Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 405 



the length of the entire fin 1.6 in head, its tip reaching halfway 

 between vent and origin of anal ; caudal lobes 1.5 in head ; scales 

 6-41-11, with 38 pores in the lateral line; scales on the cheek 

 large, in 4 rows ; membrane of dorsal and anal scaled at base. 



Color in alcohol, brownish, of a nearly uniform tint all over the 

 body, except the black opercular spot, the diameter of which is con- 

 tained 1.2 times in the diameter of the eye; color in life pale olive- 

 greenish, mottled with darker; cheek bluish but without lines; flap 

 blue-black, with a red posterior border, silvery anteriorly above and 

 below ; some lemon wash. 



50. COMMON SUNFISH 



EUPOMOTIS GIBBOSUS (Linnaeus) 



This handsome little fish, also frequently known as the Pump- 

 kin-seed and Butter-belly, is one of our best known fishes and is 

 found in clear brooks and ponds from Maine westward to the 

 Great Lakes and southward east of the Alleghenies to Florida. In 

 the Mississippi Valley it is found only in the northern portion, 

 being fairly abundant in Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois and north- 

 ward, but it is said to be rare south of Virginia. At Lake Maxin- 

 kuckee it is fairly common ; out of the 612 hauls made during the 

 seining operations in and about the lake, one or more examples 

 were taken in each of 144 hauls ; 860 specimens in all were secured ; 

 the greatest number taken in one haul being 100. 



It is found in both lakes, also in the short stream connecting 

 them. Favorite places which they frequent are the chutes and 

 piers at the Ice-houses, Outlet Bay and the Outlet about the bridges, 

 and under the piers at the numerous cottages. In such places as 

 these they may be seen, sometimes in considerable numbers, resting 

 quietly near some piling or other protection. Exceptionally fine 

 examples are sometimes caught at the Weedpatch, the Flatiron 

 and the Sugarloaf. 



The Pumpkin-seed is one of the first, if not the very first, fish 

 that the average country boy in the Eastern States and the Upper 

 Mississippi Valley learns by name, and the ceremony of initiation 

 into the art of angling usually consists in landing a Pumpkin-seed 

 from a brook. It is one of those fishes which does not require a 

 complete angler's outfit and an exhaustive study of bait. A pin- 

 hook, a piece of string, any sort of pole, and a fishworm, are all 

 that is necessary. 



Although fairly abundant at Maxinkuckee and possessing some 

 attractive qualities as a game-fish, the Pumpkin-seed is apparently 



