Joraan ana £ver/Ha/in. — Fishes of North Atnerica. 1011 



aa. Mouth very large, the maxillary in the adult extending beyond the eye; scales rather 

 large, about 7-68-lC, about lOrows on the cheek; last spines of dorsal very short, so 

 that the fin is almost divided into 2; young witli a blackish lateral band. 



SALMOIDES, 1410. 



1409. MICUOPTERUS DOLOMIEU, Lac(?iiede. 

 (Small-mouthed Black Bass.) 



Head 2^ to 3^ ; depth 3J^ (2| to 3i) ; eye li to 2 in snout, 5 to 6i in head. 

 D. X, 13 to 15; A. Ill, 10 to 12; scales 11-72 to 85-25, pores 67 to 78. 

 Body ovate-fusiform, becoming deeper with age. Mouth large, but 

 smaller than in MicropteruH salmokJes, the maxillary ending considerably 

 in front of the hinder margin of the orbit, except in very old examples. 

 Scales on the cheek minute, in about 17 rows ; scales on the trunk com- 

 paratively small. Gill rakers long, x -f- 6 or 7 besides rudiments. Dorsal 

 fin deeply notched, but less so than in M. salmoides, the ninth spine being 

 about half as long as the fifth and not much shorter than the tenth. 

 Fifth dorsal spine about 3-7 in head ; base of soft dorsal and anal scaly. 

 Coloration dull golden green, with bronze luster, young with darker spots 

 along the sides, which tend to form short vertical bars, but never a dark 

 lateral baud ; 3 bronze bands radiating from eye across cheeks and oper- 

 cles; a dusky spot on point of operculum; belly white ; caudal fin yellow- 

 ish at base, then black, with white tips; dorsal with bronze spots, its 

 edge dusky. In some waters the fin-markings are obsolete, but usually 

 they are very conspicuous in the young. Southern specimens usually have 

 the scales of the lower part of the sides with faint dark streaks ; adult 

 specimens have all these marks more or less wholly obliterated, and 

 become ultimately of a uniform dead green, without silvery luster. 

 "The black bass is eminently an American fish; he has the faculty of 

 asserting himself aud of making himself completely at home wherever 

 placed. He is plucky, game, bi'ave, unyielding to the last, when hooked. 

 He has the arrowy rush and vigor of a trout, the untiring strength and 

 bold leap of a salmon, while he has a system of fighting tactics peculiarly 

 his own. I consider him inch for inch and pound for pound the gamest 

 fish that swims." (J. A. Henshall.) From Lake Champiain to Manitoba 

 and southward on both sides of the mountains from James River to South 

 Carolina and Arkansas; abundant; frequenting running streams, and 

 preferring clear and cool waters ; its southern limit is bounded by the 

 presence of such waters. As a game fish this species is usually more 

 highly valued than its congener. (Named for M. Dolomieu, a mineralo- 

 gist in Paris for whom the mineral Dolomite was also named.) 



I\ricropterus dolomieu, LAC^pftDE, Hist. Nat. Poiss., iv, 325, 1802, locality uncertain, perhaps 



South Carolina ; Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis, 485, 1883. 

 Jlodianiis achigan, Kafine.sque, Amer. Month. Mag., 1817, 120, New York ; Canada. 

 CalUunt.1 punctnlatus, Rafinesque, lohth. Ohiensis, 26, 1820, Falls of the Ohio. 

 Lepomis Irifasciala, Rafinesque, Ichth. Ohiensis, 31, 1820, Ohio River, etc. 

 Lepomis flexuolaris, Rafinesque, Ichth. Ohiensis, 31, 1820, Ohio River. 

 Lepomis sahnonea, Rafinesque, Ichth. Ohiensis, 32, 1820, Kentucky, Green, Licking, and 



Ohio rivers. 

 Lepomis notnia, Rafinesque, Ichth. Ohiensis, 32, 1820, Ohio River. 

 ElheostomacalUura, Rafinesque, Ichth. Ohiensis, 30, 1820, Ohio River; Salt River, Kentucky. 



