LEPOMIS SUNFISHES 



249 



forming more or less distinct rows, most evident on the caudal peduncle; 



sides marked with seven or eight vertical bars of dusky, gradually fading 



backward; two spots of emerald-green in front of eye and one just behind it; 



three or four wavy lines of same color on cheek below eye, two or three of 



them continued backward across opercle; iris red; bony portion of gill-flap 



very dark green to blackish, with posterior edging of darker; membranous 



margin of flap coppery to purplish, the color strongest on lower posterior 



portion; fins all dusky, pectorals least so; soft dorsal and anal with large black 



blotch at base of last rays, the former with a very narrow outer margin of 



whitish; anal very dark at base, paler outward, and edged below with rich 



yellow or orange; ventrals dusky near base, paler behind. Head 2.4 to 3 in 



length, broad and flat above; the profile rather long and usually quite straight, 



becoming slightly angled above eye in old specimens; eye 3.8 to 5.2 in head, 



usually about 5 in adults; mouth very large, 



lower jaw projecting beyond upper; maxillary 



extending to middle of orbit, 2 to 2.5 in head; 



supplemental maxillary well developed; teeth 



present on vomers and palatines; lower 



pharyngeals narrow but strong, the teeth 



long and bluntly acuminate; flexible margin 



of opercular flap fleshy, broad behind and 



below, narrower above; gill-rakers long and 



stiff, the longest fully diameter of eye. 



Dorsal IX or X, 10 to 12, spinous less than 



half the height of soft portion; longest dorsal 



spine 3 to 4.2 in head, usually about 4 in 



adults; anal III, 9 or 10, the spines short and 



strong; pectorals short, rounded behind, 1.5 



to 1.7 in head; ventrals reaching to or a little 



past vent, never to first anal spines. Scales 6 



or 7, 45-49, 15 or 16; those on cheeks in 7 to 



10 rows. 



FIG. 



Opercular flaps of Lepomis cy- 

 anellus, one figure entire, the 

 other showing flap denuded 

 of epidermis and fleshy or mem- 

 branous border. 



This beautiful little sunfish is much 

 the commonest of its family in our 

 smaller streams, and is, indeed, often almost the sole sunfish 

 product of the net in the prairie creeks. Contrasting with the 

 warmouth, it is most abundant in creeks (1.56), and is next 

 so in the smaller rivers (.76). In the larger rivers and in the 

 lowland lakes it occurs sparingly, but it has not been taken by 

 us at all from the clear upland lakes of the glacial deposits, nor 

 from any of the waters of the Michigan drainage. It has oc- 

 curred in no less than 315 of our collections; that is, in about 

 a fifth of the whole number made. Its preference is for a quiet 

 current, in which respect it agrees with the next two species. 

 It is evidently not afraid of mud as is shown by its general 

 distribution over the lower glaciation of southern Illinois. 



25 F 



