2&2 . ELEMENTARY ZOOLOGY 



water, is not familiar to most of us, and beginning students 

 are rarely helped enough in getting acquainted with the 

 different kinds and the interesting habits of fishes. But 

 they offer a field of study which is really of unusual interest 

 and profit. We can refer in the following paragraphs to 

 but few of the numerous common and readily found kinds, 

 and to these but briefly. 



Closely related to the sunfish, studied as example of 

 the bony fishes, are the various kinds of bass, as the 

 "crappie " (Pomoxis annularis), the calico bass (P. sepa- 

 roidcs), the rock-bass (Ambloplitcs rupcstris) and the 

 large-mouthed and small-mouthed black bass (Micropterus 

 salmoides and M. dolomieu respectively). All the mem- 

 bers of this sunfish and bass family are carnivorous fishes 

 especially characteristic of the Mississippi valley. 



Another family of many species especially common in 

 the clear, swift, and strong Eastern rivers is that of the 

 darters and perches. The darters are little slender-bodied 

 fishes which lie motionless on the bottom, moving like a 

 flash when disturbed and slipping under stones out of sight 

 of their enemies. Some are most brilliantly colored, sur- 

 passing in this respect all other fresh-water fishes. 



Unlike the sunfishes and darters are the catfishes, 

 composing a great family, the Siluridae. The catfish 

 (Ameturus) gets its name from the long feelers about its 

 mouth ; from these feelers also come its other names of 

 horned pout, or bull-head. It has no scales, but its spines 

 are sharp and often barbed or jagged and capable of mak- 

 ing a severe wound. 



Remotely allied to the catfish are the suckers, min- 

 nows, and chubs, with smooth scales, soft fins and soft 

 bodies and the flesh full of small bones. These little fish 

 are very numerous in species, some kinds swarming in 

 all fresh water in America, Europe, and Asia. They 

 usually swim in the open water, the prey of every carniv- 



