BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 133 



to spawn in June and July in the bays and sounds, and is more abundant in 

 Chesapeake Bay and northward than in North Carolina. 



WHITE PERCH — MoTone americana (gmelin) 



The white perch, closely related to the sea bass family, is considered by 

 many the finest of all food fishes. It therefore commands a good price on the 

 market and, being a game fish, is also sought by anglers. It will take a variety 

 of baits, including artificial lures. 



The white perch is at home in shallow fresh, brackish, and salt water. It 

 is found from South Carolina to the maritime provinces of Canada. The 

 Currituck-Albemarle Sound region yields most of North CaroHna's produc- 

 tion, which varies from 150,000 to nearly a million pounds annually. 



In habits, this fish resembles its relative, the striped bass. It feeds largely 

 on fish, shrimp and other animals. Spawning occurs in early April in North 

 Carolina, three to six days being required for hatching of the eggs. Nichols 

 and Breder (1926) report that about 40,000 eggs per female are deposited; 

 the eggs are heavy and sticky, and cling together in masses on the bottom or 

 attach to any object with which they come in contact. 



Fishing for this species should be encouraged, for it is an extremely popular 

 pan fish and is always in demand. 



BLACKFisH — Cetitropristes striatus (linnaeus) 



More commonly known in North Carolina as the sea bass, the blackfish 

 lives on bottoms, many of which are non-trawlable, around wrecks and coral 

 beds and feeds voraciously on fish, squid, crabs, and other animals. It takes a 

 hook readily and is caught in commercial quantities by hand lines. 



The blackfish grows to a size of six pounds but the average weight is not 

 over two to three pounds. Spawning takes place in the spring off the North 

 Carolina coast; the eggs rise to the surface and hatch in about five days in 

 water of 60° F. The young are common along the shore and in the inlets, 

 gathering around jetties and wharves. 



The blackfish fishery at present is not large. The population of this fish 

 could perhaps support an increased fishery. The chief obstacle is that the 

 coral reefs which are the centers of concentration of blackfish are located 

 some distance offshore, and for the most part North Carolina fishermen do 

 not have boats which can operate safely in the outside waters day after day 

 because of uncertain weather conditions. In some northern waters, these fish 

 are taken in traps or pots. 



FLOUNDERS — Paralichthys species 



There are a number of different kinds of flounders on the Atlantic and 

 Gulf coasts, each kind or species having a rather definite distribution. North 



