SAND DARTEK. 965 



along the region'of the lateral line and on the tail, sometimeB wanting on the back or 

 belly ; lateral line complete ; gill membranes considerably united ; head scaly or naked ; 

 no ventral plates ; the belly naked ; dorsal fins moderate, abont eqnal to the anal fin 

 and to each other; dorsal with abont ten spines; anal spine single, weak; vertebrae 

 22 + 22 {A. pelhwiia) ; darters of moderate or rather large siz»; inhabiting the sandy 

 bottoms of clear streams, where they bury themselves entirely excepting the eyes and 

 snout ; coloration translucent, with bright reflections. 



132, Ammoceypta pelltjcida (Baird) Jordan. 

 Sand Darter. 



"lEtheottoma pelUieidimi, Baird, Mas., 1853." 



Plmrolepis pelhtoidus, Agassiz, Bull. Mns. Comp, Zool., 1863, 5. — Jokdan and Copeland, 



Am. Naturalist, 1877 (February) 86.— Jordan, Man. Vert., 2d ed., 1878, 219.— Forbes, 



Bull, Ills, Lab. Nat. Hist , ii, 1878, and of authors generally. 



Description. — Body elongate, nearly cylindrical, the flesh pellucid in life, but of firm, 

 wiry texture ; head long ; cheeks, opercles, and temporal region scaly ; opercular spine 

 small ; region in front of dorsal mostly naked ; scales little ctenoid, nearly saiooth to 

 the touch when wet, covering the sides of the body, loosely imbricated, and more or 

 less imbedded in the skin; those along lateral line and caudal peduncle, best developed ; 

 maxillary barely reaching to opposite the large eye ; eyes high up, separated by a nar- 

 row, grooved space ; pectorals short, reaching tips of ventrals, half way to vent ; trans- 

 lucent scales with fine, black dots ; a series of small squarish olive or bluish blotches 

 along the back, and another along the sides, connected by a gilt line ; D. X-I, 9 ; A. I 

 8 ; Lat. 1 75 to 80 ; head 4i ; depth 7 ; length 3 inches. 



Habitat, Ohio Valley and Upper Mississippi, Pennsylvania to Minnesota and Missouri ; 

 abundant in clear streams with sandy bottoms. 



Diagnosis. — The slim, translucent, cylindrical body distinguishes this 

 at sight from all other Ohio fishes. 



Habits. — ^This extremely curious little fish lies buried in the sand in 

 the bottoms of shallow streams, with only its snout and eyes uncovered. 

 It feeds upon the larva of insects and other small organisms. For a full 

 account of its habits see American Naturalist for February, 1877, p. 86. 

 It has, of course, no economic value of any sort, but as an aquarium fish 

 it is the most attractive which our waters yield. 



Two other species of this genus are found southwestward, and may 

 perhaps occur in Ohio. These are A. beani Jor., known by its naked 

 head and nearly naked body, and A. asprella Jor., known by its small, 

 rough scales, there being about one hundred in the lateral line. 



Genus 72. BOLEOSOMA. DeKay. 



Boltosoma, DbKat, New York Fauna, Fishes, 1842, 20. 

 Arlina, Girabd, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1859, 64. 

 Estrtlla, Girard, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1869, 65. 



Type, Boleosoma teaaellata, DeKay ; Etheoatoma olmstedi, Storer. 



Etymology, bolts, dart ; soma, body. 



