334 Field Museum of Natural History — Zoology, Vol. VII. 



Fig. 76. Yellow Bass; Striped Bass. 



Morone interrupta Gill. (After Forbes and Richardson.) 



one coincident with it and 3 or 4 below it; stripes below lateral line 

 interrupted on posterior part of the body. 



Length 12 to 18 inches. 



This fish inhabits the Mississippi Valley. 



Family Nciseiiidse. 



The Drums. 



Body compressed, more or less elongate; scales thin, usually 

 ctenoid; head scaled; skeleton osseous; lateral line continuous, ex- 

 tending on caudal fin; gill membranes separate, free from the isthmus; 

 premaxillary protractile; anal spines i or 2; ventral fins thoracic, its 

 rays i, 5; air bladder usually large and complicated. 



Genus AphHliiiotiis Rafinesque. 



Body oblong, compressed, the dorsal region elevated; mouth low, 

 its gape horizontal; lower jaw the shorter; no barbels; preopercle 

 slightly serrate; lower pharyngeals * very large, fully united, with 

 coarse, blunt, paved teeth; dorsal fins somswhat connected, the 

 spinous dorsal with a scaly sheath at base; anal spines 2, the second 

 very strong; caudal fin doubly truncate; air bladder large, without 

 appendages. 



