FISHES OF PENNSYLVANIA. 33 

of its caudal peduncle eight and one-half times in the total length to th~ caudal base. 
The head is conical, with pointed snout as long as the eye, which isabout one-fourth 
as long as the head. The head equals one-fourth of total length tocaudal base. The 
maxilla reaches nearly to below the front of the eye. ‘The lateral line varies in de- 
velopment, sometimes reaching to above the origin of the ventrals, and continued 
backward even farther at intervals, but usually not extending to ventrals. The 
dorsal origin is over the space between the ventral origin and the vent; about thirty- 
nine rows of scales between it and the nape. The dorsal base is one-half as long as 
the head, the longest ray equals head without snout. The pectoral reaches nearly 
to ventral origin, and the ventral reaches vent. The anal base is two-fifths as long as 
the head; the longest ray equal to longest of the dorsal. The caudal is moderately 
forked, its middle rays two-thirds as long as the outer. D.8; A.7; V.8; P. 12; 
scales, 18-80 to 85-10; teeth, 5-5. Length of specimens described, from Yellow creek, 
three inches. A narrow, dusky line along the top of the back. Two narrow, dark 
bands on the sides, the lower one passing forward on the head to tip of snout. The 
space between the bands and below bright silvery. Breeding males have the bases 
of the dorsal, anal and caudal fins, and the area between the dark bands scarlet, 
while the body is covered with minute tubercles, and the fins generally are vivid 
yellow. 
The red-bellied minnow or dace is found from Pennsylvania to Dakota 
and Tennessee. It is abundant in small streams and is a strikingly 
beautiful fish. Along the sides are two blackish bands, one beginning 
above the eye and extending to the tail; another traverses the eye and 
follows the lateral line to the base of the candal, where it ends in a black 
spot. The belly and the space between the bands are bright silvery, 
replaced by scarlet red in breeding males, which have the same color at 
the bases of the dorsal, caudal and anal fins. In the height of the breed- 
ing season the fins are bright yellow, and the body is covered with small 
tubercles. According to Prof. Cope the red-bellied minnow is not 
found in the Delaware, but it occurs in the Susquehanna, and is 
common in the streams of western Pennsylvania. It reaches a length 
of three inches, and js similar in its habits to the stone roller, with 
which it associates. It prefers clear streams, which have their origin in 
springs. As an aquarium fish this is scarcely excelled in beauty and 
hardiness, and as a bait for the black bass it has few superiors. 
Genus HYBOGNATHUS Aaassiz. 
43. Hybognathus nuchalis Aaassiz. 
The Silvery Minnow. 
The silvery minnow has a moderately stout and short body as compared with its 
eastern representative (H. regius), the greatest height equalling one-fourth of the 
total length without the caudal, and the least depth of the short caudal peduncle 
equallingnearly one-half of the greatest depth of the body. The body 1s compressed, 
its greatest width less than one-half its height. The head is short, its upper and 
lower profiles tapering equally into the short and not very obtuse snout, which is as 
long as the eye, and three-eleventhsas long asthe head. The mouth issmall, slightly 
oblique, with jaws nearly equal, or, the lower slightly included, the maxilla with- 
out a barbel, and reaching to below the anterior nostril. The dorsal origin is over, 
3 FISHES. 
