144 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
Fig. 76 .—Fundulus lucisc, adult male 
Habitat. — From Quebec to North Carolina, represented by the variety menona in the region of 
the Great Lakes and in the northern part of the Mississippi Valley. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previously recorded from many sections of the fresher arms of the 
bay and from the streams tributary to the bay. ( b ) Specimens in the collection from the lower 
Rappahannock River, Va., to Havre de Grace, Md., on the western shore of the bay and as far 
south as Cape Charles City, Va., on the eastern shore. Not taken in the lower York River, Buckroe 
Beach, and Lynnhaven Bay. 
63. Fundulus lucise (Baird). Killifish; Baird’s killifish. 
Hydrargyra lucix Baird, Ninth Smithsonian Report, 1854 (1855), p. 334; Beasley’s Point, N. J. 
Zygonectes lucix Smith, 1892, p. 68, PI. XVIII, fig. 3. 
Fundulus lucix Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 654, PI. CVII, fig. 286; Crawford, 1920, p. 75. 
Head 3.1 to 3.6; depth 3 to 4.4; D. 8; A. 10; scales 34 to 36. Body rather elongate, compressed; 
caudal peduncle strongly compressed, its depth 2 to 2.4 in head; head depressed, snout short, 4 to 
4.8 in head; eye 4 to 4.8; interorbital 2.1 to 2.6; 
mouth slightly superior, largely transverse; pre- 
maxillaries protractile; teeth pointed, in villiform 
bands in each jaw, with the outer teeth in each 
jaw considerably enlarged; scales moderate, 15 or 
16 oblique rows between upper anterior angle of 
gill opening and origin of dorsal; dorsal fin short, 
its origin in both sexes over or slightly behind 
origin of anal and inserted about equidistant from 
the tip of the tail and the anterior half of the eye; 
caudal fin convex; anal fin with a somewhat longer 
base than the dorsal; ventral fins very small, inserted a little nearer base of caudal than tip of 
snout; pectoral fins moderate, 1.4 to 1.7 in head. 
Color of female plain grayish green, pale below; eye dark, with narrow golden band; opercle 
with brownish peppery spots, forming a 
blotch; a dark vertebral line present; 
the fins all plain yellowish brown. Male 
olive-green above, lower sides golden, 
orange-white underneath; sides with 11 
to 14 crossbars slightly darker in color 
than the back; the fins orange, pinkish, 
or light brown, the dorsal and anal usu- 
ally bright orange to reddish; the dorsal 
with a black ocellus on the posterior 
rays. The young of about 26 milli- 
meters and less in length all bear the 
modest color of the female, and the 
sexes are not distinguishable. 
This species is represented by about 75 specimens in the present collection, ranging in length 
from 22 to 40 millimeters to 1& inches). The females are readily recognized by the plain 
grayish green color, but the males resemble very closely the smaller brightly colored males of F . 
heteroclitus. For example, at Love Point, Md., both species were taken and placed in the same jar. 
Later it was found impossible in some instances to separate the males by the color. Usually the 
species may be distinguished by the slightly more posteriorly placed dorsal fin in F . lucix, but the 
most reliable character, for purposes of identification, is the length of the dorsal fin, which in the 
present species constantly has two or three fewer rays, the usual number being eight. 
The food of this species, as shown by the contents of nine stomachs, appears to be similar to 
that of F. heteroclitus, consisting largely of small crustaceans, small mollusks, and annelid worms. 
Gravid specimens were taken only during April and May, but at Beaufort, N. C., the senior 
author found that in that vicinity, at least, the species spawns throughout the spring and summer, 
or from April until October. The eggs are rather large and spherical, measuring about 2 millimeters 
in diameter when mature. Since the fish reaches a much smaller size than F. heteroclitus , sexual 
o 
+ 
Fig. 77 . — Fundulus lucix, adult lomale 
