GRASS BASS. 925 



114. PoMoxYS SPAROIDES (Lacepede) Girard. 



Calico Bass; Grass Bass; Bar Fish; Bitter Head; Tin mouth; 

 Sand Perch; Sac-a-Iai. 



Centrarckue spnroides, Cuv. aod Val., iii, 1829, 88, pi. 48. 



PoTMxis sparoides, Girasd, U. S. P. E. R. Snrv., 1858, 6. 



Cantharus nigromaeulatua, (LeSnenr, MSS.) Cuv. and Val., Hist. Nat. Poiss, 1828, 8. 



Centrarehus Jiexacanthus, Cuv. and Val., vii, 1831, 458. — Kirtland, Boat. Jonrn. Nat. 



Hist., iii, iv, 1842, 480.— DeKat, Fauna N. Y.,Fi8he8, 1843, 31.— Storbr, Syn., 1846, 



299.— GUNTHER, Cat. Fishes Brit. Mas., i, 1859, 257. 

 Pomoxig hexacanihua, Holbrook, Ichthy. S. C, 1860, 39.— Putnam, Bull. M. C. Z., i, 1863, 



6.— Cope, Proo. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1870, 451.— Abbott, Kept. U. S. Fish Com., 1875, 



1876, 837.— Jordan, Man. Vert., 1876, 231.— Nelson, Cat. Fishes 111., 1876, 37.— 



Gilbert, Eep. Ohio Fish Com., 1877, 77. 

 Eyperiatms hexacanthus, Uhler and Lugger, Fishes of Maryland, 1876, 111. 

 Pomoxia nigromaeulatua, Girard, U. S. P. E. R. Sorv., 1858, 6. — Jordan, Bull. U. S. Nat. 



Mas,, No. 10, 1877, 37; Ann. N. Y. Acad. Soi.,.i, No. 4, 1877, 97; Bull. U. S. Nat. 



Mus., No. 12, 1878, 47, 76; Bull. Hayden's Geolog. Snrv., ii, 1878, 437; Man. Vert., 



1878, 247.— Goode, Proo. U. S. Nat. Mus., ii, 1879, 114.— Bean, U. S. Nat. Mus., 



1880, 99. 

 fljrperisKiM carolinenais, Gill, Amer. Journ. Soi. Arts, 1864, 93 (without description), 



Deacription.— Body oblong, elevated, greatly compreafeied, the depth being nearly half 

 the length, the head one-third ; profile more regular than in the preceding species, the 

 projections and depressions being less marked ; head much deeper and shorter than in 

 P, annularia, the mouth considerably smaller, the mandible being considerably shorter 

 than pectorals ; snout projecting, forming au angle with the descending profile; fins 

 very high ; anal rather larger than dorsal, its height being from one-fourth to one fifth of 

 the length of the fish without caudal fin; dorsal VII, 15, varying to VIII spines, 

 very rarely VI ; anal VI, 18, varying to V, 17 ; lateral line with 40 to 42 scales ; color a 

 bright silvery olive,mottled with clear olive green, the dark mottlings gathered in irre- 

 gular small bunches, rather than in lines or bars and covering the whole body and the 

 soft rays of the anal as well as those of the caudal and dorsal fins ; usually a dusky 

 ' opercular spot. This species reaches a length of a little more than a foot. 



Diagnosis. — This species may be known by the presence of 6 anal and 

 7 dorsal spines, and by the presence of dark markings on the anal fin 

 and the region about it. 



Habitat. — This species is widely distributed. It occurs in abundance 

 in the Great Lake Region, and in the upper part of the Mississippi Val- 

 ley, and in the Missouri.' Eastward it has been found in the Delaware 

 and Potomac, the rivers of Carolina and in the Alabama River. In the 

 middle region it is less abundant, being replaced by the preceding spe- 

 cies. I have seen but few specimens from the Ohio "Valley. In the 

 Great Lakes, this species is taken in large numbers. In the ponds and 

 lakes of Northern Indiana and Ohio, it is also abundant. As a food fish 

 it is most excellent. 



