FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 257 



98. White perch ( Morone americana Gmelin) 

 Sea perch 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 1134. 



Description. — The white perch closely resembles its larger relative, the striped 

 bass, in its general form, especially in the deep keelless caudal peduncle and in the 

 number, outline, and arrangement of its fins. It is a deeper fish, however (only 

 about two and two-thirds times as long as deep, not counting the caudal), and more 

 compressed, almost as thin, in fact, as a butterfish (p. 245). The dorsal profile of its 

 body is more convex than is that of a bass but that of its head is concave and its 

 mouth is smaller. Furthermore, the two dorsal fins of the white perch are confluent 

 while in the striped bass they are separated by an interspace; its anal rays are less 



Fig. 121.— Egg Flo. 122.— Larva, 6 days old, S millimeters 



WHITE PERCH (Morone americana) 



numerous, the anal spines are much stouter than those of the bass and the second and 

 third are about equal in length (graduated in the bass), and there is only one sharp 

 spine and a blunt angle at the margin of the gill cover of the perch, while there 

 are two spines in the bass. Finally, there is a constant difference in color. 



The first dorsal (9 spines) is rounded in outline with its third and fourth spines 

 longest, and although there is no free space between the two dorsal fins they are 

 entirely separated by a deep notch. The second dorsal fin (1 spine and 12 rays) 

 is rhomboid in outline and so short that it leaves bare a long caudal peduncle. The 

 anal fin (9 to 10 rays preceded by 3 stout spines) originates under the middle of the 



