Recent additions to the fish fauna of the District of Columbia.

Vol.

XXIV,

pp. 171-174 June 16, 1911

PROCEEDINGS

OFTHE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE FISH FAUNA OF THE

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

BY BARTON

A.

BE AX AND ALFRED

C.

WEED.

[PublishedbypermissionoftheSecretary^oftheSmithsonianInstitution.]

Since

the publication ^of the list of fishes ofthe

waters

of the District of

Columbia and

_vicinity

by Smith and Bean*

several species

not

there listed

have been

taken.

Some

of these

have been introduced by

agents ^of the

Bureau

of Fisheries, others

which were

_present

were overlooked

in the

making

^{of the col-}

lectionspreviously ^listed.

In view

of the

changes

^{in fish}

fauna which

are

being made by

^the introduction of

new

species ⁱⁿ various waters it

seems

advisable to publish, as

soon

as _possible, notes

on

the

appear- ance

of species ⁱⁿ

waters

_foreign to their natural habitat.

According

^to

U.

^S.

National Museum

records the large

mouth

black bass

was

_present in the

Potomac long

^{before the elate}

given by Smith and Bean (1889). No. 16,841

^{of the}

Museum

register reads: ^'

Black

_bass,

M.

_salmoides,

upper Potomac, weight

^{4 lbs. 11} ozs.,

Major Hobbs, Washington, D. C." This

fish

was

castin plaster

by Mr.

^Jos.

Palmer,

^cast

No.

_{602, date}

November

1, 1876.

We have

recently seen the

mold

of this

specimen and

there is

no doubt

as toits identity.

Ictalurus furcatus (LaSueur).

Dr.

Hugh M.

^Smith kindly furnishes the following noteon the occur- renceof this species in theDistrict ofColumbia:

'In 1905 the fishermenabout

Washington

began^tocatchthis species,

and

samples were submitted^tothe BureauofFisheries for identification.

Thereisno record ofthe introduction ^ofthe_species

and

^itisevident that

it was not distinguished from /. punctata* ^at the time the

young

^were planted. Specimens weighing^overthirtypounds have been reported."

•Bull.IT.S.Fish.Com.,^{vol. 18}(1898),pp. 179-187.

30—Proc. Biol. Soc.Wash., Vol.XXIV, 1911. (171)

172 Bean and Weed —Fish Fauna ofthe District of Columbia.

Schilbeodes gyrinus (Mitchill).

A

_specimen of this little

Mad Tom

was taken in Little Beaver

Dam

Branch, Anacostia River,

May

25, 1911, by Mr.

Weed.

Pimephales

notatus ⁽Rafinesque).

BLUNT-HEAD MINNOW.

Exceedingly

common

ⁱⁿ the pools ^{of all} the swifter streams about Washington. Mention ofthis specieswas omitted by^error from the_pre- viouslist.

Notropis arge (Cope).

Many

^specimensprovisionallyidentified as this specieshave been taken inthe lower portion ^ofCabin

John

Run. These specimens

may

prove^to be Notropis photogenis^ifthetwo_speciesare_finallyproven ^tobespecific- allyseparable. These ^fishes

may

^{have been introduced from the Ohio}

Riverdrainage.

A

very large

number

^{of fishes of}

many

^{species were taken in Cabin}

John Run December

4, 1909, and

March

19, 1910. These hauls were

made

with a twenty-foot bag ^seine (Baird collecting seine) under the Chesapeake

&

OhioCanal.

The

haul that

was made

in

December

took

many

^{thousand fish, about half of} which were Pimephales ^notatus and therest various small

minnows.

All the fishwere _{unusually silvery in} color.

Notropis

amoenus

(Abbott).

This_specieshasbeen taken inmoderate

numbers

in Cabin

John Run and

in

some

oftheotherstreams _flowing intothe

Potomac

River. It is listedby

Evermann and

Hildebrand from^the

Mattapony

River, Virginia.*

Ericymba

^buccata Cope.

This

common

western

minnow

occurs in fairly large

numbers

in the lower _portion of Cabin

John

Run. Itwas probably ^{introduced in the} upperportion^ofthe

Potomac

_{River by}the U. S. Bureauof Fisheries.

Lepomis

cyanellus Rafinesque.

Thiswestern sunfish occursⁱⁿvery large

numbers

in poolsⁱⁿtheriver in theneighborhood^of ChainBridge.

Few

large specimens^{are seen}but very

many

ranging from one^tothree inches _{in length.}

Ten

_specimens, each aboutthree inchesin length,were caught ⁱⁿ considerably ^less than ten minutes,ⁱⁿasmall _pool. Allwere taken on hook and line, using a singlesmall_{piece of}

angleworm

^{asbait. This}specieswas probably^intro- ducedintotheupperportion^ofthe

Potomac

River.t

*Proc. Biol. Poc.Wash.,vol.XXIII.p.158.

tFirstpublished record of L. cyanellus,Bean ami Weed. Proc. V.^S.Nat.Mus..40.

p. 376,plate^50.

Bran and Weed —Fish Fauna ofthe District nfColumbia. 173 Lepomis auritus (Linnaeus).

Tt is probable that there are two _speciesconfusedunderthis

name

in the watersoftheDistrict of

Columbia and

vicinity. Livingspecimens^of both

may

^{be seenin the} aquarium ^{of the} Bureau of Fisheries at

Wash-

ington, D. C. ^Botliaredistinguished bythe great length ^ofthe opercular napbut otherwisearevery dissimilar ^{in color.}

One

^{is a} rather slender fishhaving the body-color

and

colorchanges^ofLepomiscyanellus. ^Itis very^{difficult to}distinguish^this form from Lepomiscyanellusexceptby^the characterofthe^<ipercular flapwhichislong

and

_pointed,extends_obliquely

upward and

^{has a}straight lightcolored linealong^itsupper

and

itslower edge. These lines extendwell ontotheoperculum.

The

other form is

much

_deeperbodied and has the body-color^of Lepomisgibbosus.*

The

opercularflapextendshorizontally,^isaboutaswideatitsdistalend as at itsproximal end

and

appears rather truncate.

Two

formshave_previously been described under the

names

_Lepomis auritus

and

_Lepomis auritus soils. It appears rather probable that the slender form should standas a separatespeciesunderthe

name

_Lepomissoils.

Lepomis

pallidus (Mitchill).

This_speciesistakenin the

Potomac

River, ⁱⁿ the Tidal Basin

and

in the lower portion ^of the Eastern Branch. This _species

may

^{be native}

ratherthanintroduced, ^asitisaninhabitantofthe deeper waterswhere ordinary^scientificcollectingmighteasilyoverlookit.

Doctor Smith furnishes the following note on the occurrence of this species inthe

Potomac

Riverasearly^as1900:

"

Extract fromletterfrom R. Hessel,

May

^{2, 1900.}

"In

_regard tothe Lepomis pallidus ^I sent the other day ^{to Central} station,^I have the following ^{to state:} Four years ago, ⁱⁿ June, 1896, I went with

some

ofthe

men

^ofthestation tothe

Potomac

_{to get}

some

liv- ing food ^fortheblack bass. Hauling^thelarge seine^I caught about1,600

young

^fish

—

_{sunfish, catfish,} roaches— and amongst ^{the sunfish}

—

about 500of

%

^{ofaninch in length}

—

Inoticed three small sunfish of the

same

size,butof a littledifferentshape from^the

common

sunfish; theyseemed tobe of

more

slender form

and had

alittle darkercoloration. I

exam-

inedallthefish I hadin thetub

and

found14 inall. Itried to get

some more

of

them and made

afew

more

_hauls,butcouldnotfind any more.

"I

_putthe 14

young

^{fishin a small}

pond

to see their development.

Fourof

them

died

and

the others developed very^{well. I} feed

them

on

mashed

fish,

and

lastyear they

spawned and

^Ihave

now

about _2,000on

hand."

These specimens were^identifiedby ^Dr.

W.

C. Kendall.

Stizostedion

vitreum

(Mitchill).

The

Bureauof Fisheries has_{planted alarge}

number

^of _{pike perch fry}

inthe

Potomac

(during the years 1901 ^to 1904)

and

a

number

of speci-

mens

have beentaken.

See: Beanand Weed,Proc. Biol Soc.Wash.,Vol.XXIV,p. 73.

174 Bean and Weed —Fish Faunaofthe District of Columbia.

Boleosoma longimanus

(Jordan).

Many

specimens of this species, which was previously

known

_only from ^theheadwatersof the

James

Riverin Virginia,have been taken in theNorthwest

Branch

about onemile above Hyattsville, Maryland. ^It occurs in

company

^{with Boleosoma olmstedi but seems} to prefer rather deeper water. ^Allthespecimens were taken^{ina stretch}wherethe water, about

two

feet deep,

hows

_rapidly

and

without _ripples over a bottom of

medium

sizedgravel (stonesoneto four inchesin diameter).

Etheostoma

flabellare Rafinesque.

Two

specimens have been taken ⁱⁿ Cabin

John

Run. Cat. No.

64,398, U. S. Nat. Mus., was taken

December

2, 1009,

and

No. _06,330

March

19, 1910.