396 Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 



rakers very short and soft, weaker than in any other species; 

 dorsal spines very low, the longest little longer than snout, 3 in 

 head; opercular flap in the adult very long and broad, with a broad 

 or narrow pale blue or red margin, the flap half or more longer 

 than the eye in the adult, much shorter in the young, its develop- 

 ment subject to much variation. 



Color, brilliant blue and orange, the back chiefly bluish; belly 

 entirely orange, the orange on the sides in spots, the blue in wavy, 

 vertical streaks ; lips blue ; cheek orange, with bright blue stripes ; 

 blue stripes before eye; soft parts of vertical fins with the rays 

 blue and the membranes orange ; ventrals dusky ; iris red. 



One of our most brightly colored freshwater fishes; extremely 

 variable, the young often elliptical in form, and the size at which 

 the characteristic ear-flap is developed varies greatly with differ- 

 ent individuals. 



As compared with the other sunfishes of the lake, most of our 

 specimens are characterized by having the ventral fins very dark, 

 almost black, and, although this feature is probably not enough 

 to identify them with certainty, it is very helpful in making up a 

 preliminary assortment of species. 



48. BLUEGILL 



LEPOMIS PALLIDUS (Mitchill) 



(Plates 25 and 26) 



The Bluegill is one of the most abundant and widely distributed 

 of the sunfishes. It is known from the Great Lakes southward 

 throughout the Mississippi Valley and to Florida and the Rio 

 Grande. It is found in New York and Pennsylvania, the Caro- 

 linas, .and west to Minnesota and Kansas. It occurs in quiet 

 streams, but is, above all, the sunfish of the lakes, whether large 

 or small, though it is decidedly more abundant in the smaller ones. 

 It is very common in all the lakes of northern Indiana and of all 

 :the food fishes found in Lake Maxinkuckee, it is, next to the yel- 

 low perch, certainly the most abundant species. 



In our seining operations along the shores we found it exceed- 

 ingly abundant. In seining around the lake in July and August 

 we sometimes used a 45-foot seine, but usually a 25-foot one, and 

 occasionally one only 15 feet long. In covering the entire peri- 

 meter of the lake the seine was hauled about 612 times, and the 

 Bluegill was the most abundant species caught. The total num- 

 ber caught exceeded 12,000. Occasionally a haul would be made 

 without taking any bluegills but usually there were from a few up 



