FISHES OF PENNSYLVANIA. 11 
This fish seldom exceeds three feet in length. Its habits are presum- 
ably the same as those of the long-nosed gar and it is equally worthless 
for food. It may be readily distinguished from the long-nosed’ species 
by the shape of its snout, and by its more robust form. 
The short-nosed gar inhabits the Great Lakes and the Ohio and Mis- 
sissippi valleys. It is more abundant in the southern portion of its 
habitat. 
ORDER HALECOMORPHI (THE BOW-FINS). 
Famity AMIIDZ. 
Genus AMIA Linvevs. 
11. Amiacalva Linyzvs. 
The Mud Fish. 
The mud-fish has a well-rounded, robust body. Head more or less conical, its top 
covered with hard bony plates. Body entirely covered with cycloid scales. The 
mouth is large; maxilla extending far past eye. Depth of body equals three-fourths 
length of head and is contained slightly more than five times in length of body. Dis- 
tance from tip of snout to origin of dorsal equals one-third of the total length in- 
cluding tail. Length of dorsal base equal to twice length of head. Anal base very 
short, nearly one-third of head. 
Strong conical teeth in the jaws; in the lower jaw there is a band of finer teeth be- 
hind the outer row of large ones. The vomer, palatine and pterygoid bones are 
finely toothed. A small barbel at anterior nostril. Lateral line continous, through 
sixty-two scales. There are seven rows of scales between dorsal and lateral line and 
eleven or twelve from lateral line to ventral. D. 50; A. 10 or 11. 
The color in life is dark olive, the sides with greenish reticulations, the belly 
whitish. Round dark spots on the lower jaw and gular plate. The male has around- 
ish black spot with an orange border at the base of the caudal fin. 
The bow-fin has various common names, among them mud-fish, dog- 
fish, lawyer, grindle and John-a-grindle. Its range is as extensive as its 
character is generally worthless. It is foundin the Great Lakes and trib- 
utary streams, in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys southward to Texas, 
and in eastern waters from Pennsylvania to Florida. 
The female bow-fin is larger than the male, reaching a length of two 
feet while the male seldom exceeds eighteen inches. The male is still 
further distinguished by the presence of large black, margined with 
orange or yellow, spot or spots at the base of the tail fin. The greatest 
recorded weight of this fish is twelve pounds. 
Habits.—This is one of the most voracious of all fishes. It feeds upon 
all other fish of suitable size and, also, destroys other animals within 
reach. The capture of the bow-fin by means of the trolling spoon has 
recently come into greatly increased favor with anglers because of the 
game qualities of the fish and its wonderful tenacity of life. The species 
has been known to live out of the water, exposed to the sunlight, for 
