22 
U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS-ZOOLOGY-GENERAL REPORT. 
List of specimens. 
Catalogue num¬ 
ber. 
No. of specimens 
Locality. 
When collected. 
Whence obtained. 
Original number. 
Nature of spe¬ 
cimens. 
Collected by— 
423 
1 
Near Rock Mary_ 
1853 
Lieutenant A. W. Whipple 
17 
Alcoholic .... 
H. B. Mollhausen 
424 
1 
Old Fort Arbuckle.. 
1853 
XVIII 
__.do._. 
425 
1 
Sugar Loaf creek, Arkansas 
1853 
426 
1 
1853 
_do.._,_ 
_do_ „ 
do 
427 
2 
1853 
_.....do_ 
_do_ 
428 
2 
.do. 
1853 
_do___ 
_do_ 
429 
1 
Cotton-wood creek, Utah . 
1853 
Lieutenant Beckwith_ 
_do_ 
Lieutenant Beckwith 
430 
1 
Brazos river, Texas_ 
1854 
Dr. G. C. Shumard_ 
_do_ 
Dr. Shumard _ 
POMOTIS, Rafin. 
Gen. Char. —Body either sub-circular or sub-elliptical; very much compressed. Head small or moderate. Mouth pro¬ 
portionate to the size of the head ; jaws generally equal, lower one sometimes longest. Velvet or card-like teeth upon the 
jaws and front of the vomer only. Tongue smooth. Cheeks and opercular apparatus scaly. Edge of preopercle generally 
denticulated or finely serrated. An opercular flap more or less developed, and spotted. Branchial apertures continuous 
under the throat. Spinous portion of dorsal fin longer, and less elevated than the soft portion. Three anal spines. 
Insertion of ventrals situated posteriorly to the base of the pectorals. Posterior margin of caudal fin emarginated or sub- 
crescentic. Scales well developed and pectinated. 
Syn. — Pomotis, Rafin. Ichth. Ohiens. 1820, 28.—Cuv. & Val. Hist. nat. Poiss. Ill, 1829, 90 ; &, VII, 1831, 
454. —Storer, Synops. 1846,40. 
The above diagnosis we have drawn up for mere temporary purposes, to enable our readers to 
understand more fully the species which we enumerate under this heading. As it is, it embraces 
all the species of the genus Icthelis, which, if not subdivided, will have to supersede the appel¬ 
lation of Pomotis. The species referred by Rafinesque to his sub-genus Telipomis must 
previously he investigated before any further alteration can he safely made in the generical 
nomenclature of these fishes. 
The sunfishes, as they are generally called, are peculiar to North America, and quite 
numerous in all the rivers flowing towards the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico, occurring 
likewise in the ponds and lakes of the same geographic range. On the other hand, they are 
entirely wanting in the western waters of our continent. 
1. POMOTIS LUNA, Grd. 
Northern Suniisli, or Moon Suufish. 
Plate VIII, Figs. 1 — 4. 
Spec. Char. —Body suborbicular in profile. Head moderate; snout subconical. Mouth small; posterior extremity of maxillary 
extending to a vertical line drawn in advance of the anterior rim of the orbit. Eye moderate. Suborbital and supra¬ 
scapular bones not crenated. Edge of preopercle very slightly crenated. Opercular flap small. Spinous portion of dorsal 
fin of moderate height, and lower than the soft; its origin being situated opposite the base of the pectorals, and conse- 
.juently in advance of the origin of the ventrals. Cauda! fin posteriorly emarginated. Tips of ventrals overlaping the vent 
