424 NATURAL HISTOKY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



THE SAUGER. STLZOSTEDIUM OANADENSE. 



The " Saugcr," known also as the "Gray Pike," " Sand Pike," "Ground Pike," "Pickering," 

 "Pickerel," and "Horse-fish," has its habitat, according to Jordan, in the Saint Lawrence Eiver, 

 Great Lake region, Upper Mississippi, and Upper Missouri Rivers, also in the Ohio, where, accord- 

 ing to the fishermen, it has been introduced from the Lakes through the canals. 



"The different form and coloration, particularly the markings of the dorsal fin," writes 

 Jordan," distinguish this species at once from Stizostedium vitreum. This species has, moreover, 

 always fewer dorsal rays, more scaly cheeks, and permanent armature of the operculum. 



"In comparing Saugers from widely separated localities certain differences appear, which are 

 perhaps sufficiently constant to indicate distinct varieties. Of these, three are perhaps worthy to 

 be designated by name. The common Sauger or Sand Pike of the Lakes (Lucioperca grisea DeKay ) 

 should bear the name of Stizostedium canadense, var. grisea. The Sauger or Pickering of the Saint 

 Lawrence was the original Lucioperca canadensis of Col. C. H. Smith. It should, therefore, be the 

 typical variety, canadensis. Its head is rougher and more closely scaled, and the number of 

 spiuous points on the opercle is greater. The 'Sand Pike 'of the Upper Missouri averages rather 

 slender, with a long, slender nose and more flattened and snake-like head. This is the Lucioperca 

 lorea of Dr. Girard, and may be called var. loreum, if the difference here noted prove at all con- 

 stant. 



" The Sauger never reaches a large size, the largest I have seen being from fifteen to eighteen 

 inches in length. It is abundant everywhere in the Great Lakes, and is valued as food, although 

 less highly rated than its relative, the Pike Perch. 



"It is plentiful in the Ohio Eiver, where it is probably indigenous, although some claim that it 

 has been introduced there through the canals." 



Mr. Kumlien has collected many interesting notes concerning this as well as the preceding 

 species. These will be printed at a future time. 



THE STRIPED BASS FAMILY. 



Fishes of this family are common on both sides of the North Atlantic. The Bass of Europe, 

 Roccus lalrax, is one of the favorite food-fishes of that region, and is found from Tromsoe, in 

 Norway, latitude 70, south to the Mediterranean, where it is abundant. A very closely related 

 species is our own Striped Bass, or Bock-fish, Roccus saxatilis, which is found from the Gulf of Saint 

 Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. These two species are very similar in form, although the colors 

 are different, the American Bass being conspicuously striped, while that of Europe is silvery 

 gray. They are both strong, active, and voracious fishes, and both ascend rivers, although the 

 American Bass seems to be much more addicted to life in fresh water than its transatlantic 

 relative, probably owing to the fact that our rivers are more numerous, larger, and much more 

 plentifully stocked with the fish upon which the Bass rely for food. They ascend the Potomac to 

 the Little Falls, the Hudson to Albany, the Connecticut to Hartford, and the Saint Lawrence to 

 Quebec. Before the erection of dams in the Susquehanua individuals were taken as high up 

 as Luzerue. Europe luis two other species, which it is unnecessary to discuss here, and North 

 America has three the White Bass or Striped Lake Bass, Roccus clirysops; the Brassy Bass of 

 the Lower Mississippi Valley, Roccus interruptus ; and the White Perch of the Atlantic coast, 

 Roccus americaniiK. All of these are of considerable economic importance, though the Striped Bass 

 is beyond comparison more valuable than all the others together. 



