FAT HEAD. 839 
Habitat, New Jersey to the Upper Missouri and southward * 
Diagnosis—This is the only silvery large-scaled minnow found in 
Ohio, which has long intestines and black peritoneum. 
Habits —This graceful species is found in abundance in the small 
streams flowing into the Ohio River. It is rare in the interior, and 
probably seeks the river channels. Its breeding habits are unknown to 
me, and the males and females are similarly colored, and do not develop 
horny tubercles. In the Potomac River, what I consider to be the same 
species, is used for food, being sold with its relative, Hudsondus storerianus, 
under the name of Smelt. 
GENUS 28. PIMEPHALES. Rafinesque. 
Pimephales, RAFINESQUE, Ich. Ohiensis, 1820, 52. 
Type, Pimephales promelas, Rafinesque. 
Etymology, pimeles, fat; kephale, head. 
Body short and stont, little compressed ; head short and rounded; mouth small, in- 
ferior ; upper jaw protractile; no barbels; teeth 4-4 with grinding surface, not strongly 
hooked ; dorsal over ventrals, its first rudimentary ray separated from the rest by a 
membrane; anal basis short; intestinal canal elongate; peritoneum black; scales rather 
small; lateral line incomplete. 
Small fish of American waters. In all the known species there isa black blotch on the 
dorsal fin in front, about half way up. The breeding males have the head swollen and 
black, and the snout armed with a few disproportionately large nuptial tubercles. 
53. PIM®PHALES PROMELAS Rafinesque. 
Fat Mead; Black Head. 
Pimephales promelas, RAFINESQUE, Ich. Oh., 1820, 94.—KIRTLAND, Rept. Zoo]. Ohio, 1838, 
194; Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist., ili, 1838, 475.—SToRER, Synopsis, 1846, 418.—AgGassiz, 
Amer. Journ. Sci. Arts, 1855, 220 —PutTNaM, Bull. M. C. Z, 1863, 8.—GuNTHER, Cat. 
Fishes, vii, 1868, 181,—JoRDAN, Ind. Geol. Surv., 1874, 224; Bull. Buff. Soc. Nat. 
Hist., 1876, 94; Man. Vert., 1876, 275; 2d Ed., 1878, 288, and of writers generally. 
Pimephales fasciatus, GIRARD, Proc Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila, 1256, 180; Pac. R. R. Surv., x, 
234, 
Plargyrus melanocephalus, ABBOTT, Proc. Phila. Acad. Sei., 1860, 325. 
Pimephales milesii, Cope, Proc. Acad. Sci. Phila, 1864, 232.—GUNTHER, Cat. Fishes, vii, 
1868, 181,--JoRDAN, Man. Vert., 1876, 276. 
Pimephales agassizti, Cope, Cyp. Penn., 1866, 391. 
Description.—Body very short and deep, head short, and everywhere convex, almost 
globular in adult males; mouth small, inferior, horizontal; scales deep, closely imbri- 
cated ; olivaceous, the dorsal with a large black bar across it, nearly halfway up, most 
distinct anteriorly, appearing as a simple dusky shade in young; male fish dusky, the 
*As here defined, more than one species may be included, but if so, the author is unable 
to distinguish them. 
