EXPLORATIONS IN WESTERN CANADA, ETC. 
NOTES ON THE FISHES COLLECTED. 
107 
1. Ammoccete.s tridentatvis (Gairduor). This species asceuds the rivers to spawn. At La Grande 
the Grand Ronde, a small stream 5 or 6 yards wide, is dammed for milling purposes. Just 
below tlie dam a large number of this species were noticed in all stages of dec.ay. Some had 
evidently died the preceding night. The ovaries of those taken at this place were large, but 
the eggs were quite small. Whether the “ eels ’’ had spawned and died, or whether the speci- 
mens were left stranded, I am unable to state. All the specimens were al)ont GOO mm. long. 
At Caldwell I secured a. large number of the young of this species. The largest of these 
measured 60 mm. In their habits the young very much resemble Bmiichiostoma. They burrow 
in the sand near the margin of the stream. If they are disturbed they will come out of the 
sand a few centimeters from the place of disturbance. The small ones were procureil by 
throwing the sand on the Itauks, whereupon they would squirm out and could be secured. 
2. Acipeiiser sturio Limneus. This species is common at Winnipeg and in the lakes to the north. 
I procured a single specimen 96 mm. long. It has the upper part of the snout black, a black 
spot on the sides above the posterior third of pectorals, and another below the dorsal; a 
narrower dusky baud connects these and extends to the tip of the tail. 
3. Noturns flavii.s Rafinesqtre. A number of specimens of this sx^ecies (150 to 250 mm. long) were 
obtained with hook and line at night in the (Missouri River at Craig, (Mont. This seems 
to be the most western record for any members of the Silnridw. They were rexiorted to me at 
Medicine Hat, but I did not x’l'ocure any sxiecimeus at that xjhice. Prof. Evermaun rexmrts 
none in his exirlorations in (Montana and Wyoming. It has hitherto been su|)X50sed that the 
members of this family do not ascend to the mountains. None have been found indigenous to 
the Pacific sloxie. In the larger specimens the two maxillary barbels reach ihe base of the 
Xiectorals. There is uniformly a white sx>ot on the back just at the base of and behind the 
last dorsal ray. 
4. Ictalurus pimctatus Ralinesque. Wiuuixieg. Exceedingly abundant in the Red River, where it 
is caught in great numbers, esxiecially at night. It frequently reaches a length of aliout 
750 mm. It was reported to me at Brandon, but it can not be abundant at that jilace, since 
none were said to have been caught there since 1883. A catfish was also called to my attention 
at Medicine Hat, but from the descrix:>tiou it must lie a Xofurus. 
5. Ictiobus cyprinella (Cuvier & Valenciennes). Winnipeg. Two specimens, the largest 760 mm. 
long. 
6. Carpiodes velifer (Ralinesque). Winnipeg, Brandon, Medicine Hat, Poxdar. I can detect no 
differences between the sxiecimeus from Winnixieg and some taken in the Ohio River at 
Cincinnati. 
7. Pantosteu.s jordani Evermann. 
{Pantosteus cohanhianiis Eigeumann & Eigenmann, Am. Nat., Feb., 1893.) 
Three specimens, 92 to 100 mm. long, Boise River, Caldwell, Greg. Very closely related 
to P. generosus, the eye slightly larger, the caudal much longer. Head, If-lf ; dexith, 11-5; 
D. II, 111-121 (in two) ; A. i, 81 (71 in gencrosKs). Scales, 16 to 19-80 to 100-15. Eye, lJ-2 in 
snout, 1|- If in interorbital, 3J to little more than 1 in head (21; 3f ; 11 in generosus of same 
size). All the fins more i)ointed than in generosus, the caudal lobes considerably longer than 
the head (shorter than head in generosus), Sj-lf in the length (5-51). Light brown with indis- 
tinct clouds of darker. 
8. Catostomus catostomus (Forster). Wiuni]ieg, Swift Current, Medicine Hat, Calgary, Banff, 
Golden, and Revelstoke. Asceuds streams to spawn. Is said to be very alinudant at Winnipeg 
during the winter. Only a single sxiecimen, the first of the season, was taken during my 
stay. As will be seen from the above localities, the sxiecies extends across the Rockies. A 
specimen of crttosioiiiKS 290 mm. long, from Golden, on the Columbia River, differs in only a 
few minor details from a sxiecimen of Catostomus catostomus of about the same size, the origin 
of which is not known. A series of larger s]iecimeiis will x^robably show xierfect iutergrada 
tion. In the Golden specimen the eye is more anterior than in the other; and this feature 
changes all the xu'oxiortious of the head. The size of the eye is the same in lioth ; 61 in the 
length of the head, 2 in the postorbital portion in the Golden si)ecimeii (21-3 in the other), 
about 2f in the snout (3f-); middle of head behind anterior margin of xmpil (at anterior 
