1010 Bulletin 4/, United States National Museum. 



Spams aureus, Walbaum, Artedi, Pise, 290, 1792, lakes of New York; after " Goldfisch " of 



SCUOPF. 



Moroiie maailala, Mitciiill, Fishes of New York, 18, 1814, near New York City. 



Pomo(i,s ("/(/rtn's, CuviER i^- Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Polss., hi, 91, 1829, Lake Huron New 



York, Virginia, and Carolina. 

 PnmoiU raveiielii, Cuvier & Valenciennes, ?. c, vn, 465, 1831, Philadelphia. 

 Pomotis cateshei, Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1. c, vii, 469, 1831, Philadelphia. 

 Eupomotis aureus,'* Boulenger, Cat., i, 32. 



461. MICROPTERUS, Lacepetle. 



(Black Bass.) 



ic„).9i^£^/y/^/^/^ 



Micrnpterus, LAc£rEi>E, Hist. Nat. Poiss., iv, 325, 1802, (doJomieu). 

 ICaUitmts, Bafinesque, Journ. de Physique, 420, 1810, {ptmctukUus = dolotn 

 ApUte^, Eafinesque, Ichth. Ohiensis, 30, 1820, {paUi(i7is = salnioides). 

 £epo>?ns, EAFiNESQt'E, Ichth. Ohiensis, 30, 1820, (not LepomU, Kafinesqi'E, \%VJ),(}nilUda=^sal- 



moides). 

 Nemocampsis, Rafinesque, Ichth. Ohiensis, 31, 1820, (Jlexuolaris = dolomieu). 

 DiopHtfn, Rafinesque, Ichth. Ohiensis, 32, 1820, {salmonea= dolomieu).' 

 Aplesion, Bafinesque, Ichth. Ohiensis, 30, 1820, {caUiiira). 



Jfwro, Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., 11, 1^6, 1828, {nigricayii! = salmoides). 

 Grysles, Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., iii, 54, 1829, (sahnoidcs). 



Body oblong, compressed, the back not mnch elevated. Head oblong, 

 conic. Mouth very large, oblique, the broad maxillary reaching nearly 

 to or beyond the posterior margin of the eye, its supplemental bone well 

 developed. Lower jaw prominent. Teeth on jaws, vomer, and palatines 

 in broad villiform bands, the inner deiiressible ; usually no teeth on the 

 tongue. Preopercle entire; operculum ending in two flat points without 

 cartilaginous flap. Branchiostegals normally 6. Gill rakers long and 

 slender. Scales rather small, weakly ctenoid. Lateral line complete, the 

 tubes straight, occupying the anterior half of each scale. Dorsal fin 

 divided by a deep notch, the spines low and rather feeble, 10 in number; 

 anal spines 3; the anal fin much smaller than the dorsal; pectorals 

 obtusely pointed, the upper rays longest ; ventrals close together below 

 the pectorals; caudal fin emarginate. Posterior processes of the premax- 

 illaries not extending to the frontals ; frontals posteriorly with a trans- 

 verse ridge connecting the parietal and supraoccipital crests, which are 

 very strong. Vertebra; 16 + 16 or 17 =^ 32 or 33. Size large. Two species, 

 among the most important of American '' game fishes," now largely intro- 

 duced into the waters of Europe. (uiKftoc, small; nrepov, fin; the dorsal 

 fin in the typical specimen having been injured, its posterior rays detached 

 and bitten off short, were taken by Lac^pede for a separate fin.) 



a. Mouth moderate, the maxillary in the adult not extending beyond eye; scales small, about 

 11-74-17, about 17 rows on the cheek; young more or less barred or spotted, never with 

 a black lateral band. dolomieu, 1409. 



* Dr. Boulenger re.jects the name gihbosus applied to this species, as it occurs in the tenth edi- 

 tion of the Systema Naturw, not reappearing in the twelfth, with which he begins the binomial 

 nomenclature. We liave followed the cvistom of American authors in recognizing the tenth 

 edition (of 1758) as the starting noint of binomial nomenclature. 



