FISHES OP NEW YORK 307 



to 46° very few of the eggs were developed, but when it neared 

 60°, in May, better results were secured. May 27, 75,000 young 

 fish were planted in the lake. The eggs were hatched in a box 

 suspended about 4 feet from the bottom in 18 feet of water. 



Family poeciliidae: 



Killifishes 



Genus fundulus Lac^pMe 



Body rather elongate, little elevated, compressed behind; 

 mouth moderate, the lower jaw projecting, jaws each with two 

 or more series of pointed teeth, usually forming a narrow band, 

 bones of the mandible firmly united; scales moderate; gill open- 

 ing not restricted above, the opercle with its margin not adnate 

 to ehoulder girdle; preopercle, preorbital, and mandible with 

 mucous pores; dorsal and anal fins similar, small, or rather 

 large, the dorsal inserted either in front of, above, or behind, 

 the front of anal; ventrals well developed; air bladder present; 

 sexes differing in color, size, < and development of the fins, the 

 anal fin in the male normal; intestinal canal short; first superior 

 pharyngeal without teeth, second with teeth, third and fourth 

 coossified, with teeth. Species very numerous, mostly Ameri- 

 can, inhabiting fresh waters and arms of the sea. They are 

 the largest in size of the cyprinodonts, and some of them are 

 very brightly colored. They are oviparous and feed chiefly on 

 animals. Some of them are bottom fishes, burying themselves 

 in the mud of estuaries; others swim freely in river channels 

 and bays; still others are "top minnows," surface swimmers, 

 feeding on floating insects in swamps and streams. 



153 Fundulus majalis (Walbaum) 

 Bass Killy 



Gobitis majalis Walbaum, Artedi, Gen. Pise. Ill, 12, 1792, Long Island. 

 Esox flamlus Mitchill, Trans. Lit & Phil. Soc. N. Y. I, 439, pi. IV, fig. 



8, 1815, New York. 

 Esox zonatus Mitchill, op. cit. 440, 1815, New York. 



Fundulus fasciaUis De Kay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 216, pi. 31, fig. 98, 1842. 

 Hydrargyra majalis Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss. XVIII, 207, 



1846. 



