190 Field Columbian Museum — Zoology, Vol. V. 



bent posteriorly in front of spur, and more page 



or less decidedly rounded anteriorly as the 



margin of a lateral ledge-like prominence; 



a red spot on lower posterior margin of 



opercular flap Eupomotis 193 



aa. Body comparatively elongate, the depth in the 

 adult about 1 /t, of the length ; dorsal fin low and 

 deeply emarginate Micropterus 194 



Subfamily Lepidopominse. 

 74. Lepidopomus Rafmesque. 



Lepomis Rafmesque, Journ. de Physique, Paris, 1819, 402. (Type, 

 Labrus auritus Linnaeus.) 



Apomotis Rafmesque, Journ. de Physique, Paris, 420, 18 19 

 {Lepomis cyanellus Rafmesque). 



Body variously elongate, elliptical, or short and deep, most of the 

 species being rather robust, the others thin and compressed; mouth 

 usually rather large; supplemental maxillary bone well devel- 

 oped, rudimentary or wanting, best developed in species with largest 

 mouth ; teeth on palatines usually present ; lower pharyngeals narrow 

 and weak, flattened or hollowed out underneath, its width in length 

 of toothed portion about 3 in adults; inner angle i2o°to 140 , outer 

 margin straight or slightly inbent from tip of posterior spur to an- 

 terior extremity of bone; pharyngeal teeth always long and slender 

 and more or less acuminate; brilliant colors on posterior margin of 

 opercular flap, if present, always blending with the adjacent paler 

 or darker color and not forming a definitely localized spot as in Eupo- 

 motis; gill rakers well developed, long, stiff, and rough to rather slen- 

 der, or very soft and weak; pectorals not longer than head; dorsal 

 spines usually low. 



This genus is represented in the waters of North America by about 

 twelve species. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES OF THE GENUS LEPIDOPOMUS. 



a. Opercle more or less Stiffened posteriorly, its 

 osseous portion always distinctly differen- 

 tiated from a posterior fleshy or membranous 

 margin, partly or wholly of paler color than 

 the osseous portion, to which the black of 

 the opercular spot is entirely or for the most 

 part confined; a well developed supplemental 



