314 REPORT OF THE 



rounded tubercles. In no other Cyprinoid are the nuptial appendages so extensively 

 developed. 



This species is extremely variable, the young being very different in appearance 

 from adult males. The Stone-roller attains a length of 5 to 8 inches. It is a species 

 of wide distribution, its range extending from central New York westward through 

 the Great Lakes region to Wyoming, and south to Tennessee and Texas, usually 

 abundant everywhere in deep quiet pools in small streams. It spawns in the spring, 

 when it may be found running up the smallest brooks. It prefers water that is not 

 too cold and will not therefore be found in the coldest mountain streams. In the 

 State of New York it is doubtless common in all the smaller streams except in the 

 mountainous regions. 



As a bait minnow the Stone roller does not occupy a high rank. The chief dififi- 

 culty is that it is not a hardy fish and dies too readily when confined in the live-box, 

 the minnow bucket, or on the hook. Its scales come off easily and the fish seems 

 peculiarly susceptible to the attacks of Saprolegnia, a fungus which shows itself in 

 fluffy white masses on the body of the fish. When placed upon the hook its dispo- 

 sition is to bear down toward the bottom and if there is vegetation in the water the 

 minnow is apt to tangle the hook. For still fishing the Stone-roller is therefore not 

 a very satisfactory bait minnow. It is better used in trolling. 



I^Cd-bdlicd D^CC, — CJirosoinus crytJirogaster Rafinesque. 



Three or four species have been described as belonging to the genus Chrosonius, 

 but only one of them, the Red-bellied Dace, occurs in the waters of New York. 



In this minnow the air-bladder is above the alimentary canal, as is usual among 

 fishes, the intestine is usually more than twice the length of the body, the teeth are 

 one-rowed, with the grinding surface well developed, and the peritoneum (lining mem- 

 brane of the body cavity) is black or blackish. The head is equal to the depth and 

 each is one-fourth the length of the fish. The body is oblong, little compressed, and 

 tapering each way from the middle; head rather pointed; mouth moderate, ter- 

 minal, oblique, the jaws about equal ; fins rather small, the dorsal and anal high and 

 short, 7 rays in the former and 8 in the latter; caudal long; scales quite small, 

 firmly attached, the formula being 16-85-10; lateral line developed for less than 

 half the length of the body. 



Color, brownish olive, with a dusky dorsal line and often some blackish spots ; 2 

 black lateral bands nearly parallel, the one from the upper angle of the opercle 

 straight to the caudal, sometimes broken into spots behind, the lower broader, 

 extending from snout through eye, curved downward along the belly and extending 



