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THE SILVERSIDES OF THE GENUS MENIDIA. 
Menidia audens Hay. 
Menidia audens Hay, Bulletin U.S. Fish Commission, 1882, 64; Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis, 908, 1883; 
Jordan & Evermann, Fishes of North and Middle America, 798, 1896. 
Found in the fresh waters of Mississippi and Tennessee, and differs from peninsule 
only in its more slender form. The types are small, all but one being young fish. 
Length 3 inches; head 4.5; depth 6; eye 2; snout 3+; D. 1v-i, 9; A. i, 17; scales 
40-9. Anal base equal to or slightly larger than head; height of first rays of anal 
equal to height of first rays of soft dorsal, about 1.25 in head. 
Specimens range in measurements as follows: total length 1.5 to 3 inches; head 
4 to 4.5; depth 6 to 6+; eye 2.33 to 3; snout 3+ to 3.5; D. 1v to v-i, 9 to 10; A. i, 
17 to 19, mostly 19; scales 39 to 42-9 to 10. 
Comparative table of average measurements. 
at q 
S Sp 
ag ; a ; 
3 Name and locality. = a F + a re gi 
oF a is fea 8 eek = a =z | 3 
ra ~ a5 
Zz elmeilal|lal a a 42 | a 
M. peninsulz. 
10 | Grand Plains Bayou, 
MISS 52! xe cadiacssrsisise 2.53 | 4.16 | 5.56 | 2.76 | 3.28 | Iv-i, 9 i,16 | 38 
7 | Pensacola, Fla....-..- 2.03 | 4.15 | 5.05 | 3.02 | 3.02 | vi-i, 9 1,16 | 39 
LON Anclote, Fla... . cc. << 2.53 | 3.75 | 4.98 | 2.91 | 3.17 v-i, 9 1,15 | 39 
10 | Tarpon Springs, Fla..| 2.53 | 3.58 | 5 3.35 | 3.22 y-i, 9 1,15 | 39 
4 | Wechawatchee, Fla-.-| 3.03 | 4 5.18 | 3+ | 3+ y-i, 8 1,16 | 39 
10 | Titusville, Fla........ | 2.22 | 4.14 | 4.93 | 2.95 | 3.25 v-i, 9 {,16 | 38 
General average 
of50specimens.) 2.56 | 3.95 | 5.10 | 3 3.18 y-i, 9 i,16.| 39 
M. peninsule atrimentis. 
10 | Lake Monroe, Fla....| 1.80 | 4.31 | 5.90 | 8+ | 3 y-i, 10 1,17 | 39 
3 | St. Johns River, Pa- 
laitkay Va. S. ss. e sci 2.16 | 4.19 | 6.19 | 3+ 3 y-i, 10 ron bys 4() 
10 | South Lake, Titus- 
: Ville HS) csc scedsces 2.53 | 4.07 | 5.71 | 8+ | 3 v-i, 9 i,16 |} 38 
7 | Salt Lake, near Tar- 
pon May. 222 s5ce5- 1.90} 4 5.44 | 2.97 | 3.64 y-i, 9 i,16 | 38 
General average 
of380specimens.| 2.09 | 4.27 | 5.86 | 3— | 3+ v-i, 9 i,17 | 39 
M. audens. 
5 | Vicksburg, Miss......- 1.82 | 4.25 | 6+ 2.76 | 3.16 Iv-i, 10 i,19 | 40 
1 | Memphis, Tenn....... 2 4.16 | 6 3 3+ 1v-i, 10 1,19} 41 
1 | Edwards, Miss.......- 1.50 | 4 6 3.60 | 3+ v-i, 9 i,19 | 40 
General average 
of 7 specimens.| 1.80 | 4.20 | 6 PAST IT (al eee 1y-i, 10 i,18 | 40 
Menidia beryllina (Cope). 
Chirostoma beryllinum Cope, Transactions American Philosoph. Society, 1866, 403. 
Menidia beryllina, Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis, 408, 1888; H. M. Smith, Bulletin U.S. Fish Commis- 
sion, 1890, 70, pl. xx, fig. 2. 
Menidia gracilis, Jordan & Evermann, Check-list, 331, 1896, and Fishes of North and Middle America, 
797, 1896. 
Menidia gracilis beryllina, Jordan & Evermann, Check-list, 331, 1896; Fishes of North and Middle 
America, 797, 1896. 
This species was first described by Cope from the Potomac River near Washing- 
ton in 1866; but strangely enough there are no subsequent records of its having been 
taken in that neighborhood until H. M. Smith, in 1890, mentions haying taken it 
near Washington, and that it occurs in large numbers in the Lower Potomac; it 
is recorded in 1891 by the same writer from Pasquotank River and Edenton Bay, 
North Carolina; then in 1894 by Kendall & Smith from Woods Hole and New 
Bedford, Mass., and it is mentioned in the same paper as being common at Washing- 
