242 



FISHES OF ILLINOIS 



or XII (or rarely XIII), 12-14, its longest spine about 2 in head; length 

 of dorsal about 1 .2 to 1.3 times length of anal; caudal lunate; anal VII 

 or VIII (occasionally VI), 13-15; ventrals past fourth anal spine; pec- 

 torals to 7th or 8th anal spine, 1 to 1.2 in head. Scales 6 or 7, 41-43, 

 13 or 14; lateral line complete; scales on cheeks in 6 or 7 rows. 



Fig. 58 



This little fish, found by us only in extreme southern Illinois from 

 Hamilton county southward, is a distinctly southern species, occur- 

 ring in lowland streams and bayous of the lower Mississippi Valley, 

 and in the south Atlantic region from Florida to Virginia. In this 

 state we have taken it in only thirteen collections, all from creeks 

 and sloughs tributary to the Little Wabash, the Big Muddy, and the 

 Cache. 



The species is said by Jordan to reach a length of six inches. 

 Owing to its small size and comparative scarcity, except here and 

 there in the South, it is of no commercial importance. 



Genus AMBLOPLITES Rafinesque 

 (rock bass) 



Body oblong, moderately elevated, compressed, but robust; opercle 

 ending in two flat points; preopercle serrate at its angle; mouth large; 

 supplemental maxillary well developed; teeth (Fig. 56) on vomer, pala- 

 tines, tongue, entopterygoids, and ectopterygoids, a single patch on the 

 tongue (Fig. 57), pharyngeal teeth sharp; gill-rakers rather long and 

 strong, dentate, less than 10 in number; dorsal spines 10 or 11; anal 

 spines normally 6; caudal emarginate; scales somewhat ctenoid. Central, 

 eastern, and southern United States, and Canada; one species. 



