EXPLORATIONS OF THE ALLEGHANY REGION AND WESTERN INDIANA. 113 
35. Etheostoma peltatum Stauffer. S. (^RadrojHerus maculatus Girard, not Alvordius maculaiiis Gi- 
rard, which is E. aspro, and not Etheostoma maculutum Kirtland. Etheostoma nevisense Cope ; 
Alvordius crassus Jordan & Bray ton.) 
A renewed comparison of large series of examples has convinced me that the 
nominal species, nevisensis, peltatus, and crassus are identical, notwithstanding the dif- 
ferences in coloration and in the squamation of the head. 
The two specimens from Swift Creek have the coloration of E. nevisense with the 
almost naked head of peltatum. The largest is inches in length. 
Light straw color, the markings are all very dark, verging on jet black. Back 
with dark cross-blotches and irregular wavy and longitudinal markings above lateral 
line, much as in E. aspro. Sides with six large conspicuous square black blotches, 
about as broad as the interspaces and alternating with fainter bars of black. A faint 
dusky streak along later al line. Top of head black ; a black bar below eye ; snout and 
opercle mostly black; nape with a pale spot surrounding a dark one; a dark band in 
axil ; 6 to 8 round spots on back ; first dorsal with a submediau black baud and some 
black spots toward tip ; second dorsal and caudal obscurely barred ; veutrals and 
pectorals dusky. 
General form of E. aspro, from which this species scarcely differs except in the 
larger size of its scales. Head rather heavy, the snout bluntish in profile and about as 
long as eye; lower jaw slightly included, maxillary reaching just past front of eye, 3f 
in head. Gill membranes scarcely connected. 
Cheeks wholly naked; opercle with about 3 small scales above, sometimes naked 
on one side. Caducous ventral shields large and few in number ; nape and breast naked ; 
scales 6-52-9. D. XIII, 12. A. II, 10. Head 4 in length ; depth 5§. Eye 4 in head. 
Fins all comparatively low and small; pectoral a little shorter than head, barely 
reaching tips of ventrals, and nearly as large as second dorsal, its second spine a little 
slenderer and longer than first ; caudal lunate. 
Specimens fi’om Carlisle, Pa., agree with these specimens, except that the black 
lateral spots are smaller and rounded. Scales 56. 
Etheostoma ouachitoi (Jordan and Gilbert), (specimens from Saline River, Benton, 
Ark., and from the Wabash River at New Harmony, Ind.), is extremely close to E. 
peltatum. E. ouachitce has the head a little more slender, the pectorals longer, reaching 
past tips of ventrals, and four distinct black cross blotches on back. 
Both species might be regarded as varieties of E. aspro were it not for the larger 
scales. 
36. Cottus bairdi Girard. E. “Mull-head.” 
Very abundant in clear streams and spring runs. A mischievous fish; very 
destructive to the eggs of trout. 
C.— THE DISMAL SWAMP (ELIZABETH RIVER). 
The Dismal Swamp, which lies in the southeastern part of Virginia and the adja- 
cent portion of Xorth Carolina, is a large marshy area, most of it heavily timbered with 
cypress and other trees. Hear the center of the swamp is Lake Drummond, nearly 
circular in form, with a diameter of 5 or 6 miles. The waters of the swamp and the lake 
are free from sediment, but stained of a dark-brown color by the vegetable matter of 
the swamp. The lake water, in fact, is regarded as excellent for drinking purposes. 
Bull. U. S. F. C., 88 8 
