152 FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



eye contained 3.5 times in length of head and oiice in snout; caudal peduncle high and short, 

 narrowing rapidly toward tail; scales large, 26 to 28 in lateral line, 13 in transverse line, a large 

 scale on shoulder nearly half length of head; intestine nearly 3 times length of body; dorsal 

 origin far in advance of anal, the fin higher in males than in females, the rays 11; anal rays 10. 

 Color: Male, olive green, with a blue sheen anteriorly, the sides, abdomen, opercles, and cheeks 

 salmon, dorsal black with orange anterior margin; anal dusky at base, with orange border; cau- 

 dal dull green, marked by a black bar at tip and another at base; ventrals dusky, with orange 

 margin; pectorals dull orange. Female, light olive, with about 7 or 8 dark crossbars on back 

 and 14 on lower part of sides; whitish or yellowish below; lower jaw blue, cheeks brassy; dorsal 

 dusky, with a black ocellus posteriorly; caudal dull reddish with black basal bar; other fins 

 pale orange, {variegatus, variegated.) 



This showy minnow, which occurs from Massachusetts to Mexico, is abun- 

 dant in the brackish waters of the North Carolina coast. It is a very shy and 

 active species, difficult to catch with a dip-net, however skilfully handled, but 

 taken in large numbers in fine-meshed seines hauled in marshy creeks. It is 

 carnivorous, and in captivity will devour its own young. 



The name "sheepshead minnow", which is used in North Carolina and other 

 states, arises from the resemblance between this fish and the sheepshead, and also 

 from the belief, in some cases, that it is the young of the sheepshead. The full- 

 grown male is 3 inches long and the female is considerably shorter. 



Genus GAMBUSIA Poey. Top Minnows. 



Very small viviparous fishes living in schools in fresh and brackish waters of 

 United States, Mexico, Central America, and West Indies, the males smaller than 

 the females and apparently much less numerous. Body elongate, deeper in 

 female; mouth of moderate size, both jaws with a band of immovable pointed 

 teeth; scales large; fins small, anal fin in male modified into a sexual organ; 

 colors plain. One species found in North Carolina. (Gambusia, from the 

 Cuban word gambusino, meaning "nothing".) 



130. GAMBUSIA AFFINIS (Baird & Girard). 

 Top Minnow. 



Heterandria aifinia Baird & Girard, Proceedings Academy Natural Sciences Philadelphia, 1853, 390; Rio Medina 



and Rio' Salado, Texas. 

 Haplochilua melanops Cope, 18706, 457; "Still water of Neuse basin, Wake County, N. C." 

 Zygonectes atrilatus Jordan & Brayton, 1878, 84; Little River at Goldsboro. Jordan & Gilbert, 1879, 368; 



Neuse River. 

 Gamhusia patruelis, Jenkins, 1885, 11; Beaufort. Jordan, 1886, 26; Beaufort. Jenkins, 1887, 86; Beaufort 



Jordan, 18896, 126, 129; Tar and Neuse rivers. Smith, 1893a, 191, 195, 199; Pasquotank and Roanoke 



rivers and Edenton Bay 

 Oambuaia aifinia, Evermann & Cox, 1896, 305; Neuse River near^Raleigh Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 680. 



pi. cxiii, figs. 289, 289a. 



Diagnosis. — Form plump, depth abruptly reduced posterior to dorsal and anal fins; 

 greatest depth a little less than .25 length; head about .25 length; eye .33 length of head; snout 

 with upward inclination, less marked in male; scales in lateral series 27 to 32, in transverse 

 series 7 to -10; dorsal fin placed far back, its origin posterior to or over last anal ray, dorsal rays 

 7 to 9; anal rays 8 to 10. Color: hght olive, each scale with a dark edge, a fine dark line along 

 sides, sometimes a dark blotch below eye, a dark purplish blotch on side above vent (absent in 

 male), dorsal with 2 or 3 transverse rows of black spots, anal dark-edged (plain in male), cau- 



