240 FISHES OF ILLINOIS 



POMOXIS SPAROIDES (Lacepede) 

 (black crappie; calico bass) 



Lacepede, 1802, Hist. Nat. Poiss., Ill, 517 (Labrus). 



J. & G., 465; M. V., 115; B., I, 7 (part); J. & E., I, 987; N., 37 (hexadanthus) ; J., 

 47 (nigromaculatus) ; F. F., I. 3, 56 (nigromaculatus) ; F., 69; L., 23. 



Length 12 inches; body oblong, less elongate than in the last species, 

 deep and compressed ; profile shorter and less prominently S-shaped than 

 in P. annularis ; depth 2.1 to 2 . 4 ; greatest width 2 . 75 in greatest length ; 

 depth caudal peduncle 1.1 to 1.4 in its length. Color of upper parts 

 olivaceous, silvery whitish to yellowish below and on belly; body every- 

 where spotted with very dark green or blackish; much iridescent color 

 everywhere, chiefly emerald and bluish; cheeks and opercles slaty; a 

 dark spot at back of opercle above and a smaller one, looking like 

 a spinous extension of opercle, below it; pupil a bright deep blue; iris 

 brown, lavender, and purplish with a narrow inner ring of gold; median 

 fins reticulated (or barred unevenly) with dusky to black, when partly 

 folded having the appearance of dark fins spotted with lighter. Head 

 2.8 to 3; width of head 2.3 to 2.7 in its length; interorbital space 3.8 

 to 4.4, convex; eye 4 to 4.5 in head; nose 3.7 to 4.3, little longer 

 than eye; mouth oblique, maxillary 2 . 1 to 2 . 5. Dorsal typically* VII 

 (prVIII), 15, the fin inserted nearer muzzle than in last species, the 

 dorsal distance 1.8 to 2; caudal lunate; analVI, 16-18; ventrals past 

 second anal spine; pectorals 1.4 to 2.1 in head. Scales 6, 38-44, 12; 

 lateral line complete. 



This crappie is a darker, deeper, and more handsome fish than the 

 preceding one, and, like it, is highly valued for food, especially as a 

 pan-fish, if taken where the water is not too muddy or too warm. It 

 is found throughout the state, frequently in company with the pre- 

 ceding species of the same genus, from which it scarcely differs appre- 

 ciably in local distribution, in habits, or in food. According to our 

 data, derived from 183 collections, it is less common than annularis 

 in creeks, and has perhaps a noticeably stronger preference for water 

 with a hard bottom. We have also found it more abundant in the 

 glacial lakes of northeastern Illinois, from some of which, indeed, we 

 have not taken annularis at all. 



Its general range carries it northward beyond the preceding 

 species, and it is reported from the Ottawa River, in Canada, and 

 from the Lake of the Woods. 



Its food, according to our observations, is substantially identical 

 with that of annularis, except that 1 1 specimens examined had taken 

 a larger percentage of both Entomostraca and of fishes, and a smaller 

 one of aquatic insects. These differences of ratio are, however, very 

 likely local and seasonal. 



*See note on preceding species. 



