The New Student's Reference Work/Sunfish

Sun′fish, a common name used to designate a number of different fishes. The fresh-water sunfishes, of which there are about 25 species, abound in the Mississippi valley. They are bass-like fishes. The most common one is generally known as the pumpkin-seed. It reaches a length of eight inches and is of bright colors—greenish olive, with bluish sides spotted with orange, and the belly and lower fins orange-tinted. It is very abundant in ponds, lakes and streams of the east. In western rivers sunfishes rarely come south of the latitude of Chicago. The marine sunfish or head-fish belongs to an entirely different family. There are three species inhabiting the open sea. They are large fishes, with a very short body, and look like huge fish-heads provided with fins. They reach a weight of seven or eight hundred pounds and a length of seven or eight feet. They are not good for food, but a healing oil is derived from their livers. Their habit of basking in the sun at the surface of the water gives them their name, while that of fresh-water sunfishes is derived from their bright colors.