26 PRELIMINARY REPORT 



and streams in the vicinity of Mankato and in Southwestern Minn. 

 (Cox, 1891-5) ; Big Stone Lake and the Upper Minnesota Eiver and 

 tributaries (Woolman & Cox, 1892); Bed Eiver of the North and 

 tributaries (Woolman, 1892, Report U. S. Fish Comm., 1893); Lake 

 of the Woods and tributaries (Woolman & Cox, 1894). 



Family CYPRINIDJE. The Minnows. 



Head scaleless, lips thin, mouth never sucker-like. Anal fin 

 short; dorsal with not more than ten rays; ventral fins inserted 

 far back on the abdomen, jaws toothless; sometimes 2 to 4 barbels, 

 but these generally absent. Pharyngeal teeth well developed and 

 important in noting specific characters, the number of pharyngeal 

 teeth small, arranged in one or two rows; no adipose fin; air-blad- 

 der usually large and in two parts. 



Nearly all fishes of small size, the number of species being very 

 large and diflScult to determine, owing to their likeness in structure, 

 color and other characters. In the spring the males of many spe- 

 cies assume rich colors which they do not have at other times; 

 their snouts become covered with tubercles and, in some species, 

 more blunt and are thus so disguised that they are thought by 

 many fishermen to be different species.. Every collector has lis- 

 tened to the description of some "peculiar" fish which is said to have 

 been found but once or twice in the given region, and then only in 

 spring time, which fish usually proves to be none other than the 

 common "Blunt-nosed Minnow," PimepJiales notatus, which was ar- 

 rayed in its breeding costume. The cultivated Carp (Gypriwus 

 carpio Linnaeus) and the Gold-flsh {Carassius auratus Linnaeus), 

 both of which have been introduced from Europe, belong to this 

 family. 



