254 



FISHES OF ILLINOIS 



LEPOMIS MEGALOTIS (Rafinesque) 

 (long-eared sunfish) 



Rafinesque, 1820, Ichth. Oh,, 29 (Ichthelis). 



J. & G., 477; M. V., 118; J. & E., I, 1002; B., I, 26; N., 38 (Ichthelis megalotis and 



sanguinolentus) ; J., 46 (Xenotis megalotis, inscriptus, and peltastes) ; F. F., 



I. 3, 53 (Xenotis peltastes, etc.); F., 68; L., 24; R., 34. 



Length 3 J to 6 inches; body short and deep; back much elevated 

 and profile steep, sometimes excessively so in adults; angle at nape 

 usually rather prominent; depth 1.8 to 2.3 in length. Color light to 

 darker olive; sides irregularly spotted with orange and emerald, spots 



of latter color often forming somewhat in- 

 distinct wavy vertical streaks; belly pale to 

 bright orange; cheeks light olive to orange, 

 with wavy streaks of emerald ; opercular flap 

 entirely black or with a very narrow pale 

 margin, pinkish to light crimson behind; 

 iris reddish before and behind pupil; mem- 

 branes of soft dorsal and anal pale orange; 

 pectorals dusky, usually less so than in 

 females. Head' 2.8 to 3.3 in length; eye 3 

 to 4 in head; mouth moderate, 2.4 to 2.7 

 in head in adults, maxillary extending almost 

 to middle of orbit; no supplemental maxil- 

 lary bone and no palatine teeth; lower phar- 

 yngeals narrow and weak, the teeth slender 

 and acutely pointed ; opercular flap variously 

 developed, in adults generally very long (al- 

 ways much shorter in young), often lj times 

 snout, usually rather broadened behind, with 

 or without pale margin; gill-rakers short, not 

 over J diameter of eye, very soft and weak. 

 Dorsal X, 11, the spines usually low, the 

 longest reaching from snout to middle of eye. 

 2.1 to 2.8 in head in adults, usually over 

 2.6; pectorals short, 1 to 1 . 2 in head; ven- 

 trals usually reaching somewhat beyond first 

 anal spine. Scales 5, 37-39, 14, those on 

 cheeks in about S rows. 



Fig. 62 

 Opercular flaps of Lepomis 

 megalotis, one figure en- 

 tire, the other showing 

 flap denuded of epidermis 

 and fleshy or membranous 

 border. 



This is a very showy sunfish, one of 

 the most brilliant, in its breeding colors, of our fresh-water fishes. 

 Its distribution in Illinois is peculiar in the fact that it is extremely 

 abundant in the southern and eastern parts of the state, occurring 

 everywhere in the smaller streams, including those of the lower 

 glaciation, and often likewise in the larger rivers, while in the 

 remainder of the state, although generally distributed, it is com- 

 paratively scarce, and is to be found mainly along the principal 



