74 NEW YORK state; museum 



the anterior wholly adnate to the isthmus, the posterior free 

 behind; isthmus scaleless; gill rakers stoutish, very short; scales 

 of moderate size, rather firm, cycloid, with a membranous 

 border; lateral line present; dorsal fin long and low, nearly 

 uniform; the posterior rays not much higher than the others; 

 tail somewhat heterocercal (more so in the young), convex 

 behind; no fulcrums; anal fin short and low; pectoral and ventral 

 fins short and rounded, the ventrals nearer anal than pectorals; 

 vertebrae amphicoelian or double concave, as usual among 

 fishes, none of them specially modified; abdominal and caudal 

 parts of the vertebral column subequal; air bladder cellular, 

 bifid in front^ lunglike, connected by a glottis with the pharynx, 

 and capable of assisting in respiration; stomach with a blind 

 sac; no pyloric caeca; no closed oviduct; intestine with a rudi- 

 mentary spiral valve. Fresh waters of the United States. 

 (After Jordan and Evermann) 



40 Amia calva Linnaeus 



Bow fin; Mudfish 



Amia calva Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. ed. XII, 500, 1766; Gxjnthee, Cat. Fish. 

 Brit. Mus. VIII, 325, 1870; De Kay, N. Y. Fauna, Fislies, 270, 1842; 

 Jordan & Gilbeet, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus. 94, 1883; Jordan & 

 Evermann, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus. 113, 1896; Dean, 4th Ann. Rep't, 

 N. Y. Comm. Fish, Game, Forests, 246-56, pi. ^ & $ and fig. I-VIII, 

 1890. 



Amia occidentalis De Kay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 269, pi. XXXIX, fig. 125, 

 1842. 



The mudfish has a well rounded, robust body; head more or 

 less conical; top covered with hard bony plates; body entirely 

 covered with cycloid scales. The mouth is large; maxilla ex- 

 tending far past eye. Depth of body equals three fourths of 

 length of head and is contained slightly more than five times in 

 length of body. Distance from tip of snout to origin of dorsal 

 equals one third of the total length including tail, the dorsal 

 fin beginning over the end of pectoral; length of dorsal base 

 equal to twice length of head; anal base very short, nearly one 

 third of length of head. Strong conical teeth in the jaws; in 

 the lower jaw there is a band of finer teeth behind the outer row 



