PISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 
135 
44. Genus CYPRINODON Lacepede. Short minnows 
Body short and deep; back elevated; mouth small; teeth in a single series, incisorlike, tricuspid; 
opercle superiorly fused with the shoulder girdle; scales large; males larger than females; oviparous. 
A single species of the genus occurs in the brackish waters of Chesapeake Bay. 
57. Cyprinodon variegatus Lecepede. Variegated minnow; Sheepshead minnow. 
Cyprinodon variegatus Lacfipcde, Hist. Nat., Poiss., V, 1803, p. 486; South Carolina. Lugger, 1877, p. 84; Smith, 1892, p. 64 
PI. XVIII; Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 671, Pis. CXI and CXII, figs. 296 and 296a; Evermann and Hildebrand, 1910, 
p. 159; Fowler, 1912, p. 54. 
Head 2.65 to 3.3; depth 2 to 2.65; D. 11 or 12; A. 10 or 11; scales 24 to 27. Body com- 
pressed, short and deep, becoming deeper with age, especially in the male; back elevated; upper 
profile gently and evenly elevated in the young and in females, with a concavity at occiput in adult 
males; head short; snout blunt, its length 3.3 to 4.7 in head; eye 2.5 to 4; interorbital 2.8 to 3.8; 
mouth rather small, terminal; premaxillaries strongly protractile; teeth in the jaws in a single 
series, rather large, tricuspid, the median cusp the longest and broadest; scales large, the one placed 
just above the base of pectoral excessively enlarged, 4 or 5 oblique rows between the upper angle of 
gill opening and origin of dorsal; fins moderate, the dorsal particularly proportionately much larger 
in adult males than in females, inserted much in advance of the anal in both sexes; caudal fin with 
almost straight margin; anal fin smaller than the dorsal, particularly in adult males; ventral fins 
rather small, inserted equidistant from tip of snout and base of caudal or slightly nearer the latter; 
pectoral fins moderate, rounded, proportionately longer in adult males than in females, 1 to 1.5 
in head. 
Color of female brassy on the back and sides, with dusky blotches, usually forming bars on the 
lower part of the sides; yellowish or white below; dorsal olive or dusky, with a black blotch on 
the middle of the posterior rays; caudal greenish to dusky, with a dark bar at base; anal and ventrals 
pale yellowish with white margins; pectorals dusky to orange. Males darker, with bluish reflec- 
tions on upper parts in advance of dorsal, sometimes brilliant blue along entire back; abdomen, at 
least during the breeding season, deep orange; dorsal bluish to dusky anteriorly, edged with pink 
or orange; caudal olive, with a very narrow dusky bar at base and a black margin; anal, ventrals, 
and pectorals orange, with bluish black margins. 
Many specimens of this species were preserved. The above description is based on specimens 
ranging in length from 20 to 65 millimeters to 2J^ inches). The species is readily recognized 
by the short, deep body and the variegated color. 
49826—28 10 
