NOTES ON THE GENUS LEPOMIS. 



By Barton A. Bean and Alfred C. Weed, 



Of the Division of Fishes, U. S. National Museum. 



This group of fresh-water sunfishes has been variously divided by 

 different authors. It has been separated into at least eleven nominal 

 genera, distinguished mainly by the presence or absence of a sup- 

 plemental maxillary and by the shape of the lower pharyngeal bones, 

 the character of their teeth, the length and shape of the pectoral fin, 

 and the presence or absence of a red spot on the opercular flap. 

 Two of the later authors who have worked on this subject, McKay 1 

 and Bollman 2 decided that they should be included under one 

 generic name, Lepomis, and that the others are not tenable. On 

 the other hand, Forbes and Richardson 3 decided that the species 

 must be divided between the genera Lepomis Rafinesque and Eupo- 

 motis Gill and Jordan, and after a careful examination of a consid- 

 erable series of pharyngeal bones and teeth we were inclined to 

 agree with the latter. An examination of the pharyngeal bones of 

 of the type-specimens of Lepomis euryorus McKay and of Bryttus 

 albulus Girard, however, makes it evident that these two nominal 

 genera are not separable, as these specimens show a complete inter- 

 gradation between the characters of the two. 



The character of the presence or absence of a supplemental max- 

 illary has no value, as this bone is present or absent in individuals 

 of the same species, and, when present, the size is extremely variable 

 in fishes of the same species from the same locality. (See pis. 42 

 and 43.) 



In the typical Eupomotis the pharyngeal bones are broad, and 

 the teeth are large and blunt. This character is subject to much 

 variation. In the two specimens of Lepomis lioTbrookii illustrated, 

 obtained in the Center Market in Washington, which are presum- 

 ably from the same general locality (North or South Carolina), 



i Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 4, 1881, p. 88. 



2Rept. U. S. Fish Comm., 1888 [1892], pp. 557-580. 



s Bull. Illinois State Lab. Nat. Hist., vol. 7, pp. 27-32, published in 1904. 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. 40— No. 1824. 

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