SCIENTIFIC HISTORY OF THE BLACK BASS. 35 



Florida. In 187G, Prof. Goode had collected it in Florida, and so 

 felt bound to restore Le Sueur's name and to call it Mk-ropterus flor- 

 idanm. In 1877, I called Professor Gill's attention to the fact that 

 there were big^mouthed as well as small-mouthed Black Ba.ss in tlie 

 streams where Rafinesque fi.shed, and he agreed with me at once that 

 the Lepomis pallida of Rafinesque was the big-mouth, which is why 

 the big-mouthed Black Bass, Oswego Bass, Grass Bass, and Bayou 

 Bass is Micropterus pallidas (Rafinesque) Gill and Jordan, at present 

 date, and such may it ever remain. 



Now, as to the name of the genus itself, the difficulty is just as 

 great. Tlie name Micropterus is unquestionably the oldest. But (a) 

 we are perhaps not absolutely certain that the original Micropterus 

 dolomieu was a Black Bass at all; {b) it was described as distinct 

 under the erroneous impression that it had a little adipose fin behind 

 the dorsal, and (r) the name (small fin) refers to this imaginary pe- 

 culiarity, and is therefore incorrect. 



On the other hand, the Black Bass really has smaller fins than 

 any of its relatives, and the name has therefore a certain appropri- 

 ateness. I think, with Professor Gill, that it should be retained, al- 

 though Professor Cope and ethers, as good authority as we are, are 

 inclined to demur. 



Next comes Callinrus (beautiful tail), not a bad name, for the 

 young Bass have the tail ornamented with black, white, and yellow, 

 but not a very good name. Then comes Lepomis (scaly opercles), 

 previously applied to the sunfishes, and therefore not usable for a 

 Bass. Then come Rafinesque's ApHtes, Kemocaiiipsis, Dioplites, and 

 Aplesion, unworthy of any attention, although, for some reason, Dio- 

 plites has kept up a sort of life, while the other three have wholly died. 



Next come the name JIuro for the large-mouthed, and Grystes for the 

 small-mouthed. Of course the two do not belong to separate genera. 

 The name Grystes was given as a translation of the name Growler, 

 under which name the Black Bass was sent to the museum at Paris. 

 Thus our two species are often called in foreign books the Black 

 Huron {Huro nigricans), and the Salmon-formed Growler (Grystes 

 salmoides). The name Grystes is a graceful one, and has been used 

 more frequently than any other, but there are seven names ahead of 

 it on the record, and first come first served and synonymy take the 

 hindmost. 



