240 flSIIES OF ILLINOIS 



Mississippi Valley. The Illinois River alone furnished 294,000 

 pounds in 1899. 



POMOXIS SPAROIDES (Lacepede) 



BLACK CRAPPIE; CALICO BASS 



(Map LXXI) 



Lacepede, 1802, Hist. Nat. Poiss., Ill, 5i7 (Labrus). 



J. & G., 465; M. V., 115; B., I, 7 (part); J. & E., I, 987; N., 37 (hexacanthus) ; J., 

 47 (nigromaculatus); F. F., I. 3, 56 (nigromaculatus) ; F., 69; L., 23. 



Length 12 inches; body oblong, less elongate than in the last species, 

 deeji and compressed; profile shorter and less prominently S-shaped than in 

 P. annularis; depth 2.1 to 2.4; greatest Avidth 2.75 in greatest length; depth 

 caudal peduncle 1.1 to 1.4 in its length. Color of upper parts olivaceous, 

 silvery whitish to yellowdsh below and on belly; body everywhere spotted 

 with very dark green or blackish; much iridescent color everywhere, chiefly 

 emerald and bluish; cheeks and opercles slaty; a dark spot at back of opercle 

 above and a smaller one, looking like a spinous extension of opercle, below it; 

 pupil a bright deep blue; iris brown, lavender, and purplish with a narrow 

 inner ring of gold; median fins reticulated (or barred unevenly) with dusky 

 to black, when partly folded having the appearance of dark fins spotted with 

 hghter. Head 2.8 to 3; width of head 2.-3 to 2.7 in its length; interorbital 

 space 3.8 to 4.4, convex; eye 4 to 4.5 in head; nose 3.7 to 4.3, little longer 

 than eye; mouth oblique, maxillary 2.1 to 2.5. Dorsal typically* VII (or 

 VIII), 15, the fin inserted nearer muzzle than in last species, the dorsal dis- 

 tance 1.8 to 2; caudal lunate; anal VI, 16-18; ventrals past second anal spine; 

 pectorals 1.4 to 2.1 in head. Scales 6, 38-44, 12; lateral Hne complete. 



This crappie is a darker, deeper, and more handsome fish 

 than the preceding one, and, like it, is highly valued for food, 

 especially as a pan-fish, if taken where the water is not too muddy 

 or too warm. It is found throughout the state, frequently in 

 company with the preceding species of the same genus, from 

 which it scarcely differs appreciabh^ in local distribution, in 

 habits, or in food. According to our data, derived from 183 

 collections, it is less common than annularis in creeks, and has 

 perhaps a noticeably stronger preference for water with a hard 

 bottom. We have also found it more abundant in the glacial 

 lakes of northeastern Illinois, from some of which, indeed, we 

 have not taken annularis at all. 



Its general range carries it northward bej^ond the preceding 

 species, and it is reported from the Ottawa River, in Canada, 

 and from the Lake of the Woods. 



Its food, according to our observations, is substantially 

 identical with that of annularis, except that 11 specimens ex- 



* See note on preceding species. 



