322 FISHES OF ILLINOIS 



In its general distribution it contrasts strongly with its com- 

 panion species, the white bass the latter being northern in its range 

 and the present species southern. It occurs throughout the Mis- 

 sissippi Valley northward to the latitude of Cincinnati and St. Louis, 

 southward to New Orleans, and westward to the Kansas River. Its 

 most northerly localities in this state are Green River in Henry 

 county and the Illinois River at Ottawa, in La Salle county. 



This fish reaches a length of twelve to eighteen inches and a 

 weight of one to five pounds, although it does not ordinarily exceed 

 a pound or two. It is common in the market catches at Havana, 

 Meredosia, and Peoria, but hardly ever of a weight of more than half 

 a pound. The catch of the yellow and the white bass together from 

 the Illinois River in 1899, made up, no doubt, mainly of the present 

 species, amounted to 92,931 pounds. It takes live bait readily, and 

 will rise to the fly, and is considered by some anglers as scarcely 

 inferior to the black bass as a game fish. It has been intn iduced by 

 the State Fish Commission of Pennsylvania into several of the rivers 

 of that state. 



What little is known of its food indicates an insectivorous habit, 

 adults feeding on aquatic larvse, especially those of May-flies, 

 together with small crustaceans and terrestrial insects. 



The yellow bass spawned in May at Havana in 1899. 



Family SCIjENID^E 

 (the drums) 



Body compressed, more or less elongate; scales thin, usually ctenoid; 

 head scaled; lateral line continuous, extending on caudal fin; skeleton 

 osseous; vertebrae 22 to 32 (about); ventrals thoracic, I, 5; dorsals con- 

 fluent or separate, the spines depressible into a more or less perfect 

 groove; anal spines 1 or 2; caudal usually not forked; no mesocoraond ; 

 gill-membranes separate, free from isthmus; branchiostegals 7; pseudo- 

 branchiae usually large, present in most genera; gill-rakers present; pre- 

 opercle serrate or not; operclc usually ending in 2 flat points; mouth 

 small or large; premaxillary protractile; no supplemental maxillary; 

 chin usually with pores, sometimes with barbels; no teeth on vomer, pal- 

 atines, pterygoids, or tongue; no incisors; lower pharyngeals separate or 

 united, the teeth conic or molar; ear-bones or otoliths very large; pyloric 

 i seca usually ratherfew; air-bladder usually large and complicated (oc< a 

 sionally wanting) ; special drumming muscles developed in abdominal wall 

 of manv species, their function being to produce sounds by the impact "I 

 their vibrations on the air-bladder. 



