MICROPTERUS DOLOMIEU (Lacépède).

(SMALL-MOUTHED BLACK BASS.)

Head, 2 to 31; depth, 34 (2 to 31); eye, 1 to 2 in snout,
5 to 64 in head; D. X, 13-15; A. III, 10 to 12; scales, 11-72
to 85-25, pores, 67 to 78. Body ovate fusiform, becoming
deeper with age. Mouth large, but smaller than in Microp-
terus salmoides, the maxillary ending considerably in front of
the hinder margin of the orbit, except in very old examples.
Scales on the cheek minute, in about 17 rows; scales on the
sides rudiments.
trunk comparatively small. Gill rakers long, x-+6 or 7 be-
Dorsal fin deeply notched, but less so
than in M. salmoides, the ninth spine being about half as
long as the fifth, and not much shorter than the tenth.
Fifth dorsal spine about 3 in head, base of soft dorsal and
anal scaly. Coloration dull golden green, with bronze
lustre, young with darker spots along the sides, which tend
to form short vertical bars, but never a dark lateral band;
three bronze bands radiating from eye across cheeks and
opercles; a dusky spot on point of operculum; belly white;
caudal fin yellowish at base, then black, with white tips;
dorsal with bronze spots, its edge dusky. In some waters
the fin markings are obsolete, but usually they are very
conspicuous in the young. Southern specimens usually

Micropterus dolomieu Lacépède, Hist. Nat. Poiss., IV, 325, 1802, locality un-
Canada.
certain, perhaps South Carolina; Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis, 485, 1883.
Bodianus achigan Rafinesque, Amer. Month. Mag., 1817, 120, New York,

Ohio.
Calliurus punctulatus Rafinesque, Ichth. Ohiensis, 26, 1820, Falls of the

Lepomis trifasciata Rafinesque, Ichth. Ohiensis, 31, 1820, Ohio River, etc.
Lepomis flexuolaris Rafinesque, Ichth. Ohiensis, 31, 1820, Ohio River.
Licking and Ohio Rivers.
Lepomis salmonea Rafinesque, Ichth. Ohiensis, 32, 1820, Kentucky, Green,

Lepomis notata Rafinesque, Ichth, Ohiensis, 32, 1820, Ohio River.

have the scales of the lower part of the sides with faint
dark streaks; adult specimens have all these marks more or
dead green, without silvery lustre.
less wholly obliterated, and become ultimately of a uniform
"The black bass is
eminently an American fish; he has the faculty of asserting
himself and of making himself completely at home where-
ever placed. He is plucky, game, brave, unyielding to the
last, when hooked. He has the arrowy rush and vigor of a
trout, the untiring strength and bold leap of a salmon,
while he has a system of fighting tactics peculiarly his own.
gamest fish that swims."
I consider him, inch for inch and pound for pound, the
(J. A. Henshall.) From Lake
Champlain to Manitoba and southward on both sides of the
mountains from James River to South Carolina and Arkan-
sas; abundant; frequenting running streams, and preferring
presence of such waters.
clear and cool waters; its southern limit is bounded by the
As a game fish this species is usu-
ally more highly valued than its congener. (Named for M.
Dolomite was also named.)
Dolomieu, a mineralogist in Paris, for whom the mineral

River, Kentucky.
Etheostoma calliura Rafinesque, Ichth. Ohiensis, 36, 1820, Ohio River, Salt

Cichla fasciata Le Sueur, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1822, 216, Lake Erie.
Cichla ohioensis Le Sueur, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci., Phila. 1822, 218, Ohio River.
Cichla minima Le Sueur, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1822, 220, Lake Erie.
Onondaga Creek, New York.
Centrachus obscurus De Kay, N. Y. Fauna; Fishes, 30, pl. 17, fig. 48, 1842,

Dioplites variabilis Vaillant & Bocourt, Miss. Sci. Mex., 1874, 142, Wabash
River, New Harmony, Indiana; after Le Sueur MS., 1822.
Centrarchus fasciatus and obscurus Günther, Cat., I, 258, 1859,
Micropterus dolomiei Boulenger, Cat., I, 15.

24

MICROPTERUS SALMOIDES (Lacépède).

(LARGE-MOUTHED BLACK BASS; OSWEGO BASS; GREEN BASS; BAYOU BASS.)

25

MICROPTERUS SALMOIDES (Lacépède).

(LARGE-MOUTHED BLACK BASS; OSWEGO BASS; GREEN BASS; BAYOU BASS.)

Head, 3 to 3; depth, 3 to 31; eye, 1 to 2 in snout, 5 to 6
in head. D. X, 12 or 13; A. III, 10 or 11; scales, 7-65 to
70-18, pores 58 to 67. Body ovate-fusiform, becoming deeper
with age, moderately compressed. Head large. Mouth very
wide, the maxillary in the adult reaching beyond the eye,
in the young shorter. Scales on the cheek in about 10 rows;
scales on the trunk comparatively large; tip of maxillary
in adult as broad as eye. Lingual teeth sometimes present.
Gill rakers longer than gill fringes, x+7 or 8, besides rudi-
ments. Dorsal fin very deeply notched, its fifth spine 3}
in head. Coloration dark green above; sides and below
greenish silvery; young with a blackish stripe along the
sides from opercle to the middle of the caudal fin; three
dark oblique stripes across the cheeks and opercles; below
and above the lateral band some dark spots; caudal fin pale

Labrus salmoides Lacépède, Hist. Nat. Poiss., 716, 1802, South Carolina.
(Coll. Bosc.)

Lepomis pallida Rafinesque, Ichth. Ohiensis, 30, 1820, Ohio, Miami and
Hocking Rivers.

Cichla floridana Le Sueur, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1822, 219, East Florida.
Huro nigricans Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., II, 124, 1828, Lake
Huron; Günther, Cat., I, 255, 1859.

Grystes nobilis Agassiz, Amer. Journ. Sci. and Arts, 1854, 298, Huntsville,
Alabama. (Coll. Newman.)

at base, then blackish, whitish at tip; belly, white. As the
fish grows older the black lateral band breaks up and grows
fainter, and the color becomes more and more of a uniform
pale dull green, the back being darker; a dark opercular
blotch usually present. Length, 18 inches or more. Rivers
of the United States from the Great Lakes and Red River of
the North to Florida, Texas and Mexico; everywhere abund-
ant, preferring lakes, bayous and sluggish waters. It grows
to a larger size than the preceding species and is readily
distinguished by its coloration and the larger mouth and
larger scales. Both species vary much with different waters,
but in general this species is less active than the preceding,
and is less esteemed as a game fish. (Salmo trout; eidos, like;
the fish being often called "Trout" in the Southern States,
being trout-like in gameness and in quality as food.)

Grystes nuecensis Baird & Girard, Proc. Ac. Nat Sci. Phila., 1854, 25, Rio
Frio and Rio Nueces, Texas. (Coll. Clark.)

Grystes megastoma Garlick, Treat. Art. Prop. Fish., 108, 1857, bays of Lake
Erie.

Dioplites nuecensis treculii Vaillant & Bocourt, Miss. Sci. Mex., 1874, 142,
San Antonio de Bexar, Texas. (Coll. Trécul.)

Micropterus salmoides Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis, 481, 1883; Boulenger,
Cat., I, 16.

26

PERCA FLAVESCENS (Mitchill).

(YELLOW PERCH; AMERICAN PERCH; RINGED PERCH; RACCOON PERCH.)