SCIENTIFIC SURVEY. 



67 



Sub-class Teleostei. Percoid^. 



alike in their habits and modes of life. Like them they prefer clear 

 waters and sandy bottoms. 



In the latter part of summer they congregate together in such 

 waters, and afford fine sport to fishing parties in many sections of 

 the State. They are then active and bite greedily, and we 

 have known of as many as 150 being caught in a single day by one 

 individual. They breed in great numbers in the Cobbosse Contee, 

 and adjacent ponds in Winthrop and Hallowell, as well as in many 

 others of our numerous sheets of water in different sections of the 

 State. They are easily transferred from their native haunts, and 

 are found to become easily habituated to their new locations, pro- 

 vided they are ^of suitable character, and soon multiply rapidly. 

 They are much esteemed by many sportsmen, as making an agree- 

 able ingredient in chowders and other savory dishes of the fisher- 

 man's an^l hunter's camp fare. They are of a silvery gray color, 

 and like their cousins, the yellow perch, vary in size from a half 

 a pound to a pound and a half, although the latter size is seldom 

 caught. 



Distinctive Characteristics . Body compressed, front part gib- 

 bous. First ray of the posterior dorsal nearly as long as the sec- 

 ond. Opercle with a single spine. General length three to six 

 inches. — DeKay. 



Specific Characters. Head rather small and slopes gradually to 

 the snout, with a suture behind the eyes, and is about one-fourth 

 the length of body. Jaws about equal, with rose tints on the lips 

 and underneath lower jaw. Upper jaw protractile ; tongue and lips 

 spotted with very small black dots. A number of small teeth on 

 each jaw, and a row of velvet like teeth on sides of the tongue, but 

 none on the tip or centre. Eyes circular, pupils black, iris silvery ; 

 space between the eyes covered with scales. The nostrils double, 

 hindmost one oval and transversely situated to the other. Preo- 

 percle gives metallic reflections ; serrated on its posterior and lower 

 margin. Operculum scaled ; has two points, the one in the poste- 

 rior edge sharp, and the one above more blunt. 



Body rather deep beneath the first dorsal fin, compressed, curv- 

 ed, or gibbous, in front, and tapering with a slight curve back of 

 the first dorsal ; scales silvery, and covered with small black dots, 

 like the tongue and lips. Their free edges are serrated ; lateral 

 line follows the curve of the back ; first dorsal rises on a line a little 



