79 



A cursory summary, in popular terms, of the number of species by which 

 «ach leading family is represented, will have its interest to the ffeneral 

 reader. 



The largest family of our fishes is the perches (Percidae), including the 

 sunfishes, darters, and true perch. It is represented in our fauna by thirty- 

 eight species and sixteen genera, nearly half of which (eighteen species) are 

 the little darters, while the sunfishes (seventeen species) include most of the 

 remainder. The next largest family is that of the true minnows (Cyprinida?), 

 represented by thirty- three species, distributed among sixteen genera. There 

 are twelve species of cat-fishes, four of them the small stone cats, rarely seen 

 by fishermen, and thirteen of the sucker family, four of them buffalo fishes. 

 The sea bass are represented by two species; the sheepshead by one; the 

 freshwater sculpins by one; and the codfish family by but one, — the burbot. 

 There ai'e three of the salmon family within our limits, all from the lake; one 

 "blind'' fish, one trout perch, four toothed minnows, three species of pike, 

 and one each of the mud minnows, eels, sticklebacks, silversides, pirate 

 perches and elassomes. The lampreys are represented by two species, the 

 shovel-fish by one, the sturgeons by two, and the gars by three. We have 

 also the one dog-fish, two moon-eyes, one representative of the shad family, 

 and the hickory shad. 



DISTRIBUTION OF SPECIES. 



A few brief notes respecting the peculiarities of distribution in Illinois will 

 not be without interest. The extraordinary length of this State, from north 

 to south, extending through nearly six degrees of latitude, the southern ex- 

 tremity lying in the southern (Austroriparian) zoological region, and the 

 northeastern corner covering a portion of the Great Lake area, gives us an 

 unusual number of species whose range does not extend throughout our ter- 

 ritory; some being strictly southern, others as strictly northern, and still 

 others extending their range from the north southward, or from the south 

 northward, without actually reaching the opposite extremity of the State. 

 For the purpose of presenting these facts of distribution in a compact and 

 summary manner, I append lists of species peculiar to the different parts of 

 Illinois, so far as our present knowledge extends, it being taken for granted, 

 of course, that my references to distribution relate only to Illinois. 



The first list includes those species which are found in the northern part of 

 the State, and do not occur to the southward, those found, that is, in Illinois 

 north of the Illinois River on the parallel of Ottawa and La Salle. 



The second list includes those northern species which extend more or less 

 to the southward, but do not reach the hilly region of Southern Illinois be- 

 yond the Big Muddy River, or the valley of the Wabash south of Vincennes. 



The third list includes the Southern Illinois species, which extend north- 

 ward beyond the limits of the region just mentioned, but do not pass the Illi- 

 nois River to the north beyond La Salle and Ottawa. 



The fourth;and final list includes those species which are confined to South- 

 ern Illinois, as above limited. 



Two species, Notropis macrolepidotus and Oxygeneum and ^wZverZew^MW, have 

 occurred in the central part of the State, but not in either extremity, but as 

 these are represented only by single specimens each, this fact has no geo- 

 graphical significance. 



Another species Umhri limi, occurs in the two extremities of the State, but 

 not in the center, — a peculiarity explained by the preference of the species 

 for waters not occurring in Central Illinois. 



Northern. 



Lota maculosa, Perca americana, Etheostoma eos, Etheostoma lineolatum, 

 Etheostoma zonale, Hadropterus evides, Gasterosteus inconstans, Esox no- 

 bilior, Fundulus diaphanus, Salvelinus namaycush, Coregonus artedi, Core- 

 gonus clupeiformis, Hyodon alsoides, Squalius elongatus, Couesius prosthe- 

 mius, Notropis anogenus, Hybognathus nubilus, Ammocoetes niger. 



(Eighteen species.) 



