396 EXPLORATIONS ACEOSS THE GREAT -BASIN OF DTAH. 



Genus MORONE, Gill. 

 Synonymy. 



MoRONK llitMU, KoiH)it in part on the Fislii's of New York, p. 18. (Not (k-liiie.!.) 

 MoiioNK Gill, Pioeeeaiugs Academy of Nat. Sciouces of Phila., 1800, p. 115. 

 Pekca sp. Bloch, Gmeliu, Lac. 

 C'ENTitoro.Mi'S sp. Bafinesqiie. 

 BODIANUS sp. Mitcliill. 



Lahraces with a iwctuiakd prcopcrcuhint, stiouyly dcnoUl cheek and opercular scales, 

 lingual teeth developed only in a maryimd hand, and skull tvith stvollen diaphanous brain-case 

 and mastoid protuherances projecting toivard the foramina for the last two hranches on each 

 side of the fifth nerve. 



The body is oblong-ovate and .slightly gibbous at the commencement of the 



dorsal tin. 



The head is compressed, laterally oldong-conic. The operculum has two spines, 

 the upper of which is smaller ; the i)reoi)erculum pectinated behind and beneath ; the 

 suborbital bones entire. The muciferous cavities of the lower jaAV are very perceptible. 



The teeth on the intermaxillary, dentary, vomerine, and palatine bones are villi- 

 form. There is only a marginal band on the tongue, which is less perfect at the tip, 

 the asperities being there more scattered. The interbranchial osselets are smooth. 



The scales are ctenoid on the body and the entire head. 



The lateral line anteriorly convex, but not parallel with the back. 



The dorsal tins are united by a low membrane ; the anterior has nine spines ; the 

 posterior, one. The anal tin has three spines. The caudal is emarginated. 



'I'he skull has the brain-case with inflated sides below, swollen and developing 

 into mastoid jn'ominences projecting toward the foramina for the last two branches of 

 the fifth pair of nerves, no vacuity between the basioccipital and alisphenoid bones, and 

 the postfrontals laterally contracted. 



The chief distinctive characters of the genus are the presence of strongly-})ecti- 

 nated scales on the cheeks and opercular bones, and the band of villiform teeth on the 

 sides, and of more scattered ones at the tip, as well as the cranial peculiarities. 



In the armature of the preoperculum and operculum, it resembles the genus 

 Boccus. The slightly gibbous back in front of the dorsal fin and the greater develop- 

 ment of the second anal spine are secondary features, which sujiport the natural 

 characters of Morone as distinguished from the genus Boccus. 



For the name of the genus, one used by Mitchill for a group founded in error 

 has been adopted. The name of Mitchill resulted from a misunderstanding of that 

 author regarding the value of the terms made use of by Linnaeus. The genus Perca 

 was placed l)y the Swedish naturalist in his section of Thorackl. ^litchill, believing 

 that tlie Morone aincricana, Perca amerlcana {Perca fiavescens Cv.), and Pomotis aureus 

 {Ponudis vulgaris Cv.), were rather abdominal fishes, considered them to be generically 

 distinct from Perca, and consequently gave to them the generic name Morone. It 

 is scarcely necessary to state that all the species enumerated have the normal position 

 of the ventrals of Perca, and that therefore Morone of Mitchill Avas a mere synonym of 



