NOMENCLATURE AND MORPHOLOGY. 103 



I am under obligation to Professor Baird." (AGASSIZ, Lake 

 Superior, 295, 1850.) 



CENTRARCHUS FASCIATUS Thompson, 1853. ''Form some- 

 what elliptical compressed, a little convex on the sides and 

 pointed forwards ; color dark greenish above, lighter and faintly 

 mottled on the sides, and grayish white beneath; sides of the 

 head fine light green ; scales firm, moderate on the sides and 

 operculum, but very small on the cheeks, back of the neck, 

 throat, and belly; preoperculum with its upper limb nearly 

 vertical and nearly at right angles with the lower, without 

 spines or serratures ; inter and suboperculum upon the upper 

 side and smooth below ; operculum triangular, with a mem- 

 branous prolongation posteriorly, and the bony part terminating 

 posteriorly in two thin lobes with a deep notch between them, 

 the lower lobe, which is the largest, ending in several short 

 spines; teeth small, sharp, and numerous in both jaws, on the 

 lower anterior edges of the palatine bones, and on the vomer, 

 with a small cluster near the base of the triangular tongue, all 

 standing like the pile on velvet, but looking a little inward, those 

 on the jaws largest ; fins small brownish and their soft parts 

 covered with a rather thick mucous skin; the dorsal rounded 

 behind, low at the junction of the spinous and soft parts, and 

 the spinous rays capable of being reclined, imbricated, and'con- 

 cealed in a longitudinal groove along the back ; ventrals a little 

 behind the pectorals; the anal under the posterior portion of the 

 dorsal, and extending a little further back ; tail slightly emar- 

 ginate, with the lobes rounded, vent a trifle nearest the posterior 

 extremity; eyes moderately large; lower jaw a trifle longer than 

 the upper, with several visible pores along its margin ; length 

 of the specimen before me, 19 in. The greatest depth equals 

 one-third of the length, exclusive of the tail. Rays: Br. 6; P. 

 17; B. 1,5; D. 10, 15; A. 3, 11; C. 17. 



"The Black Bass, by which name this fish is here generally 

 known, ranks as one of the best fishes taken from our waters, 



