LEPOMIS SUXFISHES 251 



angled above eye; eye small, 4.7 to 5 in head; mouth large, the lower 

 jaw slightly longer than the upper; maxillary extending to middle of eye, 

 2 . S to 3 in head; a well-developed supplemental maxillary bone; teeth 

 on palatines; lower pharyngeals narrow but strong, the teeth heavy and 

 bluntly pointed, as in L. cyanellns; flexible margin of opercular flap 

 broad and rather thick and fleshy ; gill-rakers long, stiff, and rough, -\ 

 diameter of eye. Dorsal X or XI, 12; the spines strong and low, the 

 longest scarcely reaching from snout to middle of orbit, 3.1 to 3.4 in 

 head; anal III, 9 or 10; pectorals short, 1 .4 to 1 . 7 in head; ventrals ex- 

 ceeding vent, not reaching anal. Scales 7 or 8, 43-49, 14 or IS; 6 or 7 

 rows on cheek. 



Described in 1877 from a single specimen, taken in the Illinois 

 River, the exact locality unknown. Not again taken until 1899, 

 when two excellent adult specimens were obtained from the Illinois 

 River at Meredosia. Not known outside of Illinois. Here descril led 

 from 3 specimens, of which one is the original type. 



LEPOMIS SYMMETRICUS Forbes 



Forbes, 1883, Jordan and Gilbert's Synopsis, 473. 



B , I, 21 (Apomotis); J. & E., I, 998 (Apomotis); F„ 6S; L., 24 (Apomotis); R., 33. 



Length 2A inches; body robust, rather short and deep; dorsal and 

 ventral outlines about equally curved, giving the fish a distinctively 

 symmetrical appearance; profile almost straight, the angle at nape usu- 

 ally inappreciable; depth 1.9 to 2 in length. Color in life green, with 

 darker bars; in spirits light to darker brown; each scale with a basal 

 spot of darker, the spots appearing as indistinct rows from before back- 

 ward, 12 or 13 in number^ body and fins with numerous small coffee- 

 colored specks; tips of ventrals dusky; a black ocellated spot at base of 

 last dorsal rays in young specimens. Head 2.7 to 2.8 in length; eye 

 2.8 to 3.3 in head; mouth moderate, maxillary reaching to middle of 

 orbit, 2 . 4 to 2 . 6 in head; a well-developed supplemental maxillarv bone; 

 teeth on vomers and palatines; lower pharyngeals narrow, as in other 

 species of Lepomis, the teeth conical, but rather heavy and bluntly 

 pointed; operculum short, very broadly rounded behind, its membra- 

 nous margin not very broad; gill-rakers rather long and slender, but firm, 

 the longest more than A diameter of eye. Dorsal IX or X, 10 or 11; the 

 spines moderate, not very short, the longest reaching from snout to 

 pupil, 2 to 2.5 in head; anal III, 9 or 10; pectorals 1.1 to 1.3 in head; 

 ventrals short, hardly exceeding vent. Scales large, S or 6, 32 to 37, 

 12 to 14; lateral line incomplete; 4 or 5 rows of scales on cheeks. 



This symmetrical little species is rather rare in Illinois, which is 

 the northern boundary of its area of distribution. It has been taken 

 by us, in fact, but nine times, all but two of the collections— made 

 from the Illinois River at Pekin — coming from localities in extreme 

 southern Illinois, as follows: Anderson's branch and Running Lake 

 in Union county; and Drew pond, a pond near Hawthorne, and the 



