384 Series Ostariophysi 
tasteless. Most of the others are flavorless and full of small 
bones. One species, Opsariichthys uncirostris, of Japan is an 
exception in this regard, being a fish of very delicate flavor. 
In America 225 species of Cyprinide are known. One hun- 
dred of these are now usually held to form the single genus 
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’ Fig. 293 —White Chub, Notropis hudsonius (Clinton). Jilpatrick Lake, Minn. 
Notropis.. This includes the smaller and weaker species, from 
two to seven inches in length, characterized by the loss, mostly 
through degeneration, of special peculiarities of mouth, fins, and 
teeth. These have no barbels and never more than four teeth 
Fic. 294.—Silver-jaw Minnow, Ericymba buccata Cope. Defiance, Ohio. 
in the main row. Few, if any, Asiatic species have so small 
a number, and in most of these the maxillary still retains its 
rudimentary barbel. But one American genus (Orthoden) has 
more than five teeth in the main row and none have more than 
two rows or more than two teeth in the lower row. By these 
and other peculiarities it would seem that the American species 
are at once less primitive and less complex than the Old World 
