BLUE DARTER. 979 
Body rather stout and compressed ; head large; month moderate, nearly horizontal ; 
vomer with testh; upper jaw not protractile; scales rather large, the lateral line com- 
plete posteriorly, usually on abont two-thirds of the length of the body; gill-mem- 
branes scarcely connected ; dorsal spines nine to eleven, their height about two-thirds 
that of the soft rays; second dorsal rather larger than first and larger than anal; anal 
with two well developed spines, the firet usually the longer; vertebrae 15-18; size 
rather small; general pattern of coloration vertical blue bars on an olivaceous or 
orange ground. The species are quite numerous. 
151. PacinicHtTHys virGAtTus Jordan. 
Pecilichthys virgatus, JORDAN, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mas, 1879. 
Description. Body slender, formvd much as in Htheostoma flabellare; mouth rather 
large; head entirely naked; a naked strip on the nape; preopercle serrulate; humeral 
region wifh an en/arged, black scale-like process; lateral line short, straight, greenish; 
each scale with a dark spot, these forming conspicuous longitudinal stripes along the 
rows of scales; D IX, 10;.A II, 8; Lat. 1.53. Length 24 inches. | 
Habitat: Abundant in Cumberland River, in Kentucky; probably also in Southern 
Ohio. 
Habits.—Aw, active inhabitant of clear mountain streams. 
152. PacILICHTHYs C@RULEUS (Storer) Agassiz. 
Bine Darter; Rainbow-fish; Soldier=-fish. 
Liheostoma coeruleus, STORER, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., ii, 1845, 47, 
Pecilichthys ceruleus, AGASSIZ, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., i, 1863, 3, and of many writers. 
Astatichthys ceruleus, VAILLANT, Recherches, 1873, 107. 
Pecilichthys variatus, AGassiz, Amer. Journ. Sci. Arts, 1854. 305.—JORDAN, Man. Vert., 
2d Ed., 1878, 226. - ; 
Pecilosoma erythrogastrum, KIRTLAND, Annals of Science, Cleveland, 1854, 4. 
Pocilichthys versicolor, AGAssiz, Amer. Journ. Sci. Arts, 1854, 304. 
Pecilostoma transversum, ABBOTT, Proc Acad, Nat. Sci. Phila., 1860, 326. 
Astatichthys pulchellus, VAILLANT, Recherches, 1873, 113. 
Description.—Body robust, rather deep and compressed, the back somewhat elevated; 
head large, compressed, somewhat pointed; mouth moderate, terminal, oblique, the 
lower jaw scarcely included, the maxillary reaching front of orbit; neck and breast 
usually naked; fins all Jarge, dorsal fins usually slightly connected ; scales rather large ; 
lateral line straight; males olivaceous, tessellated above, the spots running together 
into blotches ; back without black lengthwise stripes; sides with about twelve indigo-blue 
bars running obliquely downwards and backwards, most distinct behind, separated by 
bright orange interspaces; caudal fin deep orange, edged with bright blue; anal fln 
orange, with deep blue in front and behind; soft dorsal chiefly orange, blue at base and 
tip; spinous dorsal crimson at base, then orange, with blue edgings; ventral bluish, 
often deep indige; cheeks blue; throat and breast orange; females much duller, with 
blue or red, the vertical fins barred or checked; young variously marked; head 32; 
depth 44; D. X, 12; A. Il, 7; scales 5-45-8; the lateral line developed on about 30 to 
35. Length 24 inches. | 
