FISHES OF NEW YORK 501 



The yellow perch has a fusiform and moderately elongate 

 body, its greatest hight at the ventral origin two sevenths of 

 the total length without the caudal and nearly equal to the 

 length of the head. The least depth of the caudal peduncle 

 equals one third of length of head. The greatest width of the 

 body equals one half its greatest hight. The head is moderately 

 long, its length contained three and one fourth times in the 

 standard, with pointed snout, one and one third times as long 

 as the eye. The interorbital region is flat, its width one and 

 one half times the diameter of the eye. The mouth is rather 

 large, the jaws equal, and the maxilla reaching to below middle 

 of pupil. The preopercle is coarsely dentate on its hind 

 margin, the teeth on the superior border directed partly upward 

 and partly backward, those on the low^er limb pointing down- 

 ward and some of them forward. The scapula and humerus 

 are finely serrate. Scales on the cheeks in about 13 rows from 

 before backward; a single row or two imperfect rows of scales 

 on the subopercle; four short row^s of scales on the upper an- 

 terior part of the opercle. Gill rakers 6-f-14, the longest one 

 half as long as the eye. The spinous dorsal begins over the 

 base of the pectoral; the first spine is one third as long as the 

 head to the end of the opercular spine; the fourth and longest 

 spine is as long as the eye and snout combined; the last spine 

 is minute and concealed in the dorsal furrow. The soft dorsal 

 in the specimen described is preceded by two spines, the first 

 two thirds as long as the eye and one half as long as the second; 

 the longest ray is as long as the longest spine, and twice as 

 long as the last ray. The ventral origin is under the fourth 

 spine of the dorsal; the fin equals one fifth of the total length 

 without the caudal. The anal origin is under the fourth or 

 fifth soft dorsal ray; the first anal spine one third as long as 

 the head and nearly as long as the second; the last anal ray 

 less than one half as long as the longest, which is one half as 

 long as the head. The caudal is notched, the middle rays con- 

 tained one and one third times in the length of the outer ravs. 

 The pectoral is as long as the ventral. D. XV, II, 13; A. II, 8; 



