202 



NORTHERN FISHES 



preopercle is serrated. The gill-rakcrs are long and slender. The depth 

 is contained 3.5 times in the length. The dorsal fins have 9 spines ante- 

 riorly and 1 spine and 13 or 14 soft rays in the posterior portion. The 

 longest dorsal spine is contained 2 times in the head. The anal fin has 3 

 spines and 11 or 12 soft rays. The scales number 10, 55-65, 15. The 

 base of the tongue as well as the jaws, vomer, and palatines bear teeth. 

 This species reaches a length of over 18 inches. 



Figure 36. White bass, Lepibema chrysops, 13 inches long. 



The white bass is often called a "striped bass." It ranges from south- 

 ern Minnesota eastward through the Great Lakes region to New York 

 and southward to Kansas and Tennessee. It is absent from the Lake 

 Superior drainage. It is common in the St. Croix River, the Minnesota 

 River including Big Stone Lake, and in the Mississippi River from St. 

 Paul southward, and also in many southern Minnesota lakes. Greene 

 (1935) reported it from many localities in the Lake Michigan and 

 Mississippi drainages of southern Wisconsin. It is an excellent game 

 fish; it rises to a fly and bites on minnows. This species feeds on insects 

 and small fishes. It is not a nest builder. It migrates upstream in the 

 spring to spawn in shallow waters and takes no care of the eggs or 

 young. It is probably a great traveler. In the December 1921 issue of 

 Fins, Feathers and Fur there is a report of a fish of this species travel- 

 ing downstream a distance of 140 miles. It was tagged in Lake Pepin 

 in September and caught later at Clayton, Iowa. 



GENUS Morone Mitchill 



This genus contains several species, one of which lives in brackish 

 waters of the Atlantic Coast and ascends streams. Another species in 

 the Lower Mississippi drainage occurs as far north as southern Min- 

 nesota. 



