OBSERVATIONS ON FISH SCALES. 
151 
(2) Micropterus salmoides, large-mouth black bass; young from Sodus Bay, N. Y., show in most 
(but not all) scales a V-shaped ctenoid area, with teeth projecting slightly beyond the margin; 
scales of about the same age, from Falmouth, Mass., show the same, but are considerably nar¬ 
rower; adults from Bemus Point, N. Y., show a very broad ctenoid area, but the margin is tooth¬ 
less, or with extremely short and feeble projections. M. dolomieu is without ctenoid features 
at any age, though the apical circuli sometimes become sharply zigzag. 
Scales of Enneacanthus gloriosus, from Washington, D. C., are strongly ctenoid, the ctenoid area very 
broad and the marginal teeth distinct; they differ conspicuously from those of Archoplites by their 
broader form, more minute apical teeth, and more numerous (usually 12 or 13) basal radii. 
Chcenobryttus gulosus, warmouth, from Washington, D. C., has variably ctenoid scales, the ctenoid 
area sometimes reduced to a very small patch. A hybrid between C. gulosus and Lepomis gibbosus, 
from the District of Columbia, has the ctenoid feature well developed, the area broad. 
I could find nothing in the scales to justify the division of Lepomis into Apomotis, Lepomis, and 
Eupomotis. In the classification made without knowledge of the names, nearly all the species with 
intermediate characters—poorly developed but visible ctenoid features—fall in Lepomis, which is thus 
fairly compact on scale characters; but the so-called genera segregated from Lepomis are inextricably 
mixed. In the blue-gills Lepomis pallidus and holbrookii the apical margin is entire in some specimens, 
herein agreeing with the normal condition of Pomoxis. A disturbing feature is the great variability of 
some of the species, not only individual but racial. I give some examples: 
(1) Micropterus salmoides (Laceped&), large-mouth black bass. Scales from Falmouth, Mass., nar¬ 
rower than those from Sodus Bay, N. Y. 
(2) Lepomis gibbosus (Linnaeus), pumpkin-seed, from Washington, D. C., with the ctenoid area large, 
though the teeth are rudimentary; from Upper St. Croix River, Douglas County, Wisconsin 
(Graenicher), with widely spaced transverse apical circuli, and the ctenoid patch either wholly 
absent or reduced to a few marginal teeth of small size. 
(3) Lepomis holbrookii (Cuvier & Valenciennes), from the Carolinas, has the scale very broad (about 
6| mm. long and 8| broad), with the ctenoid features distinct; other scales, also from the Caro¬ 
linas, are much narrower and less ctenoid. 
(4) Lepomis cyanellus (Rafinesque), green sunfish, from Washington, D. C., and New Orleans, La., 
is conspicuously ctenoid when not latinucleate; from Woods Lake, near Greeley, Colorado 
(Warren), it is completely cycloid, with widely-spaced apical circuli. 
It will be observed that these variations follow rather narrow lines, and the racial differences are of 
the same sort as the individual ones. It remains to be seen whether the apparent racial differences in 
scale characters, as in color and other features, are the direct result of environmental conditions, or in¬ 
dicate incipient species. It would seem likely enough that there are, in fact, a number of unrecognized 
subspecific types among the centrarchids, and the individual variability noted may be due in large part 
to the crossing of such types, which have remained distinct only as long as isolated. 
The following systematic treatment mainly follows the lines of Jordan & Evermann’s work: 
Subfamily CENTRARCHIN#. 
Scales strongly ctenoid, the ctenoid patch very broad, though the teeth are very small; basal radii 
about 8 to 12; apical circuli quite dense. Centrarchus macropterus (Lacep&de) Dismal Swamp 
Scales cycloid or with a small ctenoid patch; apical circuli dense, not differing from the lateral ones... 1 
1. Scales yellowish, about as long as broad; basal radii 6 to 12. Pomoxis 
annularis Rafinesque, Neosho River, Mo., and P. sparoides (Lacep&de) New Orleans, La. 
Scales white, broader than long; basal radii 12 to 14. P. sparoides 
Sodus Bay, N. Y., and St. Croix River, Douglas Co., Wis., the latter from Dr. Graenicher. 
Are there northern and southern races of P. sparoides ? 
