The Bass and their Relatives 321 



the "perch" in Australian rivers. The most important mem- 

 ber of these transitional types between perch and sea-bass is 

 the striped bass, or rockfish (Roccus lineatus), of the Atlantic 

 coast of the United States. This large fish, reaching in extreme 

 cases a weight of 1 1 2 pounds, lives in shallow waters in the sea 

 and ascends the rivers in spring to spawn. It is olivaceous in 

 color, the sides golden silvery, with narrow black stripes. About 

 1880 it was introduced by the United States Fish Commission 

 into the Sacramento, where it is now very abundant and a 

 fish of large commercial importance. To the angler the 

 striped bass is always "a gallant fish and a bold biter," and 

 Genio Scott places it first among the game-fishes of America. 



The white bass (Roccus chrysops] is very similar to it, but 

 shorter and more compressed, reaching a smaller size. This 

 fish is abundant in the Great Lakes and the upper Mississippi 

 as far south as Arkansas. 



The yellow bass (Morone interrupta), a coarser and more 

 brassy fish, replaces it farther south. It is seldom seen above 

 Cincinnati and St. Louis. The white perch (Morone ameri- 

 cana) is a little fish of the Atlantic seaboard, entering the sea, 

 but running up all the rivers, remaining contentedly land- 

 locked in ponds. It is one of the most characteristic fishes 

 of the coast from Nova Scotia to Virginia. It is a good pan 

 fish, takes the hook vigorously, and in a modest way deserves 

 the good-will of the angler who cannot stray far into the moun- 

 tains. Very close to these American bass is the bass, bars, or 

 robalo, of southern Europe, Dicentrarchus labraXj a large olive- 

 colored fish, excellent as food, living in the sea about the mouths 

 of rivers. 



The Jewfishes. In the warm seas are certain bass of immense 

 size, reaching a length of six feet or more, and being robust 

 in form, a weight of 500 or 600 pounds. These are dusky 

 green in color, thick-headed, rough-scaled, with low fins, vora- 

 cious disposition, and sluggish movements. In almost all 

 parts of the world these great bass are called jewfish, but 

 no reason for this name has ever been suggested. In 

 habit and value the species are much alike, and the jewfish 

 of California, Stereolepis gigas, the prize of the Santa Catalina 

 anglers, may be taken as the type of them all. Closely related 



II 21 



