MASTERS OF THE WATER-BONY FISHES 225 



and the solitary, inshore habits. There are exceptions to all these rules, but the 

 exceptions are not hard to identify. Most of the confusion arises with the 

 great mass of typical sea basses, the groupers or rockfishes, whose common 

 names and coloration are maddeningly variable, and also with the many species 

 of midget basses. Color is, on the whole, not a good species indicator here. 

 Better are silhouette, habits, color pattern, and distribution. 



WHITE PERCH (siLVER BASs) : Mowne muericana 



Size: Averages 10 inches. Up to 15 inches. 



Weight: Up to 2 to 3 pounds. 



Distrihntion: Nova Scotia to South Carolina. Most common near the 

 Chesapeake. 



Identification: The most unbasslike bass in appearance and habits. It is 

 compressed and deep-bodied with whitish, silvery, or olivaceous sides and 

 faint longitudinal stripes. The spiny dorsal fin just reaches the soft dorsal. 



Habits: This is really a fresh-water fish. It is not found far from the brackish 

 waters of bays and river mouths and goes upriver to breed, frequently becom- 

 ing landlocked. It schools in very large numbers and eats small fishes and 

 crustaceans. 



STRIPED BASS (rockfish) : Rocciis saxatiUs 



Size: Commonly to 3V2 feet. Recorded to 6 feet. 



Weight: Averages 1 to 10 pounds. Commonly 25 to 40 pounds. Recorded to 

 125 pounds. 



Distrihxition: St. Lawrence to Florida. Most common from Cape Cod to 

 Cape May, New Jersey. Introduced on the West Coast in 1879 and now 

 found from southern California to the Columbia River. 



Identification: The spiny dorsal fin does not reach the soft dorsal. The color 

 is a brassy silver with seven or eight longitudinal black stripes. 



Habits: This anadromous fish is found singly or in small to large schools 

 around rocky shores, bays, beaches, and the mouths of rivers. Since it ascends 

 rivers to spawn, it has suffered from pollution and also from overfishing, but is 

 still rather plentiful. Before 1900 up to thirty-eight thousand pounds of stripers, 

 manv over 60 pounds, were landed in one haul of the nets. The spawning 

 season is in the spring. Nonadhesive, heavy eggs, up to 2 to 3 million per 

 female, are laid in large rivers. The striped bass is a voracious feeder on fish 

 and large crustaceans. 



CALIFORNIA KELP BASS (rock BASS, cabrilla) : Pavalabvax calthratus 



Size: Averages Wi feet. Up to 20 inches. 



Weight: Averages 3 to 4 pounds. Up to 5 pounds. 



Distribution: San Francisco to Cape San Lucas. 



Identification: The dorsal spines are long anteriorly. Color is grayish green 

 with broad, dusky, vertical bars. There are spots in similar species, but not in this 

 one. 



Habits: This is a fish of the kelp beds and rocks, being one of the most 

 common rather large fish found there. It is carnivorous on smaller fishes. The 

 kelp bass strays over sandy bottoms and spawns in the summer. 



