ANNOTATED LIST OF FISHES 



131 



Number of 

 gill rakers 

 on lower 

 limb of first 

 arch 



Per cent of 



diameter of 



Species 



eye occu- 

 pied by 

 longest gill 



rakers 



Pomoxis annularis 



Pomoxis spheroides 



Pomoxis barberi 



Centrarchus macropterus. 

 Chaenobryttus gulosus... 



Apomotis cyanellus 



Lepomis megalotis 



Lepomis humilis-- 



Lepomis incisor - 



Lepomis heros__ 



Micropterus salmoides. 



19-22 



19- 21 



20- 21 

 25-27 



6- 8 

 8- 9 



9-10 

 6-10 



7 



6- 7 



6 



66 

 48 

 S3 

 61 

 43 

 45 

 12 

 30 

 27 

 20 

 74 



Copepods, according to 10 specimens examined, constitute the principal food sought by the 

 round sunfish; and small insects, including mosquito larvae, also are taken frequently. Mosquito 

 production probably is appreciably reduced in waters where this fish is numerous. The largest 

 specimen (155 millimeters long) had fed largely upon immature mosquitoes, its stomach containing 

 20 anopheline and 6 culecine larvae. This fish, however, was from a borrow pit at Money, where 

 the mosquito-destroying minnow, Gambusia, was absent and the crappie was present in numbers 

 sufficient to have reduced considerably the plankton Crustacea. The stomach is large, and the 

 intestine is equal to one-third the total length of the fish. 



A fish 120 millimeters in total length, taken June 20, contained approximately 5,600 nearly 

 mature eggs, indicating that spawning probably takes place in the late spring and early summer. 

 Ten specimens, ranging in length from 56 to 155 millimeters (2J^ to 6-nj inches) were collected at the 

 following localities: Borrow pit at Money; borrow pits on Grenada Road, slough near Greenwood; 

 and borrow pit at Craigside. 



Lepomis cyanellus Rafinesque, Journal Physique, 1819, p. 420. 



We follow Hubbs (1926, p. 72) in delimiting this species from Lepomis, although we are not 

 convinced of the value of the further generic divisions that Mr. Hubbs has made. The large mouth 

 and the well-developed supplemental maxillary bone in cyanellus, however, appear to be sufficiently 

 important to permit of its generic distinction. 



Locally, this sunfish is only a little less common than the warmouth. It is recognized by the 

 large mouth (the maxillary reaching nearly or quite opposite the middle of the eye), the well- 

 developed supplemental maxillary bone, and the toothless tongue, and in life it generally has wavy, 

 blue-green lines on the cheeks and opercles. 



Forbes and Richardson (1908, p. 250) examined the stomachs of eight specimens and found 

 that more than one-third of the food consisted of fish and the remainder was composed of insects 

 and crawfish. In Athens, Tex., the senior author selected a pond for propagating Gambusia to 

 be used in antimosquito work. This small body of water was thought to be virtually free of fish. 

 Gambusia did not thrive, however, and when the pond was seined it was found to contain a few 

 green sunfish, which had the appearance of being well fed, and these fish, no doubt, had kept the 

 Gambusia from multiplying. With this information at hand, it was rather surprising to find no 

 fish at all among the foods eaten by 32 specimens examined, most of which were collected where 

 small fish were numerous. Midge larvae constituted the bulk of the food taken by the smaller 

 sunfish; the water boatman Corixa occurred frequently in the ingested material of medium-sized 

 fish or those from 30 to 60 millimeters in length; while whirligig beetles and larger beetles were 

 favored by the full-grown fish. The stomach is large and the intestine is equal to one-half the total 

 length of the fish. 



The spawning season evidently is an extended one, as ripe or nearly ripe fish were taken in 

 June, July, August, and September. A female 116 millimeters in length contained approximately 

 4,900 nearly mature eggs. 



34. Apomotis cyanellus (Rafinesque) 

 Green sunfish; "Bream"; "Sun bream" 



