REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 119 



Cunliff, Blackmoor's, Sucker, and Belleville Ponds; Pawcatuck River 

 and its branches; also common in ponds and streams of Block Island. 



Reproduction: Spawns in the spring in nests made by hollowing out 

 with the fins a depression in the mud or sand. The nests are guarded 

 by the male; the eggs are only about 1-32 inch in diameter, and not 

 very numerous. (Gill, Parental Care Among Fresh-Water Fishes, 

 Smithsonian Report, 1905, 40.3.) 



Food: Similar to that of the preceding species. (For food of the sunfish 

 see S. A. Forbes in Bulletins of the Illinois State Laboratory.) 



Size: Eight inches. 



115. Micropterus dolomieu (Lacepede). Small-mouthed Black Bass. 



Geog. Dist.: From Lake Champlain to Manitoba and southward on both 

 sides of the mountains from James River to South Carolina and Arkan- 

 sas. Indigenous to the upper parts of St. Lawrence basin, Gi*eat Lake 

 region and Mississippi basin. East of the Alleghanies it is a native of 

 the Ocurulgee and Chattahoochee rivers, but north of these streams it 

 has been widely distributed by artificial introduction (Bean, 1903). 

 Introduced throughout New England, where it is now common. 



Habitat: Clear cold waters of running streams. 



Season in R. I.: Introduced by R. I. Fish Commission into the following 

 ponds: Westerly, Pasquiset, Quidnick, Fenner's, Chapman, and other 

 small ponds throughout the State. (See Reports of the R. I. Fish 

 Commission from 1897 to 1905.) 



Reproduction: Spawning season begins in March and ends in July. 

 Incubation period lasts from seven to fourteen days. Eggs are ad- 

 herent and laid in nests. Nest guarded by the male. (The habits of 

 the basses are described by Henshall, Book of the Black Bass, 2d ed., 

 1904; and. More About the Black Bass, 1898; and by Reighard, The 

 Breeding, Habits, Development, and Propagation of the Black Bass. 

 Bull. Michigan Fish Com., No. 7, 1905.) 



Food: Small fishes, insects, and their larvae, fresh- water crustaceans. 



Size: Twelve to fifteen inches; maximum, two feet. 



116. Micropterus salmoides (Lacepede). Large-Mouthed Black Bass. 



Geog. Dist.: Rivers of United States from Great Lakes and Red River 

 of the North to Florida, Texas, Mexico, everiywhere abundant. Intro- 

 duced into New England and Middle Atlantic States east of the Alle- 

 ghanies. 



Habitat: Lakes, bayous, and sluggish waters. 



