424 AMERICAN GAME FISHES, 



head; head 3 in length of body; greatest depth 2; dorsal XI 

 to XIII, 12 or 13; anal VIII, 13 or 14, lateral line with 37 to 

 ^3 scales. Color silvery green, with about 20 horizontal dark 

 stripes along the rows of scales: a black spot on last rays of 

 dorsal: a blackish bar below eye. Length 4 to 6 inches. 



An elegant little fish, very abundant in the lowland streams 

 of the South, and coming as far north as Virginia and South- 

 ern Illinois. It is a good food-lish, but it rarely weighs half 

 a pound. It especially abounds in the clear dark waters 

 among the cypress-knees. 



THE CRAPPIE — Ponioxis annularis (Rafinesque). 



Description. — Body elongate, the depth usually about 2 1-2- 

 in. length of body, the profile more or less strongly S-shaped, 

 owing to the projecting snout, depressed occipital region and 

 strongly prominent, thickened ante-dorsal area; head long, about 

 3-in. length; the mouth very wide, the mandible being about 

 as long as the pectorals; eye large,about 4-in. head; fin-rays, 

 dorsal VI, 15, the spines varying from V to VII; anal VI, 18, 

 the spines frequently but 5 in number, the number of spines 

 is subject to considerable variation, but the normal number 

 both in dorsal and in anal is six; the proportions of the spines 

 also vary somewhat; lateral line with about 42 scales (36 to 

 48); color, clear silvery olive, mottled with dark olive green, 

 the green being chiefly on the upper part of the body and 

 having a tendency to form narrow vertical bars; dorsal and 

 caudal mottled with green; anal pale, scarcely marked at all; 

 soft rays of dorsal and anal very high but still lower than in 

 the Calico Bass. This species reaches the height of about 

 a foot. The form varies much with age, large specimens 

 having the body much deeper and more compressed than is 

 the case with young fishes. 



The Crappie is one of our best pan-fishes, greedy and vora- 

 cious as a black Bass, but less active, and giving up the fight 

 at once when the hook is in his jaws. It reaches usually a 

 length of ten or twelve inches, and a pound weight, but 

 there are records of Crappies weighing three pounds. 



The home of the Crappie is in the Mississippi valley, espe- 

 cially from St. Louis southward, although it ranges northward 

 to Minnesota. It thrives best in sluggish waters, and is not 



