FISHES OF COLORADO 55 



Ptychocheilus lucius Girard 

 "White Salmon" of the Colorado 



Ptychocheilus lucius Girard, Proc.Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., p. 2og, 1836 (Rio Colorado); Jordan, 

 Bull. U.S. Fish Com., Vol. IX, p. 28, 1889 (Gunnison and Uncompahgre rivers at Delta). 



Body elongate, subterete and but slightly compressed, head long; depth 5 to 

 S-S, head 3.25 to almost 4, usually about 3.5, in the length to the base of the 

 caudal; eye small, 6 to 8 in the head, about 2. 25 in the snout; mouth terminal 

 and large, arigle of the mouth reaching the level of the anterior margin of the eye 

 or beyond; dorsal fin high, length of its base less than that of its longest ray, base 

 of the first ray of the dorsal posterior to the level of the ventrals, dorsal rays 9; 

 pectorals short, not reaching the ventrals; ventrals barely if at all reaching the 

 anal opening; anal fin short, of 9 rays; caudal peduncle rather deep, not abruptly 

 narrowed just in front of the base of the caudal, least depth of the caudal peduncle 

 about 3 in the head; basal fulcra of the caudal fin not strongly developed; caudal 

 fin broad and deeply forked; scales small and loosely imbricate, lateral line 

 decurved, of 80 to go scales; size very large, reaching a length of 5 feet and a weight 

 of almost 100 pounds. 



Color dusky greenish dorsaUy, sides somewhat silvery, ventral parts dirty 

 yellow; fins hyaline, reddish or yellowish in the spring; young, with a distinct 

 caudal spot and a dusky lateral stripe often margined below with lighter. 



This remarkable fish, the largest of the North American Cyprinids, occurs in 

 Colorado only in the Grand, White and Yampa rivers and their tributaries. 

 Because of the large size of this species, even though it be but a minnow, it is a 

 valuable food fish. 



Ptychocheilus lucius is a species of the Colorado River drainage. 



Colorado specimens. — University Museum: Uncompahgre River, August, 1889 (115 mm.), 

 No. 367; State Teachers' College Museum: Delta, A. E. Beardsley. 



Genus GILA Baird and Girard 

 The Bony Tails 

 Gila Baird and Girard, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., p. 368, 1853. 



Moderately large carnivorous Cyprinids; alimentary canal short; peritoneum 

 dusky; no maxillary barbel ; mouth oblique and large; base of the first ray of the 

 dorsal posterior to the level of the ventrals; basal fulcra of the caudal fin large and 

 prominent; caudal peduncle narrowed just before the caudal fin; scales small, 

 loosely imbricated, mid-dorsal and mid-ventral regions often incompletely scaled 

 or naked. The species of this genus are known only from the Colorado River 

 drainage and are quite different from the ordinary Cyprinids. A single species 

 is found in Colorado. 



