128 VERTEBRATE ANIMALS OF THE UNITED STATES 



H. harratti (Holbrook). Body compressed, elongate; length 75 

 mm. ; head 3.6 ; depth 4.6 ; color dark brown, with bright red and blackish 

 mottlings on the sides and back; a small black shoulder spot; rays of 

 dorsal tins IX to XII-9 to 12; anal II, 7; scales 3-48 to 56-10; cheeks, 

 top of head, breast, nape and opercles scaly: Virginia to Florida, in 

 swamps and lowland streams of the coastal plain; not common. 



H . fusijonnis (Girard). Body elongate and compressed; length 50 

 mm.; head 4; depth 6; color very variable, olivaceous, blotched with 

 dusky; a black spot below and another in front of the eye; rays of 

 dorsal lins IX or X-9 to 12; anal II, 6; scales 3-43 to 50-12; cheek, 

 opercle and nape scaly: entire eastern and central States; westward to 

 Minnesota and the Rio Grande, in lowland streams and ponds. 



27. Microperca Putnam. No lateral hne: 3 species. 



Key to the Species of Microperca and Alvarius 



ai Checks and opercles scaly M. prcelaris. 



a 2 Cheeks naked. 



bi Anal spines 2; in the northwest M. punctulata. 



bi Anal spine i ; in the south A. fonticola. 



M. prcelaris Hay. Length 40 mm.; head 4; depth 4.5; color olive, 

 speckled with brown; 10 spots along the sides; rays of dorsal fins VIII, 

 11; anal II, 6; scales 36: Alabama to Arkansas, in lowland streams. 



M. punctulata Putn. Length 30 mm.; head 3.75; depth 4.5 to 5; 

 color light olive, with sides speckled and vaguely barred; rays of dorsal 

 fins VI or VII- 10; anal II, 6; scales 34 to 37-9; cheeks, nape and breast 

 naked; opercles with a few scales: Michigan to Minnesota; southward to 

 Arkansas; common in clear weedy streams and ponds, especially in the 

 Great Lakes basin ; the smallest of the darters. 



28. Alvarius Girard. Lateral line present anteriorly; dorsal fins 

 short; anal spine single; head naked: 2 species. 



A. fonticola Jordan & Gilbert. Length 30 mm.; head t^.t, to 4; 

 depth 4.5 to 5; color light olive, with 8 cross blotches on the back and 

 horizontal lines on the sides; rays of dorsal fins VI to VII-8 to 10; 

 anal I, 7; scales 34: Arkansas and Texas, in clear rocky streams; scarce. 



Family 6. Moronidae. — River bass. Body elliptical, more or less 

 compressed; scales ctenoid; lateral line present; tail forked; branchi- 

 ostegals normally 7 ; pseudobranchiai large ; spines of anal fin 3 ; cheeks 

 and opercles always scaly; teeth on vomers and palatines: about 70 

 genera and 400 species, mostly marine; 4 genera and species in fresh 

 water, which are important food and game fishes. 



