FISHES OF MINNESOTA 15 



Order CYCLOGATSOIDEA. 



Family AMIIDJ;. The Bow- fins. 



Body stout and covered with heavy, smooth edged scales ; head 

 l)luntish, bones of. the upper portion thick and strong. Mouth 

 rather large, horizontal; jaws with two kinds of teeth, the larger 

 and outer conical; vomer, palatines and pterygoids with small 

 teeth; anterior nostril with a barbel. Dorsal fin very long and not 

 liigh; tail heterocercal; air-bladder somewhat lung-like and con- 

 nected with the pharynx; no pyloric caeca. But one species known. 



Genus AMIA Linnaeus. 



Amia calva Linnseus. Mud-fish. Dog-fish. Bow-fin. "John A, Grindle." 

 Lawyer. 



Color, dark olive; sides with dark reticulations; male with a 

 round black spot, which is edged with yellow, on the base of the 

 <;audal fin ; lower jaw with dark spots. Head 3f . Depth 4 to 4^. 

 Dorsal with 42 to 53 rays. Anal 10 to 12. Lateral line with 65 to 

 70 scales. The female reaches a length of two feet, but the male 

 does not exceed eighteen inches. A very common and voracious fish 

 in all the lakes and streams of Minnesota, especially the northern 

 part. Specimens have been recorded as follows: Lakes and 

 streams of the upper Mississippi, very common (Nat. Hist. Surv., 

 1892-3); Le Sueur River near Mankato (Cox, 1893). 



Order NEMATOGNATHI. 



Family SILURIDjE. The Cat fishes. 



Body somewhat elongated, and instead of scales, covered with 

 a soft, slimy skin; mouth broad, the upper jaw in front formed by 

 the premaxillaries; teeth numerous, slender and weak and ar- 

 ranged in bands ; maxillary ending in a long barbel ; six other bar- 

 l)els on the head. In our species, two dorsal fins, the posterior adi- 

 pose. The dorsal and pectoral fins usually with a stout, sharp 

 spine; air-bladder large. Four genera and ten to twelve species 

 -will be found in Minnesota. 



