84. CENTRARCniDiE LEPOMIS. 473 



a. Pharyngoal teeth all or nearly all slender, acute; lower pharyngeals narrow, the 

 teeth mostly conic. 

 I). Supplemental maxillary evident ; palatine teeth present ; gill-rakers stiff and 

 lather long. (Apomoiis " Ralinesqiie.) 



736. L.. cvanellUS Kaf. — Bed-eye; Blue-spotted Sun-fish. 



Body oblong, rather elongate, becoming short and deep with age ; 

 moderately compressed. Head large, with projecting snout. Mouth 

 rather large, the maxillary broad and flat, with a small supplemental 

 bone, reaching nearly to the middle of the eye ; lower jaw projecting. 

 Dorsal spines quite low, the highest scarcely longer than snout (in the 

 adult, longer in young). Scales small. Opercular spot small, less than 

 eye, broadly margined, the black confined to the bony part. Pectoral 

 short, not reaching anal. Color variable, the prevailing shade green, 

 with a strong brassy lustre on sides, which becomes nearly yellow below ; 

 each scale usually with a sky-blue spot and more or less of gilt edging, 

 giving an appearance of pale lateral streaks; besides these marks, dusky 

 or obscure vertical bars are often present, and the sides are sprinkled 

 with dark dots ; vertical fins marked with blue or green, the anal usually 

 edged in front with i)ale orange; usually a conspicuous black spot on 

 posterior base of dorsal and anal, these often obsolete ; iris red ; cheeks 

 wiLh narrow blue stripes. Scales on cheeks in 8 rows. Head 3 ; depth 

 2^. D. X, 11; A. Ill, 9 ; Lat. 1. about 48 L. 7 inches. Very variable. 

 Great Lake region to Mexico; very abundant south westward ; ascend- 

 ing smiiU brooks. 



(Raf. Journ. do Physique, 1819, 420 : Ictlielis mclanops Raf. Ichth. Oh. 1820, 28: Cal- 

 Uurus loixjulus, diaphanus, forinosus, and microps Girard, U. S. Pac. R. R. Surv. Fish, 

 and U. S. Mex. Bound. Surv. Ichth. 1859: Bryttus signifer Grd. U. S. Pac. R. R. Surv. 

 Fish. ~'0 : Bryttus longulus Giinther, i, 260 : Lepomis micTops, mineopas, and melanops 

 Cope, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1868 223, 224 : Apomotis cyanellus Jordan, Man. 

 Vert. E. U.S. ed. 2,239.) 



737. L<. syioisnctriciis Forhes, sp. nov. 



Color dark, most scales with a vertical dark bar at base; cheeks mot- 

 tled, not striped ; sides with about 10 vertical bars, widest forward ; 

 pectoral fins pale ; ventrals dusky in the male ; dorsal fin in the female 

 with a dark ocellated spot on its last ray. Body short, deep, with reg- 

 ular outlines. Mouth moderate, the lower jaw longest, the maxillary 

 reaching the front of the i)ui)il ; supplemental maxillarj'^ present. Pala- 

 tine teeth present ; phar^ ngeal teeth rather blunt. Gill-rakers stiff and 

 long. Cheeks with 7 rows of scales. Opercular angle not prolonged, 



* Rafinesque, Journ. do Physique, etc., 1819,420: ty])e Lepomis cyanellus Raf.; a, 

 primitive; Ttibna, operculum; ouS, ear ^^jft-'Zyjomis Raf. 18;:^0. 



