FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



409 



occasionally appear in the returns of the local 

 pound nets and traps. 37 



But it is doubtful whether these records can be 

 accepted, for when the name "sea bass" is used 

 along the northern New England coast it usually 

 is either striped bass (p. 389), white perch (p. 405), 

 tautog (p. 478), or even rosefish (p. 430) that is 

 meant. 38 No sooner do we round Cape Cod to 

 the west, however, than we find the sea bass one 

 of the important ground fish. 



Judging from its season at Woods Hole, where it 

 is to be caught from May to October (most abun- 

 dantly in July, August, and September), sea bass 

 are most likely to be taken in the Gulf of Maine in 

 summer, if at all, though there is one record for 

 December. There is no reason to suppose that 

 they ever succeed in reproducing themselves in 

 the Gulf or in establishing a temporary foothold 

 even if the rare migrants should spawn there. 



Importance. — Too scarce to be of any importance 

 in the Gulf, the sea bass is a very valuable food and 

 game fish in more southern waters. 



" For example, 80 pounds at Provincetown for 1896; 146 pounds at Truro 

 1898; 101 pounds at the same locality for 1900; with occasional fish at Eastham, 

 Barnstable, Sagamore, Manomet, and Gloucester. 



* 8 The 3,000 pounds of "sea bass" reported from Manchester, Mass., in 1911 

 certainly were not this fish. 



Wreck fish Polyprion americanus (Bloch and 

 Schneider) 1801 



Wreck bass 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 1139. 



Description. — The combination of a sea-bass- 

 like body with a very rough head having a promi- 

 nent ridge and strong spines on each gill cover, 

 and a bony protuberance over the eye and on the 

 nape, give the wreck fish an aspect so different 

 from that of any other Gulf of Maine fish (even 

 from its close relative the sea bass) that it should 

 be easily recognized if caught. It is strongly 

 flattened sidewise, about 2% to 3 times as long as 

 deep (to origin of tail fin), with large mouth. And 

 the lower jaw projects considerably beyond the 

 upper. The scales are rough, much smaller rela- 

 tively than in the sea bass, and they extend over 

 the bases of the soft-rayed fins. The first part of 

 the dorsal fin has 11 strong spines, the second 

 part, 11 or 12 soft rays, and the spiny part of 

 the dorsal is continuous with the soft-rayed part. 

 The anal fin. with 3 spines and 8 or 9 rays, is 

 similar to the soft-rayed part of the dorsal in out- 

 line. The caudal fin is gently rounded; the pec- 



Figcre 212. — Wreckfish (Polyprion americanus), Grand Bank. From Goode and Bean. Drawing by H. L. Todd. 

 210941—53 27 



