114 BOOK OF THE BLACK BASS. 



delicate at the angles of the mouth, on the vomer and on the 

 wings of the palate they are small and like velvet ; eye round, 

 near the summit of the head; scales rounded, large upon the 

 sides near the pectoral fins, diminishing towards the back, and 

 in approaching the tail and the abdomen, smaller, and subequal 

 on all the pieces of the operculum; the snout and the upper 

 part of the head are destitute of scales; mandible and post 

 mandible very strong and broad ; dorsal fin divided into two 

 nearly equal parts, the anterior spinous, elevated before, very low 

 behind and but little arquated ; the posterior part mc^re elevated 

 and rounded ; the anal fin short, extending beyond the dorsal 

 as in the species of the Ohio, so that its middle corresponds 

 with the posterior base of the dorsal ; the rays of the fins are 

 also much divided and articulated ; pectorals small and rounded ; 

 thoracic fins subtriangular, as long as the j)ectorals ; operculum 

 without any denticulation, or spine; lateral line oblique, undu- 

 lated ; the color of this dried specimen is black on the back and 

 lighter towards the abdomen. 



" We are indebted for this species to the researches of Messrs. 

 Maclure, Ord, Say, and Peale, who brought it from East Flor- 

 ida."— (Le Sueur, Jour. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phil. II, 219, 1822.) 



HuRO NIGRICANS Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1828. — "II a le 

 corps un peu plus haut a proportion que la perche ; le museau 

 un peu plus court ; le front moins concave ; sa raachoire iuferi- 

 eure se porte un peu plus en avant. Sur son front se voient des 

 stries fines et nombreuses, mais toutes dirigees vers le bord de 

 I'orbite. II a des dents en velours aux memes endroits que la 

 perche; son maxillaire a le bord superieur dilate; son front, son 

 museau, ses machoires, n'ont point d'ecailles; mais il y en a sur 

 son crane, sa tempe, toute sa joue et toutes ses pieces operculai- 

 res, leurs bords exceptes. Le limbe de I'opercule en est depour- 

 vu, et son bord parfaiteraent entier et sans dentalures s'arrondit 

 dans le bas, apres avoir fiiit un tres-leger arc rentrant. L'oper- 

 cule osseux se terraine en deux pointes plates, separees par una 



