ANNOTATED LIST OF FISHES 



119 



standard length from 36 to 65 millimeters, the following range in measurements and counts resulted: 

 Head, 3.9 to 4.25 in standard length; depth, 3.55 to 4.05; eye, 2.9 to 4 in head; snout, 3.1 to 4; 

 interorbital, 2.4 to 3.35; maxillary, 3.2 to 4; depth of caudal peduncle, 2 to 2.55; pectoral fin, 1.1 to 

 1.45; scales, 6 or 7-37 to 42-4 or 5, from 15 to 18 in advance of dorsal; dorsal rays, 9 or 10; anal 

 rays, 10 or 11. Pharyngeal teeth, 4-4, or about equally 1, 4-4, 1 (nine specimens examined for this 

 character). In color, some of the specimens are much darker than others. This may be due, in 

 large part, to the preservative used, as some of the specimens were preserved in alcohol and others 

 in formaldehyde. In general, the latter are lighter in color, but the caudal spot appears darker 

 and more distinct. This spot is not always equally distinct, and in a few rather poorly preserved 

 specimens it is wanting. 



Holotype. — No. 88379, United States National Museum, standard length 61, total length 

 76 millimeters, Pelucia Creek, Greenwood, Miss., June 19, 1925. 



Paratypes — Thirty-six specimens, 20 to 52 millimeters, obtained with the type; 24 specimens, 

 20 to 60 millimeters, June 23, 1925; 70 specimens, 20 to 53 millimeters, July 6, 1925; 55 specimens, 

 29 to 55 millimeters, September 16, 1925, all from Pelucia Creek; 29 specimens, 19 to 65 millimeters, 

 July 6, 1925, Big Sandy Creek, Valley Hill, Miss. 



The species is named for Dr. C. P. Coogle, of the United States Public Health Service, to whom 

 the authors are indebted for valuable aid in making the collection upon which the present report 

 is based. 



This spot-tailed minnow, according to the contents of 15 stomachs, is primarily insectivorous. 

 A few specimens were found that had taken quantities of sand and mud, but as the intestine is rela- 

 tively short, scarcely equaling the length of the body, this fish seems unsuited to this type of material. 

 Vegetable material, in the form of algae, and plant fragments, too, had been taken in moderate 

 quantities. The basis of the diet in the specimens examined, however, consisted of the frequent 

 water-boatman, Corixa. 



Spawning may take place over an extended period. Gravid fish were collected during July 

 and August. A male, with numerous tubercles on its head, was taken as late as September 16. 

 A full-grown female, 64 millimeters in length, contained approximately 600 mature eggs, and another 

 minnow of 44 millimeters contained less than one-half that number. 



15. Semotilus atromaculatus (Mitchill) 



Creek chub; Horned dace 

 Cyprinns atromaculatus Mitchill, Ainer. Month. Mag., II, 1818, p. 324. 



This minnow appears to be of infrequent occurrence in this region, as it was taken only once 

 when two small specimens were collected in a slough near Browning. These fish were each 41 

 millimeters (1% inches) long. 



The intestinal tracts in the small specimens collected equaled three-fourths of the total length 

 of the fish. One of the fish had ingested hundreds of minute insect eggs and the other had taken 

 several small insects. 



The scarcity of this species may be due to the absence of suitable waters in this locality, for the 

 creek chub is reported to show a distinct preference for creeks, increasing in abundance toward the 

 headwaters of small streams. Due to the flatness of the land, the creeks in the immediate vicinity 

 of Greenwood are rather sluggish, and therefore are not typical of the waters usually frequented. 



16. Ictalurus furcatus (Le Sueur) 



Blue cat; Fulton cat; Mississippi River cat 

 Pimelodus furcatus, Le Sueur, in Cuvier and Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., XV, 1840, p. 136. 



A single young individual, 195 millimeters long, was taken. This species may be distinguished 

 at once from the related species by the long anal fin, which has 36 rays (in our specimen), and its 

 base is contained 1.05 in the predorsal length. It is evident, also, when comparing other Ictalurus 

 of about the same size, that the body is heavier and deeper, the dorsal profile in advance of dorsal 

 is steeper; the eye is smaller, being contained 5.45 times in the head, or 8 times in the predorsal 

 length; the barbels are all shorter and weaker than in other Ictalurus of the same size, the maxillary 

 barbel scarcely reaching the gill opening; and the predorsal distance is much shorter than the 

 distance between the dorsal fins. 

 68715—27 3 



