FISHES OP MINNESOTA 23 



Carpiodes velifer (Rafinesque). Quill-back. Spear-fish. Skim-back. River Carp. 



Body mucli arched above. First rays of tire dorsal fin long and 

 filamentous, often as long- as the base of the fin; snout conical pro- 

 jecting beyond the mouth, obtusely pointed, anterior nostril behind 

 the front of the upper lip, farther from the tip of the snout than 

 half the diameter of the eye; lower lip A shaped below. 



Coloration generally bright; eye moderate, contained four to five 

 times in the head. Head 3f to 4. Depth 2^ to 3. Dorsal with 26 

 rays. Scales 7-35-5. 



Several specimens have been taken from the Minnesota and Blue 

 Earth Rivers at Mankato (Cox, 1892-3). Pomme de Terre River, 

 Appleton, abundant (Woolman, 1892, Report U. S. Fish Comm., 

 1893, p. 356). 



Genus CYCLEPTUS Rafinesque. 



Cycleptiis elong-atiis (Le Sueur). Black Horse. Gourd-seed Sucker. Mis- 

 souri Sucker. 



Head very small and slender; eye small and located well back 

 from the tip of the snout; mouth entirely inferior and small; snout 

 projecting beyond the mouth; the upper lip thick, covered with 3 

 to 5 rows of tubercles; the lower lip of moderate size. Pharyngeal 

 teeth well developed and increasing in size downward, not very 

 close to each other. Body rather long and not compressed for 

 fishes of this genus; back not greatly elevated. Head contained 

 6 to 8^ times in the length, covered with tubercles in the spring 

 males. Depth contained 4 to 5 times in the length. Scales 55 to 

 60 in the lateral line, which is nearly straight and well developed. 

 Seventeen rows between the dorsal and ventral fins. Dorsal fin 

 with 30 rays. Anal 7 or 8. Eye small, contained 6 or 7 times in 

 the head. Length 2^ feet. 



Probably common in the streams of the Mississippi system, but 

 the only record of its occurrence in the state is in the museum cata- 

 logue of the University of Minnesota where a specimen is recorded 

 as having been taken by W. H. Chambers at Minneapolis, May 15, 

 1880. Some of the specimens in the museum were destroyed by fire 

 in December, 1889, and this was, no doubt, among them, as it can- 

 not now be found. It should be looked for in collections from the 

 Mississippi River. 



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