MICROPTERUS BLACK BASS 265 



to the Muskoka lakes in Ontario, and southward to Arkansas, 

 northern Mississippi and South Carolina. It is abundant in 

 suitable situations on both sides of the Alleghanies, preferring 

 clear cool streams with moderately swift current, not infre- 

 quently being taken in swift riffles. It is not found in warm, 

 muddy, or sluggish water, as is the large-mouthed bass. 



Curiously little is known of its food, the literature of the 

 subject containing only general statements apparently based on 

 ordinary observations. But three specimens have been ex- 

 amined by us, and their food consisted wholly of fishes and craw- 

 fishes, approximately a third of the first and two thirds of the 

 second. Among the fishes were a stonecat (Noturus flavus) 

 and a log-perch (Percina caprodes). 



The small-mouthed bass reaches a weight of 5 or 6 Ib 

 (Henshall, Tisdale, et al.) . It is always easily distinguished from 

 the large-mouthed species by the shorter maxillary, which never 

 extends to a vertical from the back of the orbit, and by the 

 smaller scales, of which there are 17 rows on the cheeks, and 10 

 or 11 longitudinal series between the mid-dorsal and the lateral 

 line. In the large-mouthed form the maxillary extends past a 

 vertical from the back of the orbit, and the scales are consider- 

 ably larger, there being only 9 or 10 rows on the cheeks and 8 

 or 9 longitudinal series of scales above the lateral line. The 

 young of the small-mouthed bass have a dusky bar crossing the 

 caudal fin, and lack the dark lateral stripe which characterizes 

 the young of the large-mouthed species. This fish is often called 

 " tiger bass" in the East and North. 



The small-mouthed bass will take live minnows or any other 

 live bait, and does not disdain the artificial fly. In the words 

 of Dr. Henshall, often quoted, "He is plucky, game, brave and 

 unyielding to the last w T hen hooked. He has the arrowy rush 

 of the trout and bold leap of the salmon, while he has a system 

 of fighting tactics peculiarly his own. * * * I consider him, 

 inch for inch and pound for pound, the gamest fish that swims." 



The small-mouthed bass hibernates in winter, going into 

 deep places under the shelter of rocks and remaining torpid till 

 spring (Tisdale). 



This species, like the next, builds a nest,* usually in about 

 three feet of water on a bottom of sand or gravel. The male 

 roots down into the bottom, fanning away the sand with his 



* In the account of the nesting habits we follow, except when otherwise stated, Lydell 

 (Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., 1902, pp. 39-44). 

 26 P 



