FISHES OP NEW YORK 487 



'Centrarchvs obscurus De Kay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 30, pi. 17, fig. 48, 1842, 

 Onondaga Creek, N. Y.; Gunther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. I, 258, 1859. 



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 11 rows of 

 scales above the lateral line and seven below it; 72-74 scales 

 in the lateral line. The ninth spine of tlie dorsal is longer than 

 the eye and fully two thirds as long as the fifth and longest 

 spine. 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 the length of head. The pectoral is not much longer 

 than the ventral and slightly more than one half the 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; A. Ill, 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 at the base; a broad 

 black band near middle of tail and a broad whitish margin 

 behind. The dark lateral band characteristic of the large 

 mouthed species is not found in the small-mouth. In the adult 

 the prevailing color is olive green, . the stripes on the head 

 remaining more or less distinct. 



One of the early names for the small mouthed black bass is 

 that of growler, which appears in the writings of Cuvier, who 

 was under the impression that the name was applied because of 

 a noise sometimes produced by this bass. At the time of his 

 writing the name growler was pretty generally identified with 

 the black bass. Among the names applied to this fish by 

 Rafinesque are lake bass, big bass, spotted bass, and achigan. 

 He also mentions it under the names painted tail, bridge perch, 

 yellow bass, gold bass, brown bass, dark bass, minny bass, little 



