840 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The mud suufisli {Amhloplites pomotis) is not a well-known fish. Oc- 

 casional specimens taken by "line" fishermen have made them familiar 

 with the fish, and from the color of the species, and character of the 

 water it frequents, it is well called the " mud sunfish." The mud sunfish 

 appears to be, even more than most fishes, nocturnal in their habits; 

 and from the fact of lying, during the day, wholly out of sight, em- 

 bedded in soft mud, it does not seem strange that the species should be 

 little known. Besides muddy streams, this fish delights in those half- 

 stagnant waters that are completely choked up with splatter-docks, 

 pond-lily, and river-weed. I once had the good fortune to observe a 

 large specimen of this sunfish making its way toward deeper water 

 through such a dense mass of aquatic vegetation that the greater part 

 of the time it was absolutely out of water, and really creeping among 

 the weeds by the aid of its ventral fins apparently, rather than swim- 

 ming in the water. It progressed in this awkward manner fully 3 feet, 

 keeping the head up and the body in very nearly as upright a position 

 as when swimming. On examination I found a huge log deeply em 

 bedded in the mud, and less than half an inch of water flowing over it, 

 and this barrier caused the sunfish to attempt, and successfully, the rep- 

 tilelike movements that I witnessed. This fish is one of several of our 

 fresh-water species that can utter, at will, a peculiar grunting sound, 

 not unlike the faint squeak of a young pig. Occasionally I have caught 

 this fish with a hook, and heard this grunting sound as tiie fish was 

 drawn from the water. (This same noise, but less shrill, is very fre- 

 quently made by the common chub {Semotilus rhotheus) when caught 

 with a hook). On two occasions, 1 am positive, I have heard the same 

 sound from the sunfish while it was swimming about, and wholly undis- 

 turbed by anything above the water, at least. 



The mud-sunfish grows to a considerable size, attaining a length of 

 6 inches ; but as an article of food it is very indifi"erent. The flesh is 

 dry, and has a muddy flavor that to most people is exceedingly dis- 

 agreeable. 



8. — Pirate or Spineless Perch, Aphredoderus sayanus. 



In concluding this portion of my remarks on our fishes, I will make 

 brief reference to this species, which is probably the least known of all our 

 fresh- water fishes. It is moderately abundant in some small streams in 

 this neighborhood. I have already noted its habits, in the Proceedings 

 of the Academy of Natural Sciences, of Philadelphia, 1861, and in the 

 fourth volume of the American Naturalist. 1 have given it the name of 

 "pirate," from the fact of its being such a murderous, destructive fish. 

 Its food is almost, if not exclusively, small fishes, which it swallows head 

 foremost; and I have caught them, several times, with the tails of fishes, 

 too large to be swallowed whole, protruding from their mouths. They 

 are also given to feeding on their own young, but I judge this to be the 

 case only when pressed by hunger, through a scarcity of cyprinoids. 



