FISHES OF MINNESOTiL 21 



Genus ICTIOBUS Rafinesque. 

 KEY TO THE SPECIES OF ICTIOBUS. 



A. Mouth large, protractile forwards; lips thin. . . cyprinella, 



AA. Mouth smaller, protractile downwards; lips rather thick. . buballlS. 



Ictiobus cyprinella (Cuvier & Valenciennes). Common Buflfalo-fish. Red- 

 mouthed Buffalo. 



Body heavy, compressed but only moderately so for a buffalo, 

 back much curved; head large and thick; mouth nearly horizon- 

 tal, large and constructed as to be drawn forward rather than 

 downwards; lips little developed; pharyngeal teeth weak; air- 

 bladder in two parts; opercle coarsely striate and large; color of 

 both body and fins dark; scales large, 7-37 to 41-6. Head contained 

 3^ times in the body. Depth 3 in the length. Dorsal fin with 27 

 to 29 rays. Anal 9. Length 3 feet. A fish which when mature 

 weighs from 20 to 40 pounds. Rather common in the large streams 

 and some of the lakes. A specimen was examined in the hotel at 

 Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in August, 1894, by Woolman & Cox, 

 which had been taken in the vicinity and which weighed thirty 

 pounds; a buffalo which is probably this species was reported very 

 common in Big Stone Lake in 1892. Many interesting reports are 

 heard of the immense numbers of large buffalo that have been seen 

 and taken in Lake Washington near Mankato during the spawning 

 season, and the same report comes from the Okabena lakes at 

 Worthington. Whether the fishes referred to in these reports were 

 Ictiobus cyprinella is uncertain, but the probabilities are that they 

 were this species. 



Note — The specific characters of the buffalo are as yet rather 

 uncertain, and the number collected in Minnesota so far is quite 

 small, consequently the descriptions given here may need altera- 

 tion after further collection and study. 



Ictiobus bubalus (Rafinesque). Sucker-mouthed Buffalo. Small-mouthed 

 Buftalo. 



Mouth smaller than in the preceding and capable of being drawn 

 downward rather than forward; bod}' more compressed than in 

 the preceding; back much elevated; head not very blunt; pharyn- 

 geal teeth rather strong, increasing in size downward; longest 

 dorsal ray longer than the base of the dorsal fin. Color dark or 

 dusky, but the fins not darker than the body. Eye 4 to 5 in the 

 head. Head 4 in length. Depth 2f . Dorsal with 29 rays. Scales 

 8-39-6. So far as known specimens have been taken only in the 

 Minnesota River at Mankato (Cox, 1892), but it is probably common 

 in the larger streams and possibly some of those referred to under 

 7. cyprinella are this species. 



