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THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XL VI 



and early summer. No tuberculate females of either 

 species have been found. 



The crested chub (Hybopsis kentuckiensis) is remark- 

 able for the adipose-like frontal crest of the adult male in 

 the spring, somewhat suggestive of the hooded seal. 

 This species reaches ten inches in length, and examples 

 half that size were taken with tuberculate muzzles, though 

 without the crest. 



The suckers are represented by 14 genera and about 

 77 species, mostly in North America, though several occur 

 in eastern Asia. The following notes will show the con- 

 ditions in those I have examined. 



The carp-suckers (Carpiodes) occur in our waters 

 mostly west of the Alleghanies. In several species (C. 

 illfformis, C. velifer and C. cuti.satiscriitus) all have 

 tuberculated muzzles or snouts in the spring males. In 

 fact the last of these was so named by Cope for the 

 fanciful resemblance of this very character to ' ' goose- 

 flesh. " 



The black horse {Cycleptus elongatus) has the body 

 finely tuberculated over its entire upper surface in the 

 spring. The upper surfaces of the paired fins are also 

 tuberculated. Only large or old examples were 

 examined. 



Our common fine-scaled sucker (Catostomus commer- 

 sonnii) is the only one of its genus east of the Alleghanies 

 I have found tuberculate. It occurs all over our Middle 

 Atlantic States. The tubercles appear within a very 

 great range of age. Examples three inches long were 

 found with well developed milt and roe, like those nearly 

 two feet in length. The smallest examples with 

 tubercles, which were only on the lower caudal peduncle 

 surface, lower caudal lobe and anal fin, were four inches 

 long. Others, nearly of the maximum size attained by 

 the species, were found with exactly the same arrange- 

 ment of the tubercles. Examples with the entire upper 

 surface of the body and head, besides the dorsal and 

 paired fins tuberculated, were always over a foot in 



