234 



LOWER VER TEBRA TES. 



been called the long-eared sun-fish {Lepomis auritKs). The body is more oblong 

 than the common sun-fish, but what distinguishes it especially is the elongation of 

 the opercular lobes, which extend far backwards, and are of a jet black color. The 

 body itself is olive on the back and sides, but the belly is a brilliant orange-red. It 

 reaches a length of about eight inches. 



Still another species {L. pallidus), known as the blue sun-fish, or copper-nose 

 bream, and, rarely, dollardee, is common in the lake region and some of the western 

 streams of New York, and thence it extends almost all through sections of the Union 

 west into the Mississippi valley. It is indeed one of the most widely-dispersed of 

 the family, and, where it occurs, one of the most abundant. It is, however, found in 

 very few streams in the New England states. The body is much like that of the 

 common sun-fish, being short and deep, but the opercular flap is about as long as wide, 

 and without any brighter colored edge. It attains a length of about eight inches, and 

 sometimes more. 



Two smaller species of the family deserve notice, being remarkable for form 

 and colors ; both, unlike most others of the family, have the caudal fin convex 

 behind. 



The Enneacanihus obesus is distinguished by having nine dorsal sjiines, and by its 



dark cross-bands. It is rarely more 

 than three inches long. Its favorite 

 haunts are sluggish streams not far 

 from the coast and amongst water 

 plants. 



The 3fesogonistius chcetodon^ 

 like most of the family, has ten 

 rsal spines, but is peculiar in the 

 extension of these, at or toward 

 the middle, into an angle, as the 

 generic name indicates. Its color 

 is very striking, as the illustration 

 shows, and has suggested the gay 

 It resorts to nearly the same places as the 



Fig. 134. — En 



thus tjuttatus^ bream, pumpkin-seed. 



colors of the tropical Chfetodonts 

 En7ieacanthus. 



The last of the family that require notice are two species which are distinguished 

 by the strongly-compressed body, the concave and projecting snout, and especially the 

 structure of the dorsal and anal fins. These are nearly equal in size, and are obliquely 

 opposed to each other, the anal reaching further back than the dorsal ; the dorsal fin 

 has six to eight spines, and about fifteen rays, and the anal six spines and seventeen or 

 eighteen rays. This character of the small number of spines, and consequently the 

 abbreviation of the spinous portion of the dorsal fin, is unique in the family. The 

 color is olive, mottled with dark green, but assuming a more or less brass-like hue, 

 while dark marks or spots are scattered over the body ; the operculum, which is 

 pointed, has a dusky spot, but nmch less distinct than in the other representatives of 

 the family. Such are some of the characteristics of the genus Ponioxys. Two spe- 

 cies of the genus are known. 



The P. sparoides is comparatively high, and has seven or eight dorsal spines. It 

 is known under the names of calico-bass, grass-bass, strawberry-bass, and bar-fish, and 

 is a common species in the great lakes and the upper Mississippi valley, as well as the 



