116 y FISHES OF PENNSYLVANIA. 


D. XK, 12; A. III, 10; V.1,5; P. 14. Scales 6-42-13. 
In spirits the color is pale brownish, the opercular flap black with a narrow whit- 
ish margin behind and beneath, and the dorsal fin with faint dusky blotches, In 
life this is one of the most brilliant of sunfishes, the upper part being greenish olive 
with a bluish tinge; the sides profusely spotted with orange, the belly and lower 
fins orange and the dorsal and caudal fins bluish with orange spots. Thechceksare 
orange, with undulating blue stripes; the opercular flap is black, margined be- 
hind and underneath with bright scarlet. 
The specimen described, No. 20,304, United States National Museum, from the 
Susquehanna at Havre de Grace, is nearly six inches long. 
The common sunfish or sunny, pumpkin seed, bream, tobacco box, 
and pond sunfish, is one of the best known of the fishes of Pennsylva- 
nia. It is found from Maine westward through the Great Lake region 
to Minnesota and in the eastern states south to South Carolina. In 
western rivers, however, it is seldom found south of the latitude of 
Chicago. In Pennsyivania it is everywhere common, reaching its great- 
est size in tidewater where it forms a valuable article of food. It grows 
to a length of eight inches and a weight of about one-half pound. Its 
food is similar to that of the long-eared sunfish and it is one of the 
readiest biters known to the angler. The habits of this fish have been 
described by Dr. Theodore Gill and Mr. W. P. Seal. The latter states 
that the male, in the breeding season, is readily identified by his brighter 
coloration, conspicuous car flaps and a luminous border around the fins 
while in the water. The nest is a depression in the mud, sand or gravel, 
hollowed out by means of the fins. In the Potomac he found a number 
of nests which were located from a few inches to several feet apart. The 
male watches the nest and drives away all intruders. The eggs are 
only about one-thirty-second of an inch in diameter and not very numer- 
ous. They are attached to stones and aquatic plants. Mr. Seal has 
reason to believe that the male alone is concerned in building the nest 
and in the care of the eggs and young. 
Genus MICROPTERUS  Llactpepr. 
129. Micropterus dolomieu Lacrpkpe. 
The Small-mouthed Biack Bass. (Figure 11.) 
The small-mouthed bass differs most markedly from the large-mouthed in the size 
of its jaws, the shallower notch in the dorsal fin and the smaller scales. There are 
about eleven rows of scales above the lateral line and seven below it—72 to 74 scales 
in the lateral line. The ninth spine of the dorsal is longer than the eye and fully 
two-thirds as long as the fifth and longest spinc ; the upper jaw extends backward to 
below the hind margin of the eye; the body is ovate-oblong in shape, its greatest 
depth about equal to length of the head and one-third of the total without caudal, 
becoming deeper with age; the eye is less than two-thirds as long as the snout and 
about one-sixth length of head; the pectoral is not much longer than the ventral 
and slightly more than one-half length of head; the soft dorsal and anal are more 
scaly at the base than in the large-mouthed species; the scales on the cheeks and 
breast are very much smaller than those on the middle of the sides. D. X, 13-15; 
ACL 10: 
The young are dull, yellowish-green, the sides mottled with darker spots which 
sometimes form short vertical bars; three dark stripes on the head; caudal yellowish 
