123 
Table of Food of Pomoxys—Continued. 
4 a oH la 
SS Te gi a ti a er 
cod ea ie a at sa ies an pee Sa) at © 
Pe eedicce lieth ra: ir tole has | Bole 
etn tad Pi ao) & = gS as : ® S 
soi serait Be eS Yap Bee Rey |e aR tg oF = 
Brees eee ck’ y ol see 8, (im. |.P 
eee eye re tht “ha tee L eR) 
el opment rear tess bay erty ec! it paca ea eh 
Bgl ices aay we , hae Se “< ; 
@ . a") ° ae LAR ol ie ; ; : ’ 
ae A Rage PSS ee 
No of specimens.........---..| 3] 6 6 5 9 1 1 1 5 5 27 
Tm wORUSTAGHA; cc. ccec eos: 42\ 42 83. 57 (Gy ses Sl ert Mtge lp ah S29 nan eee 12 
GAINS Stas Gaete seo ras aisle roman eg ee a TOM eecae Od ee Sr ie A mes ee SS BEL pee 
MNPONIOStraG ae sc eerie < secs : 72\ 72 83 5) 2 AY) aed ei ren le ace ep | esis eset Mea 12 
WIAGOCETE, ae. .ta ceon cen se 49 33 17 55 a 11) orth Me) Ue sai reel lal Pee 12 
PADUN UU ee. cae a 46 18 17 Le = Pe mast ee a) eatin Re dli 2) | Sra re eye 12 
ley it.(siti Gene 03 01 ane etee ge eC eT Ses Pe ever Mase wal geass = 
Sidideene ket etek cae Timm es en ee ESS Fo he ES SE ee eee elle Fae wietse ear 
LIBtPACOUA Cia aant icin as -=> fae eee OP sk a! ee pte RR I eg al A bs, | ere irs 
Copepoda 2... a.05...---- 23) 39 CHE nee Ra lease ed | Ee le eee Seem toee fudweepteas os 
TViies V CR OLE LION Lethe wees we cece seeeeelecsees # + Lives t Hy eee ae teaie la aan ¢ 
Summary of the Family. 
For the purpose of a comparative recapitulation of the above data 
respecting the food of the sun-fishes, I have prepared three con- 
densed tables, showing, upon the same page, the food of the dif- 
‘ferent genera in parallel columns. The first table exhibits the food 
‘of the youngest specimens, the second, of those of intermediate size, 
and the third, of those which may properly be regarded as mature. 
By an inspection of the first table, it will be seen that the thirty 
specimens, one inch long and under, representing eight genera, 
which appear thereon, have eaten little else than Entomostraca and 
larve of Chironomus—these two elements amounting to ninety-three 
per cent. of the food. The only exception to this rule (that of the 
rock bass) is apparent rather than real. The large percentage of 
neuropterous larve appearing under the name of that species is a 
technical ratio, inserted only for the sake of consistency, being based 
upon the fact that one of the specimens examined contained no 
food except a few traces of some indeterminable minute larva of 
that order. The minor differences in the food of the generic groups 
are doubtless due to differences of locality, and the like. That 
Ostracoda, for example, were found only in the stomachs of Cen- 
trarchus, is accounted for by the fact that the youngest specimens 
of this genus were taken from small mud-holes, favorable to the 
occurrence of Entomosiraca of that order. The uniformity of food 
at this time implies that the selective apparatus of these fishes, 
whatever its construction, has not yet grown beyond the size of 
these minute animal forms. 
From the second’ table of one hundred and six specimens we 
learn that with a general change of food from Entomostraca and 
Chironomus to larger Crustacea and insects, there appear certain 
differences—notably the continuance of Entomostraca as the most 
important element in Pomoxys, and the occurrence of mollusks in 
Eupomotis and of fishes in Micropterus. | It 1s important to recall, 
at this point, that Pomoxys has the Jargest, finest and most numer- 
ous gill-rakers of the group—the best straining apparatus, in short,— 
that Kupomotis has stout and pharyngeal teeth, and that the black 
