ELASSOMATID.E. — LXI. 113 



jaws, vomer, and palatines ; premaxillary not protractile ; maxil- 

 lary simple ; preopercle and preorbital serrate ; opercle with a 

 spine ; bones of skull somewhat cavernous ; gill rakers tubercle- 

 like ; gill membranes slightly joined to isthmus ; no pseudobranchiae ; 

 gills complete. B. 6. Scales strongly ctenoid ; no lateral line. 

 Vent anterior, below the preopercle in adult, farther back in youne, 

 its position changing by a lengthening of the rectum. Dorsal small, 

 with 3 or 4 spines; anal with 2; ventrals without spine and with 

 seven soft rays (all other perch-like fishes having one spine and five 

 rays) ; C. rounded. Vertebrae 29. Air bladder large. Pyloric 

 caeca 12. One species, a small fish of nocturnal habits, abounding 

 in sluggish grassy lowland streams throughout the Eastern U. S. 



147. APHREDODERUS Le Sueur, (5<po8os, excrement ; 

 beprj, the throat.) 



295. A. sayanus (Gilliams). Pirate Perch. Dark olive, 

 profusely dotted with black ; two dusky bars at base of C. Head 

 3 ; depth 3. D. Ill, 11. A. II, 6. Lat. 1. 48 to 58. L. 6. X. Y. 

 to La., and X. to Minn, and Lake Erie ; variable. (To Thomas 

 Say, the entomologist.) 



Family LXI. ELASSOMATID^E. (The Tixy Perches.) 



Body oblong, compressed, with large cycloid scales ; mouth small ; 

 teeth conic, strong, on jaws, a few on vomer ; upper jaw verv pro- 

 tractile ; opercles entire ; gill membranes broadly united, free from 

 the isthmus ; gill rakers tubercle-like ; lower pharyngeals narrower, 

 with sharp teeth. B. 5. Xo lateral line; pseudobranchiae rudi- 

 mentary. V. normal (I, 5). Dorsal small, with 4 spines; anal 

 with 3 ; C. rounded. Vertebra? 24. One genus, with two species, 

 E. ecergladei Jordan, of Florida, and the following. They in- 

 habit sluggish, lowland waters of the E. U. S., and they are among 

 the smallest of all fishes. 



148. ELASSOMA Jordan. ((Xdaacopa, a diminution.) 



296. E. zonatum Jordan. Olive green, finely speckled; sides 

 with 1 1 dark bars ; a round black spot on side behind shoulder ; 

 fins spotted ; a bar at base of C. Eye large ; mouth small. Head 

 3; depth 3^. I). V, 9. A. Ill, 5. Scales 40-19. L. 1 to \\. 

 S. 111. to Ark. and La., in grassy brooks. (Lat., banded.) 



Family LXII. CENTRARCHID^E- (The Sux-fishes.) 



Body more or less shortened and compressed, so that the regions 

 above and below the axis of the body are nearly equal and corre- 

 spond to each other. Mouth terminal ; teeth small ; premaxillary 

 protractile ; maxillary with a supplemental bone which is sometimes 



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