NOTROPIS 145 



of the Big Muddy. It is closely allied to N. whipplii, and appears, 

 in fact, to intergrade with that species, of which it is the repre- 

 sentative to the south and west. 



This active minnow loves to play in the swift ripples of rocky 

 streams, where its presence may be betrayed to the watchful ob- 

 server by flashes of rainbow color from a fish not otherwise visible. 

 It spawns from the middle of May to the last of June. The breed- 

 ing males are excessively tuberculate, with a double row of tubercles 

 bordering the upper lip, a triangular or crescentic patch about 

 each eye, two longitudinal rows along the middle of the top of the 

 head, and several shorter ones upon the sides. The scales of the 

 nape and those of the sides of the body are also tuberculate, espe- 

 cially those on the caudal peduncle between the anal fin and the lat- 

 eral line. Sometimes all the scales are tuberculate, with the ex- 

 ception of a few in front of the ventrals, on the lower part of the 

 sides and belly. We have even seen females with small tubercles 

 upon the head. , 



NOTROPIS WHIPPLII (Girard) 

 (steel-colored minnow; silverfin; lemon-fin) 



Girard, 1856, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 198 (Cyprinella) . 



G., VII, 254 (Leuciscus spilopterus) ; J. & G., 178 (Cliola), 179 (C. analostoma) ; 

 M. V., 58; J. & E., I. 278; N., 47 (Cyprinella galacturus) ; J., 57 (Photogenis 

 analostanus) ; F., P., I. 6, 87 (Photogenis analostanus) ; P., 77; L., 17. 



This species, which presents a general resemblance to JV. lutrensis, 

 is generally distinguishable from that species by its more elongate, lan- 

 ceolate form, by its longer and more pointed head, and, in most cases, 

 by the black spot on the posterior membranes of the dorsal fin (a mark 

 absent in typical specimens of lutrensis). Length 3 to 4 inches; 

 depth 3.3 to 4 in length in adults ; females and young more 

 slender, the depth 4.3 to 5 ; caudal peduncle ' slightly shorter than 

 head, its depth 1.7 to 2.2 in its length. Color leaden silvery over 

 olive in females, somewhat bluish forward and above. Males bright steel- 

 blue to purplish above, dull silvery white or greenish on lower part of 

 sides and on belly ; steel color most prominent behind and above opercles 

 and above lateral line backward along sides to tip of caudal peduncle; 

 cheeks and opercles metallic purplish blue; iris'brassy, purplish outward 

 above; scales of sides with dusky bluish lines parallel to their edges, pro- 

 ducing the appearance of a very regular and sharply defined lozenge- 

 blocked reticulation* over the entire side, this appearance being aided by 



*These lozenges of darker blue outline on a purplish or steel-blue ground form 

 one of the most noticeable features of the coloration of this species, distinguishing 

 it ordinarily with readiness from N. lutrensis, in which, except in some specimens 

 from the more northward part of its range, the cross-hatching on the scales is 

 indistinct. 



