CHAPTER XXIV 



BRANCH CHORDATA (Continued}'. CLASS PISCES 

 (THE FISHES) 



THE GOLDEN SUNFISH OR PUMPKIN SEED (Apomotts sp.) 



TECHNICAL NOTE. The species of sunfish named, or some closely 

 related species, can be obtained in any brook or stream in the 

 United States. Gibbosus lives in all streams north of Dubuque, 

 Chicago, Pittsburg, and along the eastern coast north of Charleston. 

 Closely allied species live in all the other parts of the countn 

 except in the higher Rocky Mountains west of Bismarck, Pueblo, 

 and Santa Fe. One species is found in the streams of California, 

 but none occurs in Washington or Oregon. In the few places 

 where a sunfish cannot be had, any species of bass or perch may 

 be used. Sunfish live in ponds and sluggish streams in deep holes 

 under a log or at the foot of a stump. They take eagerly a hook 

 baited with a worm, or they may be caught in nets. When sun- 

 fish cannot be kept fresh for study in class, specimens may be 

 preserved in alcohol or 4^ formalin. But if possible to keep some 

 alive for a time in a jar or tub with plenty of fresh water, the colors 

 of the living fish, together with its manner of swimming and mode 

 of breathing, can be observed. 



External structure* (fig. 1 12). Examine the general 

 configuration and make-up of the body. Note the deep, 

 laterally flattened trunk and paddle-like tail. The head 

 is closely fitted to the trunk without any neck. Note that 



* The author wishes to call the attention of teacher and student to the 

 plan (referred to in the Preface, page v) adopted in writing the directions 

 for the dissections. The sequence of the references to the various organs 

 depends on the actual course of the dissection, and not upon the association 

 of organs in systems. And the directions are so much condensed that they 

 are hardly more than a means of orienting the student, leaving him to work 

 out independently, or by the aid of more detailed accounts (sometimes 

 specifically referred to), the details of the dissection. 



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