ROCK BASS. | 945 
Micropterus floridanus. In 1877 I called Prof. Gill’s attention to the fact that there were 
big-mouthed as well as small-mouthed Black Bass in the streams where Rafinesque 
fished, and he agreed with me at once that the Lepomis pallida of Rafinesque was the 
big-mouth, which is why the big-mouthed Black Bass, Oswego Bass, Grass Bass, and 
Bayou Bass is Micropterus pallidus (Rafinesque) Gill and Jordan, at present date, and 
such may it ever remain. 
Now, as to the name of the genus itself, the difficulty is just as great. The name 
Micropterus is unquestionably the oldest. But (a) we are perhaps not absolutely certain 
that the original Micropterus dolomieu was a Black Bass at all; (0) it was described as 
distinct under the erroneous impressioh that it had a little adipose fin behind the dor- 
sal, and (c) the name (small fin) refers to this imaginary peculiarity, and is, therefore, 
incorrect. 
On the other hand, the Black Bass really has smaller fins than any of its relatives, 
and the name has, therefore, a certain appropriateness. I think, with Prof. Gill, that 
it should be retained, although Prof. Cope and others, as good authority as we are, are 
‘inclined to demur. — 
Next comes Calliurus (beautiful tail), not a bad name, for the young Bass have the tail 
ornamented with black, white, and yellow, but not a very good name. Then comes 
Lepomis (scaly opercles), previously applied to the sunfishes, and, therefore, not usable 
fora Bass. Then comes Rafinesque’s Aplites, Nemocampsis, Dioplites, and Aplesion, un- 
worthy of any attention, although for some reason Dioplites has kept up a sort of life, 
while the other three have wholly died. 
Next comes the name Huro for the large-mouthed, and Grystes for the small. mouthed. 
Of course the two do not belong to separate genera. The name Grystes was given as a 
translation of the name Growler, under which name the Black Bass was sent to the 
museum at Paris. Thus, our two species are often called in foreign books the Black 
Huron (Huro nigricans), and the Salmon-formed Growler (Grystes salmoides), The name 
Grystes is a graceful one, and has been used more frequently than any other, but there 
are seven names ahead of it on the record, and first come first served, and synonymy 
take the hind most. 
The names Labrus, Bodianus, Cichla, and Centrarchus belong to wholly different fishes, 
and were given by different authors through mistakes as to the relationship of the 
Black Bass. ; 
I trust that this hasty and rather rambling account will be of some service to the 
numerous class of my fishing brethren who like to be right in their use of names, and 
who want to know, you know, but who, like Wilhelm Tell, cannot ‘lange briifen oder 
wihlen.” 
The above account contains two fallacies, which vitiate the nomen- 
clature there adopted, namely, the assigning of priority of date to the 
name Labrus salmoides, and the supposition that this name referred to 
the Small-mouthed Bass. These errors came from an examination of a 
reprint of Lacepede, and were exposed on the receipt of a copy of the 
original edition. These are: (a) the earliest published notice of a 
Black Bass was under the name of Micropterus dolomieu. This notice re- 
ferred to one of the small-mouthed species, which must, therefore, of 
course, be known as Micropterus dolomieu. (b) The second notice in point 
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