SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE OF FISHES. 



243 



DiAQNOSis. — Body ovate, the depth .5 to .7 total length, the thickness .33 the depth; 

 length of head contained 3 times in length; a slight depression in the profile above eye; mouth 

 oblique, small, the maxillary barely extending to front of orbit; eye equal to snout, rather less 

 than .25 length of head; opercular flap very broad, short; gill-rakers very short, 8 to 11 on 

 lower arm of first arch, the longest not .25 diameter of eye; scales in lateral series 40 to 45, in 

 transverse series 6 + 3,' 4 rows of scales on cheek;-dorsal rays x,10 to x,12, the first spine about 

 equal to eye, the longest twice diameter of eye, the longest soft ray equal to distance from eye 

 to end of flap; anal rays iii,10, the first spine half length of third, which is less than twice 

 diameter of eye, the soft rays shorter than those of dorsal; caudal notched; pectorals long but 

 less than head, extending as far as anal origin; ventrals reaching beyond vent. Color: above 

 olive with bluish reflection, sides spotted with orange; cheeks orange, with wavy blue streaks; 

 lower fins orange, dorsal and caudal fins bluish with orange spots; opercular flap black, with 

 lower posterior margin bright scarlet, {gibbosus, hunched or humped.) 



This species is found along the entire Atlantic seaboard of the United 

 States, in the Great Lakes, and in the northern part of th'e Mississippi basin. 

 Jordan & Evermann (1896) say the fish is rather rare in the Carolinas and 

 Florida, but it is very common in the Neuse and abundant in Albemarle Sound 

 and tributaries, being the most numerous of the sun-fishes in the latter section. 

 Cope ascribes the fish to " all the rivers of North Carolina east of the Allegheny 

 range", but Jordan did not find it in any stream west of the Neuse. 



The breeding habits of this sun-fish have been studied by the writer and 

 others, and are now well known. The "nest" is a slight depression on the 

 bottom made by the fins, and after the eggs are laid and attached to stones or 

 weeds, the male stands guard and repels intruding fishes or other animals; the 

 care of the young also devolves on the male, which at this season is in his brightest 

 colors and even in the water can be readily distinguished from his mate. 



The names borne by this fish in North Carolina are "robin", "robin perch", 

 "red-belly", and "yellow-belly", all used about Albemarle Sound; "sand 

 perch", on the Neuse near Raleigh; and "robin" on the Neuse about New Bern. 

 It is likely that the fishermen do not always distinguish this species from 

 Lepomis auritus, as both are sometimes given the same names in the same places. 

 Pumpkin-seed and tobacco-box are very old names given to the fish in other 

 states. In his list of the fresh-water fishes of North Carolina, Lawson (1709) 

 mentions "pearch, small and flat, with red spots, call'd round robins", and 

 elsewhere in his work he makes the following reference to this species : 



We have another sort of pearch, which is the least sort ot all, but as good meat as any. 

 These are distLaguished from the other sorts [i. e., yellow perch, white perch, crappy, and 

 black bass] by the name of round-robins; being flat, and very round-shap'd; they are spotted 

 with red spots very beautiful, and are easily caught with an angle, as aU the other sorts of 

 pearches are. 



The pumpkin-seed is one of the commonest fishes which fall to the lot of 

 youthful anglers, as it abounds in ponds and streams, is a ready biter, and is not 

 very fastidious in its tastes. As it does not exceed 8 inches in length and 

 usually does not exceed 6 inches, it has little commercial value. On Roanoke 

 River it is caught in gill nets with Chsenobryttus and Centrarchus, and is regularly 

 exposed for sale in the Plymouth market. In Currituck, Camden, Dare, and 



