A LIST OF THE NATIVE FISHES OF ILLINOIS,WITH KEYS. 



By Thomas Large. 



Ab this list is intended particularly for the "man who goes a-fish- 

 ing," it is desirable that it contain as much information as possible 

 and at the same time be free from all unnecessary technical detail. 

 Although we might wish entirely to avoid scientific names, this is 

 obviously impossible when we remember that at least sixty of our fishes 

 have no common names, and that such names as bass, perch, stone- 

 roller, horny-head, grindle, stickleback, etc., all have more than one 

 application, the same name being applied not infrequently to very 

 different fishes. 



Of our species about eighty never attain a greater adult length than 

 five inches. These are very commonly taken for the young of other 

 fishes, and are referred to indiscriminately as "minnows" by the unin- 

 formed. It is thought that no apology is needed for directing at- 

 tention to these smaller members of our fish fauna and including 

 them in a list of the native fishes of Illinois. 



Statements concerning distribution and other data made use of in 

 this list are, with a very few exceptions, based upon collections made 

 in Illinois by the State Laboratory of Natural History, at Urbana. 



In the use of the keys allowance must be made for individual 

 variations, which are frequently considerable. No determination by 

 the key alone should be thought of as final, but only as leading to a 

 description with which the specimen may be compared. As Jordan's 

 "Manual of Vertebrates" (5th to 8th editions) is probably more acces- 

 sible than any other previously published list, comparison with descrip- 

 tions found there is suggested, and to facilitate such comparison 

 references to the species numbers of that list are given when 

 the nomenclature has been changed. The nomenclature employed 

 in this paper is that of Bulletin No. 47 of the United States 

 National Museum. 



