118 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 



[54.] 3. Cyprinus (Catastomus) Sueurii. (Rich.) The Picconou. 



Catastomus Le Sueurii*. Richardson, Fr. Journ., p. 772. ^ra. 1823. 

 Picconou. Voyageurs. Wawpawhaw-Keeshew. Crees. 



This handsome species was observed by us only in Pine-Island Lake, lat. 54°, 

 long. 110"; but it is not unknown mother parts of the fur-countries, though much 

 more rare than the two preceding species. It may be at once distinguished from 

 them by the size and lustre of its scales and the form of its lips, as well as by the 

 anatomical peculiarity of having its air-bladder divided into three portions. There 

 seems to be considerable variety in the form of the air-bladder in this sub-genus ; 

 in C. macrolepidotus of Le Sueur it has four divisions ; but in the majority of the 

 species only two. The habits of the Picconou are the same as those of the pre- 

 ceding species. It spawns in June. 



DESCRIPTION 

 Of recent specimens at Cumberland House, April, 1820, revised from prepared ones. 



Colour. — Back, sides, and gill-covers wood-brown, reflecting when opposed to the light 

 many brilliant tints, in which emerald-green and gold-yellow predominate ; bases of the scales 

 bluish-grey, producing an appearance of reticulation ; belly reddish-white. The dorsal has the 

 hue of the back with a reddish margin, the other fins are almost entirely red. 



Scales large, quadrangular with parallel sides and irregularly curved ends : their length 

 and breadth nearly equal. Except in the pectoral region, where they are small, their size 

 when in situ appears nearly the same over the whole body : the vertical height of their un- 

 covered portion considerably exceeds its length. A linear inch measured longitudinally on the 

 sides includes three scales, but vertically only two. There are 47 scales on the lateral-line, 

 and about 10 in a vertical line under the dorsal. A scale detached from near the lateral-line 

 above the ventrals measures eight lines and a half in length, and seven and a half in width. 

 The lateral-line turns up decidedly at the anal as in C. Hndsonius. 



Form more compressed than in the preceding species. Profile oblong, having the greatest 

 height, (which is about one-fourth of the total length, including the caudal,) at the beginning 

 of the dorsal. The head is smaller than in either of the preceding species, forming scarcely 

 the sixth of the total length. The very small mouth is farther back than in C. Hudsonius, 

 being, when the jaws are retracted, an inch behind the tip of the rather narrow snout, and just 

 even with it when they are protruded. The lips, instead of being papillated, are furrowed 

 vertically in a very regular and beautiful manner. The palate and gullet resemble the same 

 parts in C. Hudsonius, but are smaller, the comminuting apparatus being more delicate, and 

 the oesophagus remarkably contracted at its origin. 



* The original specific name has been altered by dropping the prefixed article, as being more agreeable to the usual 

 custom. 



