BLUE DARTER. 979 



Body rather stout and compressed ; head large ; month moderate, nearly horizontal ; 

 vomer with testh ; upper jaw not protractile; scales rather large, the lateral line com- 

 plete posteriorly, usually on about two-thirds of the length of the body ; gill-mem- 

 branes scarcely connected ; dorsal spines nine to eleven, their height about two-thirds 

 that of the soft, rays; second liorsal rather larger than first and larger than anal ; anal 

 with two well developed spines, the first usually the longer ; vertebrae 15-18 ; size 

 rather small ; general pattern of coloration vertical blue bars on an olivaceous or 

 orange ground. The species are quite numerous. 



151, PcECiLiCHTHYS VIRGATU8 Jordan. 



PmoiUchtliya virgatus, Jordan, Proo. U. S. Nat. Mas., 1879. 



Description. — Body slender, formtsd much as in Eiheostoma fidbellare; mouth rather 

 large; head entirely naked ; a naked strip on the nape; preopercle serrulate; humeral 

 region with an unlarged, black scale-like process; lateral line short, straight, greenish; 

 each scale with a dark spot, these forming conspicuous longitudinal stripes along the 

 rows of scales ; D IX, 10 ; A II, 8 ; Lat. 1. 53. Length 9J inches. 



Habitat: Abundant in Camberland River, in Kentucky; probably also in Southern 

 Ohio. 



Habits. — An active inhabitant of clear mountain streams. 



152. PcEciLiCHTHYs CCERULED8 (Storer) Agasaiz. 



Blue Dartep; Rainboir-fish ; Soldier-fish. 



Eiheostoma cceruleus, Storer, Proo. Boat. Soo. Nat. Hist., ii, 1845, 47. 



Pcedliehthys easruleus, Agassiz, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., i, 1863, 3, and of many writers. 



Astatichthya cceruleus, Vaillant, Eecherches, 1873, 107. 



PoeoiKchthys variatus, Agassiz, Amer. Joarn, Pci. Arts, 1854. 305. — Jordan, Man. Vert., 



2d Ed., 1878, 226. 

 Pcedlosoma erythrogaatrum, Kirtland, Annals of Science, Cleveland, 1854, 4. 

 Pcedliehthys veraiiiolor, Agassiz, Amer. Journ. Soi. Arts, 1854, 304. 

 Poeciloatoma tranaversum, Abbott, Proc Acad, Nat. Sci. Phila., 1860, 326. 

 AstaticMhys pulchellua, Vaillant, Eecherches, 1873, 113. 



Description. — Body robust, rather deep and compressed, the back somewhat elevated; 

 head large, compressed, somewhat pointed ; month moderate, terminal, oblique, the 

 lower jaw scarcely included, the maxillary reaching front of orbit ; neck and breast 

 usually naked ; fins all large, dorsal fins usually slightly connected ; scales rather large ; 

 lateral line straight ; males olivaceous, tessellated above, the spots running together 

 into blotches ; iack without black lengthwise stripes; sides with about twelve indigo-blue 

 bars running obliquely downwards and backwards, most distinct behind, separated by 

 bright orange interspaces ; caudal fin deep orange, edged with bright blue ; anal flu 

 orange, with deep blue in front and behind ; soft dorsal chiefly orange, blue at base and 

 tip ; spinous dorsal crimson at base, then orange, with blue edgings ; ventral bluish, 

 often deep indigo ; cheeks blue ; throat and breast orange ; females much duller, with 

 blue or red, the vertical fins barred or checked; young variously marked; head 3i; 

 depth 4i ; D. X, 12 ; A. II, 7 ; scales 5-45-8 ;• the lateral line developed on about 30 to 

 35. Length 2i inches. 



