FISHES OF PENNSYLVANIA. 87 
i ROR NL Se A a APN ORS EC 
is known to boys under the name of cobbler and on Long Island it is 
called mummy or chog-mummy. If we follow Dr. J ordan in considering 
Fundulus grandis of Baird and Girard as merely a variety of heteroclitus 
the range of the species will be extended from Maine to Mexico, usually 
in shallow salt or brackish water but sometimes ascending streams be- 
yond tidewater. The killifish grows to a length of five or six inches; it 
has no importance as a food fish, but is eaten in large numbers by many 
of the valuable economic fishes, particularly the striped bass and the 
weakfish. Dr. Storer says it is an excellent bait for smelts. Piscivorous 
birds consume it in large quantities and domestic ducks have been 
known to swallow it with apparent great relish. Eggs have been found 
in this species as late as August. It spawns in the spring and early 
summer and the young are found in great schools in summer in the eel 
grass and on sandy beaches in company with other species of killifish, 
the common silverside and various other fishes. The sexes are so dif- 
ferent in coloration that they have been described under distinct names 
by several of the older ichthyological writers. 
Genus ZYGONECTES Aaassiz. 
99. Zygonectes notatus (Rarinzsque). 
The Black-sided Top Minnow. 
The body is slender; head long, low and flat with sharp snout and the jaws nearly 
equal. The width of the space between the eyes equals half the length of the head 
and one and one-half times the length of the eye. The depth of the body is less 
than the length of the head, which is one-fourth of the total length without caudal. 
The dorsal and anal in the male are higher than in the female. Teeth villiform, in 
a broad band with the outer series enlarged and canine-like. 
The color is pale olive, with scattered specks on the back ; a wide, purplish-black 
band extends from the snout through the eye to the base of the tail; its margin in 
the young somewhat uneven. The dorsal, caudal and anal fins with black dots. A 
translucent spot on the top of the head in life. Scales with strong, concentric strize. 
D. 9; A. 11; scales 34-11. 
The black-sided top minnow or killifish is an inhabitant of the Mis- 
sissippi valley and of streams flowing into the Great Lakes from the 
south. In the Mississippi valley it extends south to Texas. In Penn- 
sylvania it is to be looked for in tributaries of the Ohio. 
This species grows to a length of three and one-half inches. It is 
very abundant in still waters and frequents sloughs and ponds caused 
by the overflow of streams. In the rivers it seeks-the shelter of aquatic 
plants. It is a surface swimmer and this fact gives rise to its common 
name. The species is useful for bait and is well adapted for the aqua- 
rium. It is a beautiful little fish and extremely hardy. 
100. Zygonectes dispar Aaassiz. 
The Striped Top Minnow. 
The head is short and broad; interorbital space flat, its width about twice the 
length of the eye ; a very obtuse snout; fins rather small, the anal much larger than 
