42 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NOETH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY ^11. 



Soft parts of vertical fins, particularly the atial, with the membrane, 

 clear orange; ventral fins bluish; cheeks with three broad bronze- 

 orange bands, between which are bands of bluish-green ; two bronze 

 bands in front of eye ; space beneath eye largely blue-green and iri- 

 descent. 



Opercular flap not long, narrow, varying to rather wide, with a con- 

 spicuous purple margin ; iris red ; pupil black. 



Size small. I have seen none over four inches in length. 



Hahitat — Ohio Valley ; rather common in bayous and still places in 

 small creeks. It occurs in company with Xenotis lytJirocliloris, and, like 

 that species, is commonly among the treasures of the small boy as he 

 comes back from the swimming-hole. 



This species much resembles the young of X. megalotis, the only spe- 

 cies with which it need be compared. X. megalotis is more positively 

 and brilliantly colored ; there is more blue ; the spines are lower, and the 

 scales on the cheeks smaller. X. aureolus is chiefly of a golden orange, 

 and in life has a translucency of hue unlike the colors of any other 

 species. In spirits, it becomes of a pale yellowish or white. It is prob- 

 able that Kirtland's description of Pomotis macrochira was drawn up 

 from a specimen of this species. It is certain, however, that Kirtland 

 confounded two or three species under the name of macrochira, among 

 them probably Lepiopomus pallidus. This cannot well be the species 

 called macrochira by Raflnesque. I have therefore proposed the new 

 name of aureolus, in allusion to its gilded coloration. 



26. XENOTIS INSCRIPTUS, (Agassiz) Jar. 



Pomotis inscHptus, Agassiz (1854), Amer. Journ. Sci. Arts, 302. 



Lepomis inscriptus, Cope (1869), Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. — . 



Jc7i</ie/ts inscriptos, Jordan (1876), Majnnal Vert. 237. 



Xenotis inscriptus, Jordan (1876), Ann. N. Y. Lye. Nat. Hist. — . 



Body oblong, little elevated, the depth 2^ in length ; profile and dor- 

 sal outline forming a nearly uniform curve from snout to caudal pedun- 

 cle; eye large, larger than in wje^aZo^is/ mouth moderate ; cheek-scales 

 large. 



Pectoral fins short, not reaching anal ; dorsal spines low, but high for 

 this genus, more developed than in any of the other species, the long- 

 est about as long as from snout to middle of pupil ; ventral fins not 

 reaching anal. 



A small compact handsome species of a dark color, not at all trans- 

 lucent; color dark olive-green, with blue shades; cheeks with blue 



