THE COMMON NAMES OF THE BASSES AND SUN-FISHES. 



By Hugh M. Smith. 



The strictly American family of fresh-water sun-fishes and basses 

 ( Centra rchidce) consists of numerous sijecies, including some of our 

 best-known fresh-water fishes, which are much sought by anglers and 

 contribute largely to the food supply. The family is well represented 

 in nearly all j)arts of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, 

 in Canada and Mexico, and one species is found in California. 



Some of these fishes are known only to the ichthyologist and have 

 no distinctive names by which the layman may designate them; others 

 can claim only book names which have never come into use and 

 probably never will ; and others have received a large number of vernac- 

 ular names, some general and some local in their application. Some 

 of the popular designations are appropriate and distinctive, but others 

 are misleading, inaccurate, and indefinite, and much confusion has 

 been occasioned thereby in popular literature and in legal papers. 

 This compilation is offered in the belief that a key to the numerous 

 names of these fishes will be useful to fishermen, fish-culturists, and 

 legislators. There is no intention to lay undue stress on the impor- 

 tance of common names ; on the contrary, it is thought that the multi- 

 plicity of names here shown serves to emphasize the necessity for 

 definiteness which can, in many instances, be secured only through 

 the use of the technical names. 



The common names are presented in two lists. In the first an effort 

 is made to bring together, in alphabetical order, all the common names 

 that have been applied to the sun-fishes in the United States and Can- 

 ada, to show the distribution of these names, and to identify the species 

 to which each common name is given. Practically all the names in 

 print are recorded, together with a number of others reported by cor- 

 respondents and associates, which have apparently not been printed. 



The following explanations of the list are given : 



1. The vernacular names are arranged in strict alphabetical order 

 and are recorded in the various forms in which they are spelled or 

 pronounced. The fish may be identified by its vernacular name by 

 noting its technical name, and then, if necessarj^ referring to the 

 latter in the systematic list of the members of the family. 



2. The geographical distribution of the names is indicated as accu- 



ratel}^ as possible. Names used over a wide area and appearing often 



in print are marked "general." The absence of locality indicates 



either a lack of knowledge as to where the name is employed or the 



appearance of the name only in books. 



355 



