434 AMERICAN GAME FISHES. 



D. IX-I, 14; A. Ill, 12; scales, 7-55-13- Length, 10 to 15 

 inches. 



A gentle, quiet, handsome fish, common enough, yet never 

 very abundant; fairly well known yet unobtrusive, never 

 taking a prominent part in anything. Such is the White 

 Bass. It is found throughout the region west of Lake Cham- 

 plain, north of Tennessee and east of Dakota. A few White 

 Bass may be found in any pile of Black Bass or Sunfish from 

 the lakes, as they lie in the market stalls. Yet no one ever 

 saw a catch of White Bass, and no one ever went fishing 

 especially for them. 



It is a food-fish of good flavor, similar to the Black Bass, 

 and not inferior. It lives in deep or still waters, both in 

 rivers or lakes, but it seldom ascends small streams, and dis- 

 likes waters which are muddy or weedy. It is said to do 

 well in ponds. It may be caught in the same ways as the 

 Black Bass, though it is certainly less voracious and less 

 gamy. 



THE CALICO BASS — Poiuoxis spavoidcs (Lacepede). 



Description. — Body oblong, elevated, greatly compressed, 

 the depth being nearly half the length, the head one-third; profile 

 more regular than in the Crappie, the projections and depres- 

 sions being less marked; head much deeper and shorter than 

 in the Crappie, the mouth considerably smaller, the mandible 

 being considerably shorter than pectorals; snout projecting, 

 forming an angle with the descending profile; fins very high; 

 anal rather larger than dorsal, its height being from one- 

 fourth to one-fifth of the length of the fish without caudal-fin; 

 dorsal VII, 15, varying to VIII spines, very rarely VI; anal 

 VI, 18, varying to V, 17; lateral line with 40 to 42 scales; 

 color a bright silvery olive, mottled with clear olive green, 

 the dark mottlings gathered in irregular small bunches, rath- 

 er than in lines or bars, and covering the whole body and 

 the soft rays of the anal as well as these of the caudal and 

 dorsal fins; usually a dusky opercular spot. This species 

 reaches a length of a little more than a foot. 



Closely allied to the Crappie, but loving colder and clearer 



