MICROPTERUS BLACK BASS 265 



•tions on both sides of the Alleghanies, preferring clear cool streams 

 -with moderately swift current, not infrequently being taken in swift 

 riffles. It is not found in warm, muddy, or sluggish water, as is the 

 "large-mouthed bass. 



Curiously little is known of its food, the literature of the subject 

 .containing only general statements apparently based on ordinary 

 observations. But three specimens have been examined by us, and 

 their food consisted wholly of fishes and crawfishes, approximately a 

 -third of the first and two thirds of the second. Among the fishes 

 were a stonecat (Noturus flavus) and a log-perch (Percina caprodes) . 

 The small-mouthed bass reaches a weight of 5 or 6 lb (Henshall, 

 Tisdale, etc.). It is always easily distinguished from the large- 

 •mouthed species by the shorter maxillary, which never extends to a 

 vertical from the back of the orbit, and by the smaller scales, of 

 which there are 17 rows on the cheeks, and 10 or 11 longitudinal 

 series between the mid-dorsal and the lateral line. In the large- 

 mouthed form the maxillary extends past a vertical from the back 

 of the orbit, and the scales are considerably larger, there being only 9 

 or 10 rows on the cheeks and 8 or 9 longitudinal series of scales above 

 the lateral line. The young of the small-mouthed bass have a dusky 

 bar crossing the caudal fin, and lack the dark lateral stripe which 

 characterizes the young of the large-mouthed species. This fish is 

 often called "tiger bass" in the East and North. 



The small-mouthed bass will take live minnows or any other live 

 bait, and does not disdain the artificial fly. In the words of Dr. 

 Henshall, often quoted, "He is plucky, game, brave and unyielding 

 to the last when hooked. He has the arrowy rush of the trout and 

 bold leap of the salmon, while he has a system of fighting tactics 

 peculiarly his own. * * * I consider him, inch for inch and 

 pound for pound, the gamest fish that swims." 



The small-mouthed bass hibernates in winter, going into deep 

 places under the shelter of rocks and remaining torpid till spring 

 (Tisdale). 



This species, like the next, builds a nest,* usually in about three 

 feet of water on a bottom of sand or gravel. The male roots down 

 into the bottom, fanning away the sand with his tail, until mud is 

 reached, about 3 or 4 inches below the sand. The sand forms 

 a ridge a few inches high around the nest, and a log often forms an 

 additional shelter on one side. The females are not about dur- 

 ing the nest-building, which occupies from 4 to 48 hours. When 



*In the account of the nesting habits we follow, "except when otherwise stated, 

 Lydell (Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., 1902, pp. 39-44). 



