344 REPORT OF THE 



Head 4%; depth 31^; eye 3^; D. 16; A. 19; scales 50; scutes 21 + 14; giU- 

 rakeis 30 to 40 below angle of arch. 



Body rather deep and compressed, heavy forward ; head short, nearly as deep 

 as long, the profile somewhat steep and slightly depressed above the nostrils ; 

 maxillary extending to posterior margin of pupil; lower jaw projecting; upper 

 jaw emarginate ; eye large, somewhat longer than snout ; gillrakers shorter and 

 stouter than in the Shad ; lower lobe of caudal longer than the upper ; dorsal 

 fin a little higher than long, its height 6^ in length of body. 



Color, bluish above, the sides bright silvery ; indistinct dark stripes along the 

 rows of scales ; a blackish spot behind the opercle ; peritoneum pale. 



I\^d I\'mnOU, — Umbra limi (Kirtland). 



The Utnbridce or Mud Minnows are a small family of 3 or 4 species of little car- 

 nivorous fresh-water fishes, living in mud or among weeds at the bottom of clear, 

 cold, sluggish streams and ponds. They are extremely tenacious of life and will 

 live a long time in damp mud or even entirely out of water. There is but 

 a single genus and two American species, the present one being the more com- 

 mon and better known of the two. The Mud Minnow (or Dogfish, as it is some- 

 times called, under the impression that it is the young of Amia calva), is found 

 from Quebec to Minnesota and southward to Missouri and Kentucky. Northward 

 it is abundant throughout the region of the Great Lakes in weedy streams and 

 ditches. "A locality which, with the water perfectly clear and appearing entirely 

 destitute of fish, will perhaps yield a number of Mudfish on stirring up the 

 mud at the bottom and drawing a seine through it. Ditches in the prairies 

 of Wisconsin, or mere bog-holes, apparently affording lodgment to nothing beyond 

 tadpoles, may thus be found filled with Mudfish." (Baird.) 



The Mudfish reaches a length of 3 or 4 inches and is the hardiest and most 

 tenacious of life of all bait minnows. So persistently do they cling to life that 

 it is really difficult to kill them. In the live-box (for which any old barrel 

 answers admirably), minnow-bucket, or on the hook, it will live indefinitely ; 

 indeed, unless seriously bitten or swallowed outright by some game-fish, a single 

 Mudfish can be fished with for several days if not for the entire season ! Its 

 unexcelled tenacity of life is, however, about the only thing it has to recommend 

 it as a bait minnow. Its somber, unattractive color prevents it being readily seen 

 by game-fishes, and its tendency to pull down or get to the bottom also militates 



