28 BOOK OF THE BLACK BASS. 



black bass."* The species arc quite well distinguished by the size 

 of the mouth and the comparative size of the scales: his Gnjstes ni- 

 gricans is, however, not the true Gri/nten niyricaiis {Huro niyritaits, 

 Cuv. & Val.), as tliat name really belongs to his Gnjstes mejasloma. 



lu 1859, Dr. Giintherf described specimens of the small-mouthed 

 species under the name Grystcs sal mo idea, and fii'st restricteil the 

 genus to that species (having removed the Australian species as the 

 type of a new genus— Oli(/oni>i). Having overlooked the rectilica- 

 tions by Prof. Agassiz, he continued the errors ot his predecessors, 

 admitting as nominal .species (1) Iftiro nigricans, (2) Cenirarchus 

 fasciatus, and (3) Centrarc/nis ohscnrns, and also the same species 

 as doubtful forms (in foot-notes) of Gryste.i, i. e., G. nucccnsis and 

 G. fascia t as. 



For the present, the notices and descriptions of the several forms 

 of tlie genus by other authors may be passed over in silence, as they 

 do not involve any questions of nomenclature. It may be added, 

 however, (1) that the author had long recognized the existence and 

 differences of the two species of the genus, one under the name Mi- 

 croptenis achigaii, the other as Micropterus nicjricans, and (2) that 

 Prof. Cope, under the names Micropterus fasciatus (which he at- 

 tributed "to the present author through some misapprehension) and 

 Micropterus nigricans has signalized the same species from widely 

 distant regions (e. g., Micliigan, Virginia, North Carolina), and has 

 evidently understood their relations. 



Analysis of all the published descriptions and comparison with the 

 fishes themselves, led to the following conclusions : 



Section 1. — Morphological. 



After an examination and comparison with each other of specimens 

 from the great lakes (Champlain to Michigan), the .states of New York, 

 Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Missfiuri, 

 Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Virginia, North 



* " This flsh has been iflentifiel witli tho coininon black b:i><s {Gri/.f'rs /nsci- 

 'A.IUS}, but is by no means the same lish, clillering in many respects, l)oib in its 

 ^labits and oliy.sical structure, and has not been described in any worli on 

 American fislies, so far as I can learn " {np.cit. p. lOS). 



tGuNTUiai (Albert). rntalcKuc of the Acanthoptcry<iian Fishes in ihc 

 Collection of the British Museum, . . . Vol. i, . . . London, . . . ISJD [pp. :.52-Jjjj, 



