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Intra-Specific Variation In The Common Shiner, Notropis Cornutus Frontalis (Agassiz) From Minnesota And South Dakota, James C. Underhill

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

The voluminous literature relating to intra-specific variations in fishes has been reviewed by Hubbs (1934, 1940), Tanning (1952), Lindsay (1953) and others. A majority of the workers have supported the interpretation that the variation is influenced by various environmental factors, primarily the temperature during the pre-fry stages of development. Certain of the meristic characters which show such variability have been generally used in identifying various races of minnows. If such characters as the number of anal fin rays or scales in the lateral line are easily influenced by the environment, their usefulness in defining races is certainly open to question. …