LABRAX AMERICANUS. * 21 



ology of Bloch, -^yho placed it in his genus Sciana with the specific name lineata, 

 which is still retained. Bloch, however, does not seem to have been acquainted 

 with the native country of the animal he described ; on the contrary, he supposed 

 it an inhabitant of the Mediterranean, Avhere it is never seen. — Schoepff, in his 

 Memoir on the Fishes of New York, gives an accurate description of this animal, 

 and says it is called Rock-fish, or Striked Bass (Streaked Bass) ; and from this de- 

 scription Schneider, in his edition of Bloch, established his Perca saxatllis, which 

 specific name cannot be retained, as that of Bloch has the right of priority. — Dr. 

 Mitchill, many years after, gave another description of the Bass or Rock-fish, as the 

 Pe7-ca Mitchilli, being probably unaAvare that it had been previously described 

 more than once, and under different names. — Cuvier and Valenciennes have given 

 the best description of our fish up to the present time, arranging it in the genus 

 Labrax, and retaining the specific name first applied to it by Bloch. 



LABRAX AMERICANUS. — Gmelin. 



Plate III. Fig. 2. 



Specific Characters. Body oval, much compressed, dusky above, silvery at 

 the sides and belly; neither spots nor stripes. D. 9-1-12. P. 14. V. 1-5. 

 A. 3-9. C. 17. 



Synonymes. Perca , Schoepff, Schrift. der Gesells. Nat. Freund., b. viii. p. 159. 



Perca Americana, Gmel., Ed. Syst. Nat., torn. i. pars iii. p. 1G08. 



Perca Americana, Lacep., Hist. Nat. Poiss., torn. iv. p. 252. 



Morone rufa, Mitch., Report in part, &c., p. 18. 



Bodianus rufus, Mitch., Trans. Lit. and Phil. Soc. N. Y., vol. i. p. 420. 



Labrax mucronatus, Ciw. et Vol., Hist. Nat. Poiss., torn. ii. p. 86, pi. 12. 



Labrax mucronatus, Storer, Report, &c., p. 8. 



Labrax rufus, DeKay, Zool. N. Y., part iv. p. 9, pi. 3, fig. 7. 



Labrax rufus, Storer, Synops., p. 22. 



White Perch, Vulgo. 



