462 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



taken a thousand crappies in three days' fishing with hook and 

 line. As the fish is ojregarious, congregating in large schools, 

 and fearless, it can be taken in the immense numbers given. 

 The best bait for crnppie is a small shiner. It rises well also 

 to the artificial fly. As a food fish this is one of the best in our 

 inland waters, and its adaptability for life in artificial ponds 

 should mnke it a favorite with fish culturists. 

 231 Pomoxis sparoides (Lac(?pede) 

 CaliGO Bass; Strawberry Bass 



Lairus sparoides Lacepede, Hist. Nat. Poiss. Ill, 517, 1802, South Carolina. 

 Cantharus nigrommulatus Le Sueuk, in, Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. 



Nat. Poiss. in, 88, 1829, Wabash River. 

 Centrarchus hexaeantlms Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss. VII, 



458. 1831, Charleston, S. C; Kirtland, Best. Jour. Nat. Hist. Ill, 480, 



pi. XXIX, tig. 2, 1841; Gunther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. I, 257, 1859. 

 Pomotis hexacanthus Holbkook, Ichth. S. C. 15, pi. 3, fig. 1, 1856. 

 Fonwxys sparoides Jordan & Gilbert, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus. 465, 1883; 



Bean, Irishes Penna. 102, color pi. 9, 1893. 

 Pomoxis sparoides Meek, Ann. N. Y. Ac. Sci. IV, 312, 1888; Bollman, Rep't 



U. S. F. C. XVI, 559, pi. 68, fig. 2, 1892; Jordan & Evermann, Bull. 



47, U. S. Nat. Mus. 987, 1896, pi. CLIV, fig. 416, 1900; Eugene Smith, 



Proc. Linn. Soc. N. Y. for 1897, 33, 1898. 



The calico bass has the depth about one half the length, not 

 including the tail, the head about one third. The mouth is very 

 (dli(iue and smaller than in the crappie. The eye is as long as 

 I In- snout and one fourth as long as the head. The maxilla 

 reaches to slightly beyond the middle of the eye. The dorsal 

 and :iii;il tins are very high; the longest rays are half as long 

 ;is I lie li<-;i(l. The pectoral is as long as the ventral, slightly 

 sliortcr (iian the longest ray of the dorsal. The ventral reaches 

 to third anal spine. D. VII, 15; A. VI, 17-18. Scales 7-42-15. 

 TIk' sides arc olivaceous with silvery reflections and mottled 

 with pale grccu. The dorsal, anal and caudal show pale spots 

 siiri-oiindcd by green reticulations. 



'I'll'' <ali((. bass, on account of its wide distribution and vari- 

 ability, lias received a profusion of names. Many of these are 

 \ariations nl" ihc trim bass. It is known, for example, as straw- 

 Im try bass, gras.s bass, lake bass, Lake Erie bass, bank lake bass, 

 silver bass, ami l>ig-lin bass. Other names for the species are 



