FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



389 



anglers troll for them in Cape Cod Bay in seasons 

 when there are enough of them to be worth fol- 

 lowing; also many are caught in the surf in good 



years by anglers casting from the beach, as far 

 northward along the coast as the outer shore of 

 Cape Cod. 23 



THE SEA BASSES. FAMILY SERRANIDAE 



The sea basses are an extremely numerous tribe conical spines in most, and the maxillary bone is 



of perchlike fishes, with both the spiny portion not sheathed nor hidden by the preorbital bone 



and the soft rayed portion of the dorsal fin well w } ien t h e mou th is closed. Smoother cheeks are 



developed, either as separate fins, or at least a ready fieJd mark to distinguish any of the sea 



divided by a deep notch. The ventral fins are bagges frQm ^ TQck&sh familv ( p .' 4 30); the 3 



under the pectorals, technically thoracic m ^ fin disti ish them from the croaker 



position. The anal fin is nearly or quite as long V,,-* ,-T, , n i • i 



,., ,. , ., , , .1" i l j i„ family (p. 417) which have 1 or 2 anal spines only ; 



as the soft part of the dorsal; the caudal peduncle , , , , f , V 



is deep and the tail is broad. In most of the the spmygw cover from the porgy family (p. 411); 



species the anal fin is preceded by 3 stout spines; and the large mouth from the cunner and tautog 



the margin of the gill cover bears one or two sharp tribe (p. 473). 



KEY TO GULF OF MAINE SEA BASSES 



1. There is one continuous dorsal fin, its front part spiny, its rear part soft rayed 3 



There are two separate dorsal fins, the first spiny, the second soft-rayed 2 



2. The two dorsal fins are separated by a distinct inter-space; the sides are distinctly striped Striped bass, p. 389 



The two dorsal fins are joined at their bases; the sides are not distinctly striped White perch, p. 405 



3. The scales are large; the space between the eyes is naked; no bony ridge on the gill covers Sea bass, p. 407 



The scales are small; the space between the eyes is scaly; there is a bony ridge on the gill covers _. Wreckfish, p. 409 



Striped bass Roccus saxatilis (Walbaum) 1792 and keelless caudal peduncle, stout body, the 



presence of two well-developed dorsal fins (spiny 

 Striper; Rockfish; Rock; Linesides ;1I1 ,I soft Viiyc ^ ) an j t h e one about as long as the 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 1132, as Rocc, Other), its lack of dorsal or anal Unlets, and a tad 

 Uneatus (Blochl. only moderately forked, separate it from all the 



mackerel tribe, from (he bluefish, and from the 



Description. — ISo one character alone character- rp, , ,, . , - , „ „_■ „ 



* . . , , ,. pompanos. 1 he tact that its anal tin has 3 spines 



izes the striped bass, but rather the combination 



of fin structure and arrangement with general » We refer the reader to Lyman (Blneflahlng.WoO) for an exoeUentacoount 



Ol nil suuciuie ana arrmigeuieui »uu e eiierui of blueflshing raethods and localities, also of tho natural history of the 



outline and structure of the jaw. Its rather deep 1 1 







'*'''■•■' ' < ; . . • . , 



 ' -•'■■. M ,'..,. ,. ( ' ' 



'•'-" "J- 



"-,.■"'  '<*."*•- "^'^i^i 9. 



Figure 209. — Striped bass (Roccus saxatilis), Chesapeake Bay region. From Goode. Drawing by H. L. Todd. 



