364 
IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE Voi.. XXVII, 1920 
We are inclined to believe that Jordan and Evermann are right 
in supposing that the U. pygmaea of De Kay is possibly a varia- 
tion of U. limi (Kirtland) and in proposing that the two be 
grouped under the one species U. limi (Kirtland). 
Bsox americanus (Gmelin). 
“Jack-fish/’ Banded Pickerel. 
A study of the literature of Bsox americanus (Gmelin) gives 
one a variety of concepts of the species. It is very similar to 
and we believe identical with B. vermiculatus Le Sueur. This 
opinion has been held by one of us for at least ten years. Ap- 
parently the main difference between the two supposed species 
is that B. americanus is always found east of the Alleghenies while 
B. vermiculatus is always found west of that range. To add to the 
confusion, we find that Gilbert in writing of the Escambia river 
basin states that Hawkins creek, one of its tributaries, is the 
“easternmost record” for B. americanus while Jordan and. Ever- 
mann state that Escambia river is the “westernmost record” 
for the same species. Added to this, we find Bean ^ quoting 
Professor Cope as finding B. vermiculatus in Susquehanna river, 
although he adds that it is probably not native there. 
Aside from the range, there is confusion in the descriptions of 
these species. Jordan and Evermann’s descriptions of the two 
differ primarily in that the head of B. americanus is 3 3/5 in 
length and the head of B. vermiculatus 3 1/4; the snout of B. 
americanus is 2 1/2 while that of B. vermiculatus is 2 1/5 in the 
head. They mention one supposedly clear cut difference, describ- 
ing the eye of B. vermiculatus as “being exactly in the middle of 
the head ; middle of eye nearer tip of chin than gill opening.” 
This is manifestly a physical impossibility and can be of no value 
in comparison with B. americanus which has the “posterior mar- 
gin” of the eye “scarcely behind the middle of the head, its 
middle nearer tip of chin than gill opening.” The eye of B. 
americanus is described as being 2 2/3 in the head and that of 
B. vermiculatus as 2 1/2. 
A composite of the measurements of these two species from 
five sources, (D. S, Jordan and B. W. Evermann,^® T. H. Bean,^ 
H. W. Fowler,® H. M. Smith,^^ and S. A. Forbes and R. E. Rich- 
ardson^) shows the following: 
B. americanus B. vermiculatus 
Head measurements 3 -j- -3 3/5 3 1/5-3 1/2 V 
Snout measurements 2 1/2-2 2/3 2 1/5-2 9/10 
Eye measurements. . . 5 1/2-7 5 1/2-6 4/5 
