272 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
OBION RIVER. 
Obion River , near Cypress, July 30; water temperature, 76° F. The examination 
was made 12 miles northeast of Moscow and about 20 miles from the mouth of the 
stream. Obion Eiver rises in Graves County, and flows north and then west to the 
Mississippi Eiver. The stream is narrow and deep and about 05 miles long. It is 
much larger than the “Bayou”, but of very much the same character. The bottom 
is of mud, from 2 to 4 feet deep, resting on a stratum of quicksand, and it is therefore 
nearly impossible to wade over it. Numerous springs along the banks of the river 
keep the mud always soft and miry, so that it is very dangerous Tor cattle to approach 
the water. There is but one place in its entire course where gravel is found in the bed 
of the stream; this is known as the “Gravel Ford”, and is at the foot of McLeod’s 
Bluff. The bluff rises to a height of more than 100 feet above the stream, while 30 
feet above the water there is a layer of gravel, 18 inches thick, running horizontally 
through the hill. As the face of the bluff wears away, the gravel drops down and 
is washed into the water, but does not extend entirely across the stream. The gravel 
is coarse and well worn. The stream is reported, by those living near it, to contain 
an abundance of fishes, but, owing to the depth of the mud and the great quantities 
of drift that are everywhere present, it was impossible to make a satisfactory collection. 
Turtles ( Malctclemmys geographicus and Aspidonectes spinifer) were common, but no 
unios were taken. 
FISHES OF OBION RIVER. 
1. Lepisosteus osseus (Linnaeus). Gar; Gar-pike. Quite common. 
2. Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque). Spotted or Channel cat. Reported as being common, but veiy 
few specimens were taken. 
3. Carpiod.es difformis Cope. Buffalo sucker. Common; specimens small. 
4. Carpiodes velifer (Rafinesque). Quillback; Bony carp. Quite common. 
5. Hybognathus nuc’nalis (Agassiz). Silvery minnow. Very common. 
6. Pimephales notatus (Rafinesque). Blunt-nosed minnow. Rare. 
7. Notropis megalops (Rafinesque). Common shiner. Very common. 
8. Notropis deliciosus (Girard). Common. Specimens without dark markings. 
9. Notropis jejunus (Forbes). Not common. 
10. Notropis umbratilis cyanoceplialus Copeland. Redfin. Not common; much less abundant than 
in the Bayou de Chien. 
11. Notropis atherinoides Rafinesque. Rosy minnow. But few specimens taken, all small. 
12. Opsopoeodus bollmani Gilbert. Three specimens were taken, two males and one female. This 
species has been obtained in only two localities, namely: in the Satilla River, Waycross, 
Georgia, in 1889, by Mr. Charles H. Bollman,* and at this place. The specimens from Obion 
River agree perfectly with the description of Dr. Gilbert. (See Plate li, Fig. 2.) 
* C. H. Gilbert, see Notes on Fishes from the Lowlands of Georgia, Bull. U. S. F'ish.Commission, 1888, 
page 226. 
