Ill 



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

 by which each leading family is represented, will have its interest 

 to the general reader. 



The largest family of our fishes is the perches (Percidse), in- 

 cluding 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 (Cyprinidae), 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 thuieen of the sucker family, four of them 

 buffalo fishes. The sea bass are represented by two species ; the 

 sheepshead by one ; the fresh water sculpins by one ; and the cod- 

 fish family by but one, — the burbot. There are 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 spe- 

 cies, 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 repre- 

 sentative of the shad family, and the hickory sliad. 



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 extremity lying iu the southern 

 (Austroriparian) zoological region, and the northeastern corner cover- 

 ing a portion of the Great Lake area, gives us an unusual number 

 of species whose range does not extend throughout our territory ; 

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

 others exending 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 distribu- 

 tion 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 north- 

 ern part of the State, and do not occur to the southward, those 

 found, that is, in Ilhnois north of the Illinois Eiver 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 beyond the Big Muddy Eiver, or the valley of the 

 Wabash south of Vincennes. 



The third list includes the Southern Illinois species, which extend 

 northward beyond the limits of the region just mentioned, but do 

 not pass the Illinois Kiver to the north beyond La S:ille and 

 Ottawa. 



