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» STRIPED TOP MINNOW. 911 
Nat. Hist., 1876, 42 —JorpDAN, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1877, 67; Man. Vert, 2d 
Kd., 1878. 
Description.—Body short and deep, much compressed ; head short and very broad, the 
flat, interorbital space being two-thirds of its length, and barely twice the diameter of 
the eye, the distance between the eyes above greater than the distance between them 
below ; suout broadly rounded ; fins moderate; dorsal much smaller than anal; outer 
series of teeth somewhat enlarged ; coloration pale olive, bluish in life; a very distinct 
brownish line along the edges of each row of scales, appearing wavy or serrated as it 
follows the scales; about ten of these longitudinal stripes are present; males with 
the lines interrupted, appearing as series of dots, and further marked by about nine 
dark cross bars; adults with a dark blotch below the eye, and sometimes confluent with 
it; oviduct free from anal fin; head 32; depth 34; dorsal 7; A, 9; scales 35-10. 
Length 24 inches. 
Habitat, Lakes and sluggish streams from Ohio to Iowa. 
Diagnosis.—The dark, lengthwice stripes of this species at once distin- 
guish it from the other Top Minonows found in Onio. 
Habits.—This species seems to prefer the waters of the large streams 
and lakes. As yet it has only been taken in Illinois, where it is widely 
distributed, and in Indiana and Ohio, the lakes tributary to the Wabash, 
Illinois, and Maumee. It swims near the surface, with a languid motion, 
as if it were very hard work. 
Another species of this type, Zyg nectes melanops (Cope) Jordan, known 
by the absence of stripes and the presence of a still more conspicuous 
black spot below the eye, occurs in Southern Illinois, and may be URES 
for in the bayous of Southern Ohio. 
\ 
FAMILY OWI. UMBRIDA. THE MUD MINNOWS. 
Body oblong, broad anteriorly, compressed behind; head large, flattened above ; 
mouth moderate, the maxillary without distinct supplemental bone; bands of villiform 
or cardiform teeth on premaxillaries, lower j2w, vomer, and palatines; premaxillaries 
not protractile ; lateral margin of upper jaw formed by the broad, short maxillaries, 
which are toothless; lower jaw the longer; gill-openings wide, the membranes scarcely 
connected; gill-rakers little developed ; branchiostegals 6-8; scales moderate, cycloid, 
covering head and body ; lateral line obscure or wanting ; dorsal fin moderate, posterior 
in advance of anal; ventrals small, close to anal; pectorals inserted low; caudal fin 
rounded ; stomach without blind sac; no pyloric ewca; pseudobranch'e hidden, gland- 
ular, air-bladder simple; sexes similar; carnivorous fishes, living in mud or among 
weeds at the bottom of clear, sluggish streams and ponds, extremely tenacious of life, 
like the Cyprinodontide ; oviparous; genera 2; species 3; Umbra crameri of Austria: 
Dallia pectoralis, of Alaska; and Umbra limi. The family is very close to the Esocide, 
differing mainly in the smaller mouth and weaker teeth. 
ANALYSIS OF GENERA OF UMBRIDZ, 
a. Pectorals narrow, few (12-15) rayed; ventral rays 6; scales moderate. _ 
UMBRA, 57, 
