38 FISHES OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

short and obtuse, shorter than the eye, which is two-fifths as long as the head. The 
mouth is terminal and small, the maxilla not reaching to front of eye, and the jaws 
equal. The lateral line is gently curved downward over the pectoral, and, in the 
specimen examined, becomes interrupted in its posterior half. The dorsal origin is 
over the twelfth scale of the lateral line, and nearly over the ventral origin. The 
dorsal base is a little more than one-half as long as the head, and the longest ray is 
. as long as the head. The ventral reaches to the anal origin. The anal base is one- 
half as long as the head, and the longest anal ray is four-fifths as long as the head. 
The caudal is moderately forked. D.8; A. 7; V. 8; P. 13; scales, 5-32 to 34-3; 
teeth, 4-4. Length of specimen described, from Havre de Grace, Md., two and one- 
fourth inches. Color in spirits light brown, the belly pale and lower half of head 
silvery. A narrow dark line along the top of the back, and a narrow dark median 
band continued forward on the nose. Fins all pale. 
The shiner is found from western New York to Maryland. Prof. Cope 
found it abundant in the tributaries of the Delaware and Susquehanna, 
in slow moving streams. It reaches a length of two and one-half inches. 
This minnow is olivaceous, with a dark lateral band. The tail is long, 
which suggests the specific name procne, a kind of swallow. This little 
fish is suitable fo1 the aquarium, and is an excellent bait for game fishes. 
50. Notropis hudsonius (Cuiyton). 
The Spawn Eater. 
The spawn-eater has a moderately elongate and compressed body, its greatest 
height contained four and one-half times in the total length without caudal, and 
about equal to length of head. The head is conical, with short, blunt snout equal 
to the diameter of the eye, which is contained three and one-half times in the length 
of the head. The space between the eyes equals length of postorbital part of head. 
Mouth smail, nearly horizontal, the lower jaw very slightly the shorter, the max- 
illa reaching the vertical through the posterior nostril. The lateral line is slightly 
curved downward over the pectoral, straight and median for the rest of its course. 
The origin of the dorsal is over, and of the ventral under the thirteenth scale of the 
lateral lime. The dorsal base is two-thirds as long as the head, and the longest ray 
as long as the head. The ventral reaches nearly or quite to the vent. The anal ori- 
gin is under the twenty-fourth scale of the lateral line ; the anal base is one-half, and 
the longest anal ray four-fifths as long as the head. The caudal is large and deeply 
forked, its middle rays one-half as long as the outer. D. 8; A. 8o0r9; V. 8; P. 14; 
scales, 7-38-5; teeth 2, 4-4, 1 or 2, with a narrow grinding surface on at least two. 
Length of specimens described, from Washington, D. C., three and one-half to four 
and one-fourth inches. Color in spirits pale brown, the fins and all of head except 
upper surface pale; a broad median silvery band, its greatest width about equal to 
diameter of eye; a dusky spot at the root of the caudal in the young. 
The spawn-eater is said to occur from Lake Superior to New York 
and southward. In Pennsylvania begins a form elsewhere described as 
N. amarus, which differs in the structure of the pharyngeal teeth. The 
spawn-eater attains a length of ten inches; it is olivaceous and some- 
times has a band along the side. The young have around black spot 
at the base of the caudal fin. The teeth of this minnow are usually four 
in the principai row, and two in the inner row. 
This minnow does not much frequent small streams, but is abundant - 
in the Delaware river and also in Lake Erie. 
