vni, 329, 1870; JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 91, 1883. 



*M. Auguste Dumeril (Hist. Nat. Poiss., Vol. ir, 1870) divides this species, as represented in 

 the Museum at Paris, into 17, which are distinguished by trifling differences in proportions and 

 numbers of scales. His new names are L. treculi, Mississippi, 327; L. milberti, New York, 

 328; L. harlani, Wabash River, 329; L. smithi, upper Mississippi, 330; L. ayresi, Wabash 

 River, 331; L. copei, northern North America, 332; L. lesneuri, Wabash River, 335; L. 

 elisabeth, no locality, 330; L. lamari, northern North America, 337; L. dintonii, no lo- 

 cality, 338; L. troosti, United States, 339; L. piquotianus, Lake Erie, 340; L. horalii, north- 

 ern North America, 341; L. thompsoni, upper Mississippi, 342; L. louisianensis, New 

 Orleans, 344. 



