480 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 



large, the i)rojecting snout usually forming an angle above eye. Mouth 

 quite small, oblique, the jaws about equal, the maxillary barely reach- 

 ing the frout of the eye. Five rows of scales on cheeks. Opercular 

 flaj) very short in the young ; in the adult rather long and wide, without 

 pale edge. Gill-rakers moderately long, nearly terete, bent slightly 

 downwards, about 30 well developed. Dorsal spines strong and high, 

 usually longer than snout and eye. Ventral fins reaching anal ; pectorals 

 reaching past anal spines. Olive green ; adults dark ; young more or 

 less silvery, with a purple lustre in life; sides with undulating, often 

 chain-like, transverse greenish bars, which become obsolete in the adult; 

 no blue stripes on cheeks ; a diffuse black blotch at base of posterior 

 rays of dorsal and anal, often obscure in young; no red on fins; very 

 old specimens often with the belly coppery red. Head 3 ; depth 2. D. 

 X, 11; A. Iir, 10; Lat. 1. 41. L. 8 inches. Great Lakes to Florida and 

 Mexico ; very abundant ; one of our most widely diffused and variable 

 species. 



{Labrus palladus Mitcliill, Trans. Lit. & Phil. Soc. N. Y. 1815, 407 ; Jordan, Man. Vert. 

 241: Lahrm appendix Mitcliill, Amer. Moutli. Mag. 247, 1H18 (not Pomotis ajypendix ol 

 authors): Pomotis incisor C. & V. vii,4()6: Pomol is ineisoi- GiiutheT, i, 269: Ichthclis in- 

 cisor Holbrook, Ichth. S. C. 12 : Pomotis gihhosus C. & V. vii, 4G7 : Pomotis si)edosus, and 

 aquilensis B. & G. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1854, 24 : Pomotis spcciosus Guuther, i, 26\\ : 

 Pomotis luna Grd. U. S. Pac. R. R. Snrv. Fish, x, 22 : Lcpomis longispinis, me(jalotis, and 

 ardesiams Cope, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1868, 220, 222 : Lepom is purpurascens Cope, 

 Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. Phila. 1870, 453: Pomotis ohsciirus'^ Agassiz, Amer. Journ. Sci. 

 Arts, 1854, 302: Lepiopomus oiscurus Jordan, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. 1876, 317, a deeiily 

 colored variety, from the Tennessee Basin and southward.) 



aa. Pharyngeal teeth mostly bluntly conic. (Xi/s<rqp?)7est Jordan.) 



752. L,. lieros (B. & G.) McKay. 



Appearance of Lepomis palUdus. Body robust, deep ; the front steep, 

 the projecting snout forming a considerable angle at the eye. Caudal 

 peduncle rather long. Mouth moderate. Eye large. Scal-es on cheeks 

 ill 4 or 5 rows. Opercular flap broad, about as large as eye, with an 

 orange margin below and behind. Spines strong and rather high. 



*The life colors of " Lejjomis ohscurus" are as follows: 



Dark green above, the shoulders and front of back with distinct greenish-black 

 spots; sides with wide dark-green bars; chest bright coppery -red, spotted with black- 

 ish and orange; sides of belly with blackish and carmine; face, lower jaw, and lower 

 p;)rts of head of a peculiar bright leaden blue; cheeks orange and lead-blue, not 

 striped; opercular spot large, all black; vertical tins dark blue-green; a black spot 

 on last rays of dorsal and anal. 



t Jordan MSS. Cope, Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 1877, 66: type Xystroplites gillii Jot- 

 dM\=: Briittus albulus Grd. {^vdrpov, a scraper — gill-raker; 6ff/\zr7/s, armed.) 



