62 



NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



[12:2— Feb., 1916 



past a study of a few groups of our fishes — sometimes only one or 

 two — having been quite satisfied with their life's work. 



Of all this great and diversified array of beautiful forms in nature, 

 there is perhaps no single species that interests the boy naturalist 

 more than the Common Sunfish, which has several other vernacular 

 names, as the Bream, the Tobacco-box, the Pumpkin Seed, the 

 Sunny, and so on. Its scientific name is one not hard to remember, 

 and it dates back to the classification of fishes by the great natural- 

 ist, Linnaeus, who considered it to be a perch, and so called it Perca 

 gibbosa — gibbosa referring to the full moon and to the round form 



Fig. 12 — Sunfish Swimming 



of the fish (Fig. n). It is now known as Eupomotis gibbosus, the 

 generic name referring to its prominent "opercle" or ear. In 

 other words, it calls attention to its prominent "ear-mark" or 

 black spot on the operculum, or the bone that looks like an ear; 

 though you must remember it has nothing to do with an organ of 

 hearing in this fish or in any other species. 



The Sunfish is as elegant a little fresh water form as one could 

 wish — compact and perfect in structure, and brilliant in the matter 

 of beautiful coloration. It is found in clear brooks and ponds all 

 over the country, from the Mississippi Valley to the Atlantic coast, 

 to the Gulf of Mexico. It is the fish that interests the boy angler, 

 and I am quite sure I caught my share of them when I was a boy; 



