GRASS BASS. 925 
114. Pomoxys sparorpEs (Lacepede) Girard. @ 
Calico Bass; Grass Bass; Bar Fish; Bitter Head; Tin Mouth; 
Sand Perch; Sac-a-lai. 
Centrarchus sparoides, CUV. and VAL., iii, 1829, 88, pl. 48. 
Pomoxis sparoides, GIRARD, U.S. P. R. R. Surv., 1858, 6. 
Cantharus nigromaculatus, (LeSueur, MSS.) Cuv. and VAL., Hist. Nat. Poiss, 1828, 8. 
Centrarchus hexacanthus, Cuv. and VAL., vil, 1831, 458.—KIRTLAND, Bost. Journ. Nat. 
Hist., iii, iv, 1842, 480.—DrKay, Pane Y., Fishes, 1842, 31.—SToRER, Syn; 1846, 
299.—GUNTHER, Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus., i, 1859, 257. 
Pomoxis hexacanthus, HOLBROOK, Ichthy. S. C., 1860, 39.—PuTNaM, Bull. M. C. Z., i, 1863, 
6.—CoPrE, Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1870, 451.—ABBoTT, Rept. U. S. Fish Com., 1875, 
1876, 837.—JORDAN, Man. Vert., 1876, 231.—NELSON, Cat. Fishes IIl., 1876, 37.— 
GILBERT, Rep. Ohio Fish Com., 1877, 77. 
Hyperistius hexacanthus, UHLER and LUGGER, Fishes of Maryland, 1876, 111. 
Pomoxis nigromaculatus, GIRARD, U.S. P. R. R. Surv., 1858, 6.— JORDAN, Bull. U. S. Nat. 
Mus., No. 10, 1877, 37; Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci., 1, No. 4, 1877, 97; Bull. U. S. Nat. 
Mus., No. 12, 1878, 47, 76; Bull. Hayden’s Geolog. Surv., ii, 1878, 437; Man. Vert., 
1878, 247.—GOODE, Proc. U. 8. Nat. Mus., ii, 1879, 114—BrEaNn, U. S. Nat. Mus., 
1880, 99. 
Hyperistius carolinensis, GILL, Amer. Journ. Sci. Antic, 1864, 93 (without description), 
Description.— Body oblong, elevated, greatly compressed, the depth being nearly half 
the length, the head one-third ; profile more regular than in the preceding species, the 
projections and depressions being less marked ; head much deeper and shorter than in 
P, annularis, the mouth considerably smaller, the mandible being considerably shorter 
than pectorals; snout prejecting, forming an angle with the descending profile; fins 
very high; anal rather larger than dorsal, its height being from one-fourth to one fifth of 
the length of the fish without caudal fin; dorsal VII, 15, varying to VIII spines, 
very rarely VI; anal VI, 18, varying to V, 17; lateral line with 40 to 42 scales; color a 
bright silvery olive,mottled with clear olive green, the dark mcttlings gathered in irre- 
gular small bunches, rather than in lines cr bars and covering the whole body and the 
soft rays of the anal as well as those of the caudal and dorsal fins; usually a dusky 
opercular spot. This species reaches a length of a little more than a foot. 
Diagnosis.—This species may be known by the presence of 6 anal and 
7 dorsal spines, and by the presence of dark markings on the anal fin 
and the region about it. : 
Habitat.—This species is widely distributed. It occurs in abundance 
in the Great Lake Region, and in the upper part of the Mississippi Val- 
ley, and in the Missouri, Eastward it has been found in the Delaware 
and Potomac, the rivers of Carolina and in the Alabama River. In the 
middle region it is less abundant, being replaced by the preceding spe- 
cies. I have seen but few specimens from the Ohio Valley. In the 
Great Lakes, this species is taken in large numbers. In the ponds and 
lakes of Northern Indiana and Ohio, it is also abundant. As a food fish 
it is most excellent.* 
