62 Bass, Pike, and Perch 



clared the size of those cypress trees to be both 

 unique and wonderful. 



THE BLUE SUNFISH 



(Lepomis pallidus) 



The blue sunfish was first described by Dr. 

 Mitchill from the waters of New York in 1815. 

 He named it pallidus, meaning " pale," as it was 

 more sober in hue than the other brilliantly 

 colored sunfishes. It is the largest of the sun- 

 fishes, so-called, as the black-bass, warmouth, 

 and crappies are not popularly regarded as 

 " sunfishes." 



The blue sunfish has a wider distribution than 

 any other member of its family except the black- 

 bass. Its range extends from the Great Lakes 

 through the Mississippi Valley to Texas, and 

 along the South Atlantic states to Florida. In 

 the Middle West it is known as blue gill and in 

 the South as blue bream and copper-nosed bream. 

 It has a medium-sized head and very deep body, 

 its depth varying from one-half its length to almost 

 as deep as long, in which case, barring head and 

 tail, it is almost round in outline. It is much 

 compressed. The ear-flap is quite black, without 

 the pale or red border usual in the other sunfishes. 



