THE SEA BASSES. 41 



Island, almost under the shadow of the twin lightdiouses of Thatcher's Is- 

 land, waylaid many southern species never before known to enter Massa- 

 chusetts Bay, among them the kingfish and the Spanish mackerel. At 

 some future time the Sea Bass may become abundant in these more north- 

 erly waters. Like the scuppaug, the Spanish mackerel, and the bluefish, 

 it was at one time almost unknown to New England. In the " Catalogue 

 of the Fishes of Connecticut," published in 1842 by Linsley, the species is 

 described as a great novelty. However strange to the people of Connecti- 

 cut at this time, it is said by Storer to have been so abundant, between 

 1850 and i860, that fifty or sixty vessels were accustomed to obtain full 

 fares in summer about the Vineyard Sound. This statement is probably 

 somewhat of an exaggeration. 



The " Zee-Baars " mentioned in the verse of Steendam's poem, ''In 

 Praise of New Netherland," which stands at the head of this chapter may 

 or may not have been Centropristis. Mr. Murphy, in his translation, gives 

 the exact equivalent of the Dutch words. : — 



"The bream, and sturgeon, drumfish and gurnard 

 The Sea-Bass which a prince would not discard 

 The cod and salmon cooked with due regard, 

 Most palatable." 



Schoepf, writing of the fishes of New York in 1787, stated that the 

 " Blackfish " was rarely brought to New York, and the species does not 

 appear to have been at all prominent among the New England food fishes 

 of the last century. A diligent search through the works of the early 

 writers fails to bring to light any definite allusions. It would be interest- 

 ing to know whether there has actually been an increase in their abund- 

 ance, or whether the apparent increase has been, as with the Spanish 

 mackerel, due to the introduction of new modes of fishing, or the discovery 

 of new fishing grounds. 



The favorite haunts of the Sea-Bass are among the rocky ledges and 

 " spots of ground " which are so abundant in the bays and sounds, and 

 are scattered at intervals along the outer Atlantic coast. Among the 

 boulders and ledges, full of cracks and crevices, which mark the position 

 of these localities, there grow, in the greatest profusion, invertebrates of 

 every order. A haul of the dredge over a good fishing ground often 

 brings up tens of thousands of minute animals. A hundred species have 

 often been recorded from a single dredging by the Fish Commission. 

 Upon such feeding grounds the Sea-Bass congregate in great herds, rooting 



