ANNOTATED LIST OP FISHES 



117 



and mud, only a minor quantity of organic material being present. The entire intestine, which 

 is slightly over three times the length of the fish, remains virtually the same size throughout, and 

 as it is usually well filled it is probable that food is taken continuously. The inferior mouth of 

 this river carp also indicates it to be a bottom feeder, and as it was found only in the eddies of 

 Pelucia Creek (a rapid stream, where organic matter is rather scarce) it seems probable that large 

 quantities have to be taken in order to provide sufficient nutritive material. 



The species was collected on June 19 and 23 and September 16, and only in Pelucia Creek. 

 The condition of the sexual organs of the fish would indicate that spawning takes place early in 

 the spring. 



11. Hybognathus nuchalis Agassiz 



Silvery minnow 

 Hybognathus nuchalis Agassiz, Amer. Journ. Sci. Arts, XIX, 1855, p. 224. 



The collection contains 55 specimens, ranging from 25 to 110 millimeters (2^-g to 4% inches) in 

 length. This fish, like the river carp, ingests quantities of sand and mud with a comparatively 

 small proportion of fine organic material. This minnow, however, possesses an inferior straining 

 apparatus, but, on the other hand, its intestine is proportionately about twice the length of that of 

 the river carp or six times the length of the fish; and as the tracts (in specimens examined) always 

 were filled throughout, the silvery minnow appears to be capable of little selection of the material 

 it ingests in feeding on the bottom, and comparatively large quantities are taken. 



Spawning occurs in this region principally in June and July. A fish 80 millimeters long con- 

 tained 480 apparently mature eggs approximating Yi millimeter in diameter. This is primarily a 

 stream-dwelling form, and 46 of a total of 55 specimens were taken in Pelucia Creek; the others 

 were from borrow pits at Money, Browning, and near the Grenada Road. 



12. Notemigonus crysoleucas (Mitchill) 



Golden shiner; Roach 

 Cyprinus crysoleucas Mitchill, Rept., Fishes, New York, 1814, p. 23. 



This shiner is represented in the collection by 87 specimens, ranging in length from 57 to 150 

 millimeters (234 to 6 inches). No larger representatives of the species were seen. The specimens 

 are quite uniform in color and structure. Even the depth between young and adults (the young 

 usually being more slender) does not vary greatly, as in 13 specimens, ranging in length from 58 

 to 145 millimeters, the variation of the depth in length of body is only 3.4 to 3.95. The scale 

 formula in the same specimens is 10 or 11-48 to 56-4 or 5; dorsal 9 to 11; anal 13 to 16. 



This species, which locally appears to inhabit only the quiet waters, has a markedly varied diet. 

 Many individuals had fed entirely upon vegetation, consisting of darkened, disintegrating plant 

 fragments, filamentous algaj, or seeds, while others had taken appreciable quantities of minute 

 crustaceans, principally Cladocera. The digestive tract usually is well filled, and it is probable 

 that the shiner has little difficulty in obtaining its food. This tract slightly exceeds the length of 

 the fish. Its walls are thin and the stomachic dilation is hardly perceptible. 



The spawning period is considerably extended. Forbes and Richardson (1908, p. 128) give May 

 as the principal spawning time. Some of the Greenwood specimens, taken in July and August, 

 contain well-developed roe. The ovary of a fish 100 millimeters in length, taken August 17, con- 

 tained approximately 1,500 nearly matured eggs. 



The shiner is a favorite bait for bass in the South. It was taken only in the following small 

 bodies of waters: Borrow pits, Itta Bena Road; borrow pit at Money; borrow pits, Grenada Road; 

 slough at Browning; and slough near Greenwood. 



13. Notropis atherinoides Rafinesque 

 Shiner 



Notropis atherinoides Rafinesque, Amer. Month. Mag., 1818, p. 204. 



We refer to this species with much doubt, one specimen, 36 millimeters (1J^ inches) long, taken 

 in a slough near Money. The specimen does not agree with current descriptions of atherinoides, 

 in that the dorsal fin has 11 rays instead of 8, and it is inserted only slightly behind the base of the 



