April, 1910. Fishes of Chicago — Meek a\d Hildebraxd. 239 



eye small, its diameter 8.8 to 10.3 in head. A pair of short nasal bar- 

 bels, cupped at the tips ; caudal fin rounded ; lateral line complete. 



Color dark olive above; lighter on sides and ventral region; the 

 mingling of the darker and lighter forming reticulations on the sides ; 

 dorsal fin with dark band near base and one near tip; sometimes 

 broken into short bars; caudal fin with dark bars; pectoral, ventral, 



Fig. 18. Dog Fish: Bowfin; "John A. Grinole." 

 Amiatus calva Linaxus. (After Forbes and Richardaoa.) 



and anal fins green or greenish ; males with a black spot with yellowish 

 border at base of upper caudal rays; males smaller than the females. 



Length ij^ to 2 feet. 



This species ranges from the Great Lakes to Florida and Texas. 

 It is most abundant in sluggish waters with weedy bottoms. It feeds 

 on fishes, crayfishes, mollusks, and is to some extent a scavenger. It 

 is a game fish of some importance, but though marketed it is regarded 

 as an inferior food fish. It spawns in stagnant water from April to 

 July. Common in all sluggish water in the Chicago area. 



Fox Lake, Illinois; Jackson Park, Chicago, Illinois; Calumet 

 River, Clark, Indiana; Deep River. Liverpool, Indiana. 



Order Nemafognathl. 



The Whiskered Fishes. 



Skeleton bony, the 4 anterior vertebrae coosified; ventral fins 

 abdominal ; dorsal and pectoral fins each with anterior rays modified 

 into a hard spine; subopercle absent; margin of upper jaw formed 

 by premaxillary; maxillary often rudimentary and supporting the 

 base of a barbel ; air bladder with duct ; arterial bulb with a pair of 

 opposite valves; optic nerves do not form a solid chiasma; intestine 

 without spiral valve. 



