American Bait Minnows 



family. While our largest minnows in the Eastern States rarely 

 reach a length of more than a foot or 18 inches, there are 

 species in the West, particularly in the Colorado and Columbia 

 rivers, which attain a length of 4 to 5 feet and a weight of many 

 pounds. And they are as true minnows as are any of our small 

 species. The term "minnow" does not mean a small fish or a 

 young fish, but it means a member of the Cyprinida family of 

 fishes, whatever may be its size. The proper name for young 

 fish is fry. 



Our genera of Cyprinidcr are mostly very closely related and 

 are separated by characters which, although reasonably constant 



are often of slight structural 

 importance. All the species 

 spawn in the spring and 

 early summer and the spring 

 or breeding dress of the male 

 is often peculiar. The top of 

 the head, and often the fins 

 and other parts of the body 

 are covered with small tub- 

 ercles, outgrowths from the 

 epidermis. The fins and low- 

 er portions of the body are 

 often charged with bright 

 pigment, the prevailing col- 

 our of which is red, although 

 in some genera it is satin-white, yellow, or even black. 



Young Cyprinidcr. are usually more slender than adults of the 

 same species, and the eye is always much larger. The young 

 also frequently show a black lateral stripe and caudal spot which 

 the adult may not possess. The fins and scales are often, 

 especially in individuals living in small brooks or in stagnant 

 water, covered with round black specks, which are immature 

 trematodes and should not be mistaken for true colour markings. 

 No progress can be made in the identification of minnows 

 without very careful attention to the teeth, as the genera are 

 largely based on dental characters. The minnows have no teeth 

 in the mouth, the jaws, tongue, vomer and palatines being 

 entirely toothless. The only teeth which they possess are on the 

 pharyngeal bones, and are known as pharyngeal teeth. 



Pharyngeal teeth of the Rcdfin (Notropis 

 cornutus) , which has the teeth 2, 4-4, 2, 

 hooked and with narrow grind- 

 ing surface. 



