THE BLACK BASS FAMILY. 401 



THE BLACK BASS FAMILY CENTRARCHID.3B. 



134. THE BIG-MOUTH BLACK BASS MICROPTERUS SALMOIDES, AND THE SMALL-MOUTH 



BLACK BASS M. DOLOMIEI. 



Professor Gill's paper, in which he defines the differences between the two species of Black 

 Bass, was published in 1873 in the "Proceedings of the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science"; but since this volume is not easily accessible, the most important differences are 

 mentioned here. In the Large-mouth the upper jaw extends far behind the eyes, in the other to a 

 point below it. The Large-mouth has from sixty-five to seventy rows between the gill-opening and 

 the base of the tail, instead of seventy-two or more, while on the cheek there are about ten oblique 

 rows instead of seventeen. There are other distinctions, such as the absence in the Large-mouth 

 of scales on the bases of the dorsal and anal fins, the smaller number of rays in the pectoral fins 

 (there being thirteen or fourteen instead of sixteen or seventeen), and the lesser height of the 

 spinotis dorsal. 1 



Numerous as have been the zoological names, they are outnumbered by the popular names 

 still in use in different localities. Charlevoix, a Jesuit missionary who explored Canada in 1721, 

 mentions a fish called "Achigau," which is thought to have been the Large-mouth. An earlier 

 allusion to this species, which in the Southern States is still called "Trout," occurs in the 

 writings of Ren6 de Laudonniere, who describes the incidents of the first Huguenot expedition to 

 Florida iul652, under the command of Jean Ribault. The Large-mouth is known in the Great Lake 

 region, especially in Northern New York, as the "Oswego Bass." This name should not be con- 

 founded with "Otsego Bass," a local name for the common whitefish. In Kentucky it is called 

 "Jumper"; in Indiana, "Moss Bass"; in the Southern States, generally, "Trout," though on the 

 Tar River of North Carolina it is called "Chub," and on the Neuse "Welshman." 



The Small-mouth shares with the Large mouth in the Southern States the names "Jumper," 

 "Perch," and "Trout," and in Alabama, according to Professor Jordan, it is called the "Mountain 

 Trout." 



Both species are very widely distributed over the Atlantic slope of the continent east of -the 

 Rocky Mountains, and their range is probably much wider than is now supposed, for many of our 

 northern and western waters are unexplored. The Large-mouth and the Small-mouth dwell 

 together in the Great Lakes, and in the upper parts of the Saint Lawrence and Mississippi basins. 

 The Small month is found north to latitude 47 and west to Wisconsin, while southward it ranges 

 to latitude 33, where Professor Jordan found it in the headwaters of the Chattahoocuee and 

 Ocmnlgee Rivers, the latter being the only instance of its presence in a stream emptying east of 

 the Alleglianies into which it is not known to have been introduced l>y man. The Large-mouth 

 ranges farther to the west and north, occurring in the Red IJiver of the North, perhaps as far as 

 Manitoba, in latitude 50. It abounds in all the rivers of the Southern States, from the James 

 to the Saint John, and in the lower reaches of the streams and bayous connected with the. Gulf of 

 Mexico, around to Texas, in latitude L'7. 



'Fur fuller information IIHOII this anil every other point eonneeted with the species now under diseiihsioii the 

 reader is referred to Dr. .1. A. Ilenshall's elaborate and exhaustive illustrated treatise, entitled "Book of the Black 

 Mass." published in 1HH1 by Robert Clarke- & (>., of C'ineintiati. 



