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Notes on the Genera 

 Notropis and Fundulus 



DR. R. W. SHUFELDT 



In commenting on the genus Notropis 

 in their ''Fishes of North America," 

 Jordan and Evermann tell us that "As 

 here understood, Notropis contains 

 about ioo species of small Cyprinoids, all 

 of them confined to the streams of North 

 America east of the Rocky Mountains. 

 They are in some respects a degenerate 

 type — probably of comparatively recent 

 origin and perhaps descended from such 

 forms as the European Alburnus and 

 Lcuciscus. They are feeble fishes of 

 small size, none of them of value as food 

 for man, but of great importance as food 

 for the larger predatory fishes, particu- 

 larly the Centrarchidae. The species are 

 highly variable, readily affected by sur- 

 rounding conditions, while the really dis- 

 tinctive characters are few. The identi- 

 fication of species is very difficult, and 

 in the case of young specimens often im- 

 possible" (Part I, p. 255). 



Even the excellent Key to the many 

 species of Notropis given by these au- 

 thors must be used with caution, as the 

 individual variations are sometimes so 

 great. There is a large literature upon 

 them, as any one will appreciate who 

 undertakes to study our "Shiners," the 

 common name given to the species of the 

 genus Notropis. There may be as many 

 as 125 or 130 species and sub-species of 

 the genus Notropis in our fish fauna, but 

 personally I have examined very few of 

 them. 



Last summer I obtained from the Po- 

 tomac River, near Washington, about 

 thirty living specimens of a sub-species 

 of Notropis, which seemed to agree with 

 N. hudsonius amdrus of Girard ( Proc. 



Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1866, Potomac 

 River at Washington) ; but I am not quite 

 positive of this, and for reasons given 

 further on. I succeeded in making a 

 photograph from life of an' average-sized 

 specimen, and a reproduction of my pho- 

 tograph is here given in Figure 1. 

 Notropis hudsonius is a species known 

 in the vernacular as the "Spawn-eater," 

 the "Spot-tailed Minnow," and the 

 "Shiner." Doubtless these names are 

 also applied to N. h. a mar us. Washing- 

 ton fishermen use large numbers of them 

 during the black bass season, fishing in 

 the Potomac. 



This sub-species doubtless intergrades 

 with typical specimens of N. hudsonius; 

 while the latter always exhibits a black 

 caudal spot, and this may be altogether 

 absent in TV", h. amarus. Doctor Abbott 

 contended that the last-named fish was a 

 distinct species; and I am inclined to 

 believe it is — the intergrading notwith- 

 standing. 



They are extremely active and nervous 

 little fishes, and upon these accounts they 

 are very difficult to photograph when liv- 

 ing and in the best possible condition. I 

 am sure it has not been done very often. 

 Indeed, I have not seen a photograph of 

 this fish published heretofore anywhere. 

 It will be observed that the "caudal spot" 

 in my photograph is entirely absent. 

 This group stands in need of much fur- 

 ther study and investigation. 



My attempts to keep this species of 

 shiner in a small aquarium failed, al- 

 though I took considerable pains with 

 them; they became too nervous and ex- 

 cited to eat any sort of food, and soon 



