86 LAKE ERIE TORTOISE. 



tends as far as the base of the anal fin; the tail is short, 

 strong, and terminated by a forked tin. Length of speci- 

 men nearly four inches. 



Mem. bran. 3.— P. 18.— V. 8.— A. 9.— D. 9.— C. 9 

 principal rays. 



This singular fish I discovered in Pipe-Creek, Mary- 

 land, where it is CdW^^Little Sucker, in June, 1816. From 

 the description of its mouth it will be seen that it is not 

 properly a Cyprinus^ and I have reason to conjecture that 

 it will constitute, hereafter, a separate genus; but until 

 the discovery of another similar species, I shall content 

 myself with its present arrangement. 



An account of an American species of Tortoise^ not no- 

 ticed in the systems. By C. A. Le Sueur. Read Sep- 

 tember 23, 1817. 



LAKE ERIE TORTOISE, 



Testudo Geographica. 



Plate V. 



In the summer of the year 1816, I discovered in a 

 marsh, on the borders of Lake Erie, a Tortoise, which 

 I have reason to believe is a nondescript. This species, 

 which, at the first view, appears to resemble the T. reti- 

 culata of Bosc, and likewise the T. serrata of Daudin, is 

 nevertheless distinct, as will be evident from a compari- 

 son of the figures and descriptions of the above named 

 Tortoises, in Daudin's *^ Histoire Naturelle des Reptiles," 

 with mine. 



