274 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA. 



part of the country to another, until now there is no part of the 

 United States, east of the Rocky Mountains, where it may not be 

 found in greater or less abundance. Its great merit in this con- 

 nection lies in the fact that it requires no care in the way of culture, 

 since a few pairs transferred bodily, will in time furnish a numerous 

 progeny. In consequence of its habit of making a nest and guard- 

 ing it against intruders, the fish is enabled to readily secure the 

 perpetuation of its race. 



Much uncertainty has existed, until recently, as to the number 

 of species really entitled to be called Black Bass, many having been 

 described and supposed to be peculiar to particular waters. Prof. 

 Gill, of the Smithsonian Institution, has lately made a critical and 

 exhaustive investigation of this subject, and with the aid of the 

 large amount of material belonging to the Institution and that of 

 the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, he has come 

 to the conclusion that there are really but two distinguishable 

 forms ; the one the Microptertis salmoides, or the small mouthed 

 bass, and the other, the M. m'gricans, or the large mouthed variety. 



Both of these species occur naturally over a great part of the 

 United States, with the exception of New England and the Atlan- 

 tic seaboard of the Middle States, although only one, the small 

 mouthed, seems to have been originally an inhabitant of the hy- 

 drographic basin of the Ohio. It is not to be understood, how- 

 ever, that there are no variations from the standard type to be ob- 

 served in the bass of these two groups, in different localities, and 

 it is not improbable that a careful criticism will reveal certain tri- 

 fling peculiarities, which may serve to distinguish those belonging 

 to a particular area. The differences of the two primary forms 

 are, however, perfectly appreciable, so that even the veriest tyro, 

 seeing them side by side, must admit their distinction. 



These differences, as stated in the paper of Prof. Gill, are as 

 follows : 



CONTRASTED DIFFERENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS. 

 Scales of Trunk. 



SMALL-MOUTHED. LARGE-MOUTHED. 



Small {e. g. lat. line, 72-75 ; be- Moderate {e. g. lat. line ,65-70 ; 

 tween lateral line and back, 11 between lateral line and back, 7^ 

 rows). or 8 rows). 



