192 Field Columbian Museum — Zoology, Vol. V. 



usually paler colored membranous margin; dorsal spines low, the 

 longest 3 to 4 in head; pectorals short, not reaching anal, \ l / 2 in head; 

 ventrals not reaching anal. 



Color greenish with brassy luster on sides; each scale with a blue 

 spot, these forming pale lateral streaks; a conspicuous dark spot on 

 posterior base of dorsal and anal; cheeks with narrow blue stripes. 

 Length about 7 inches. 



A very variable and widely distributed species; ranging from 

 Mexico to the Great Lakes; not found east of the Alleghenies. 



Subgenus Lepidopomus Rafinesque. 



180. Lepidopomus occidentalis Meek. Western Sunfish. 

 Lcpomis occidentalis Meek, Field Col. Mus. Pub. 65, 1902, 118; 



Jimenez; Santa Rosalia. 



Rio Conchos and its tributaries in Chihuahua. 



Head 2jt; depth 2 ; D. x, 11 ; A. 111, 9; scales 7-37-14. Body oval, 

 compressed, the dorsal outline more arched than the ventral; profile 

 convex, nearly straight in small specimens, in larger concave above 

 eyes and convex at nape; mouth moderate, the maxillary reaching 

 vertical from pupil, its length 3 in head; no supplemental maxillary 

 bone; lower jaw slightly the longer; eye small, 4.1 in head; 1^ in 

 interorbital space; opercle not composed of well differentiated 

 osseous and membranous portions, the bone becoming gradually 

 thinner posterior and terminating in a flexible osseo-membranous flap ; 

 flap usually very long; gill rakers short, 8 on lower part of arch; 

 dorsal fin rather low, its fourth spine 3X in head; pectoral short, 

 rounded, not extending to anal ; caudal fin very short, its lobes rounded 

 and of equal size, its length \%'\xi head. 



Color olivaceous above, lighter below, each scale with a light mar- 

 gin, forming longitudinal lines along the rows of scales; no black mark- 

 ings on the fins; no blue lines on the cheeks, a few dusky brown ones 

 being present; opercular flap with a narrow pale border. Length 

 about 6 inches. 



This species ranges farther southwest than any other member 

 of the sunfish family. Lepidopomus haplognathus and Micropterus 

 salmonoides, which occur farther east, range a little farther south. 

 Spawning time the last of July. 



181. Lepidopomus haplognathus Cope. 



Lepomis haplognathus Cope, Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc, 1884 (1885), 

 168; Monterey, Neuvo Leon: Jordan & Evermann, Bull. 47, 

 Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1896, 1004. 

 Tributaries of the Rio Grande near Monterey, Nuevo Leon. 

 (Monterey.) 



