FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



407 



In more eastern Nova Scotian waters, also, 

 perch are "less often seen" in salt and brackish 

 water than in fresh 30 and they appear to be re- 

 stricted, in the eastern side of the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence, to the "estuarine transition" from salt 

 water to fresh. 31 



Importance. — The white perch is of considerable 

 commercial importance wherever it is abundant in 

 tide waters. The commercial catch in Chesa- 

 peake Bay, for example, was 1,143,700 pounds for 

 1946, 1,851,000 pounds for 1947. And several 

 millions of artificially hatched fry are released 

 there yearly. It also affords good sport to many 

 anglers wherever it is plentiful, both in brackish 

 water or in fresh. But it is not important in the 

 open Gulf of Maine in either of these respects. 



Sea bass Centropristes striatus (Linnaeus) 1758 



Black sea bass; Blackfish 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 1199. 



Description. — The sea bass is easily distinguished 

 from the striped bass and from the white perch by 

 the fact that the spiny and soft-rayed portions 

 of its dorsal fin are continuous, so that there is 

 only one long fin instead of two short separate fins. 

 It agrees with its nearer relative the wreck fish 

 (p. 409) in this; also with the scup (p. 411), with the 

 rosefish (p. 430), with the cunner (p. 473), and with 



 Vladykov and MacKenzic, Proc. Xova Scotia Inst. Scl., vol. 19, 1935, 

 p. 91 

 « Huntsman, Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada, Ser. 3, vol. 12, Sect. 4, 1918, p. 63. 



the tautog (p. 478). But its general form, rounded 

 caudal and pectoral fins, and its short but high anal 

 fin are sufficient to separate it from the scup, its 

 color prevents confusing it with the rosefish; and 

 no one should take sea bass for tautog or cunner; 

 its mouth and its pectoral fins are so much larger, 

 its caudal of different outline (cf . fig. 211 with figs. 

 249, 250), and the soft portion of its dorsal as long 

 as the spiny portion. It differs from the wreck fish 

 (p. 409), in many respects, especially in its much 

 larger scales; in the smoothness of its head and gill 

 covers; and in the shape of its tail fin. 



It is moderately stout-bodied, about three times 

 as long (not counting the caudal fin) as it is deep, 

 with rather high back but flat-topped head, mod- 

 erately pointed snout, a large oblique mouth, eye 

 set high up, and one sharp flat spine near the rear 

 angle of each gill cover. The spiny (10 spines) 

 and soft (11 rays) portions of its dorsal fin (which 

 originates slightly in front of the rear corner of the 

 gill covers) are separately rounded, the latter higher 

 than long, with the characteristic outline shown in 

 the illustration (fig. 211). The caudal fin is 

 rounded. In large fish one of the upper rays is 

 much the longest, and though the resulting out- 

 line is a trivial character and variable from fish to 

 fish it is an extremely characteristic one that is 

 shared by no other Gulf of Maine species except 

 the kingfish (p. 423). The anal fin (3 short sharp 

 spines followed by 7 soft rays) originates under or 

 very slightly behind the origin of the soft portion 

 of the dorsal fin, which it resembles in its rounded 



'.'V 



Figure 211. — Sea bass (Centropristes striatus), Connecticut. From Goode. Drawing by H. L. Todd. 



