16 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
1. Clirosomus erythrogaster Eafinesque. Bed-helUed Dace. 
We record the occurrence of the red-bellied dace at Freeport, Me., where it is 
one of the commonest fresh- water tishes. Numerous specimens were taken in August, 
1892, and November, 1893, in the shallow, muddy expansion of a small brook flowing 
through the dry bed of a mill pond. The fish were in association with SalveUmts fon- 
tinaUs, Gatostomus teres, Notropis megalops, Rhimchthys atronasus, Semotilus hullaris, 
Pygosteus piingitius, and several other species referred to in this paper. 
The range of this fish heretofore given is Pennsylvania to Dakota and Tennessee.* 
The examples before us present the following features: Head, 3§ to 4; depth, 4. 
Eye, 3. Dorsal, 8. Anal, 9. Scales, 80-27 ; scales before dorsal, 40. Teeth, 4-5. Lat- 
eral line absent or developed on 8 or 10 scales. Length, IJ to 2 inches. Color in spirits : 
Back, brownish; belly, silvery; a yellowish-brown band, lighter than black, extend- 
ing along side; this is bordered above and below by a brovyoish-band, the ui:)per 
straight, extending from shoulder nearly to base of caudal, becoming interrupted and 
faint on posterior third of body, the lower decurved and broader, running from eye 
to base of caudal, where it terminates in a dark spot; a dark band round snout from 
eye to eye involving tips of upper and lower jaws; a dark dorsal stripe from occiput 
to caudal, and faint iiarallel striiies just below. 
2. Couesius plumbeus (Agassiz). 
Owing to the somewhat confused synonymy and descriptions of Couesius plumbeus 
and G. dissimUis, we provisionally identify as tlie former species a large number of 
specimens of this genus obtained at Freeport, Me., September 1, 1892, and November 
14, 1893. Following is a description of the fish in question: 
Body rather robust, its depth 4=} to 5 in length. Head bluntly conic, its length 4 
in body; snout rounded. Mouth moderate, terminal, slightly oblique; maxillary not 
reaching eye; barbels small. Eye large, 3^ in head. Dorsal, 8; inserted behind origin 
of ventrals, midway between nostrils and base of caudal. Anal, 8. Lateral line 
decurved; scales crowded anteriorly : GO in longitudinal series; 11 above lateral line; 
6 or 7 below. Teeth 2, 4-4, 2. Color dusky, with a i)lumbeous lateral band, disap- 
pearing in some of the larger si)ecimens; distinct in young, and terminating in a dark 
sj)ot at base of caudal in some examples; a dark band around snout, continuing as 
an indistinct stripe under eyes and across opercula; belly, white; dorsal and caudal 
dusky; anal and ventrals pale; iiectorals with distal part dark and base white. 
Length, 2 to 4 inches. 
The following diagnosis of the two species is given by Jordan:! 
a. Scales about 68 in the lateral line; head 5; depth 5; body rather elongate; mouth 
terminal plumbeus. 
aa. Scales larger, about 60 in the lateral line; head, 4^; depth, 4^; body more robust; mouth 
sub terminal dissimUis. 
The extent to which the descriptions of these fish are confused may be seen when 
it is recalled that the types of C. dissimUis in the National Museum have a terminal 
mouth and 68 scales in the lateral line;- while of C. plumbeus. Professor Agassiz, the 
describe!’, says: “The scales are large; we can scarcely count GO rows from the gills 
to the caudal.” 
Synopsis of the Fishes of North America. 
t Manual of the Vertebrates, 5th edition, 1890. 
