THE F R. E S H-W ATER BASSES 



were broken off, thus misleading the ichthyologist. 

 Dr. Henshall tells us that this old specimen is pre- 

 served in the Museum of Natural History in 

 Paris, and that from a personal examination he 

 found it to be about a pound in weight, a foot 

 in length, and remarkably well preserved. 



The black bass is indigenous in waters from 

 " Lake Champlain westward to Manitoba, and 

 southward on both sides of the mountains from 

 James River, Virginia, to South Carolina," in 

 the waters of the Gulf States, and through- 

 out the Mississippi vaUey. It has been success- 

 fully and widely introduced into many waters near 

 to and far from its original habitat, and American 

 anglers may be proud that they have a native 

 game-fish which is said to be almost ubiquitous in 

 our waters, and which, for its size, has no equal 

 on the rod for sturdy resistance and intelligent 

 resources to escape capture. 



Species 



There are but two species of black bass, — the 

 large-mouthed, Micropterus dolomiei, and the small- 

 mouthed, Micropterus salmoides. Both frequently 

 inhabit the same waters, but either form can be 

 easily recognized if the angler will expand to the 

 utmost limit the jaws of the fish he has caught. 



The large-mouth of five pounds' weight will 



7 



