280 On the Classification of Fishes. 



water sharks, the Pickerels. He bites boldly at the worm or the 

 minnow, and with light tackle affords considerable sport for a few 

 minutes, for he pulls strong and struggles vigorously while his 

 strength lasts. Nor is he by any means to be despised by the 

 inland angler, for though not often exceeding a pound in weight, 

 nicely broiled or fried he is very acceptable. 



Also the genus Labrax has a representative, in Lakes Erie and 

 Ontario, in the White Lake Bass, Labrax alhidus. This genus if- 

 distinguished by having a disk or bands of teeth on the tongue, 

 the dorsal fins distant and separate, and teeth on both jaws, and 

 on the vomer and the palatine bones. The "White Lake Basj^ 

 seldom exceeds fifteen inches in length, is of a bluish white on 

 the back, white on the sides, with a few narrow dusky stripes 

 running parallel with the lateral line, and white on the belly. 

 The fins have a bluish tinge; iris white, mixed with a little 

 brown ; pupil black ; the fin rays are D. IX, I, 13 ; P. 17 ; V. L 

 5 ; A. Ill, 12 ; C. IT. 



It is probable that another species of this genus, the Striped 

 Sea Bass, Labrax lineatiis, ascends the Saint Lawrence to spawn. 



The genus Lucioperca is also found in nearly all our waters. 

 Agassiz is of the opinion that there is but one American species 

 of this genus, and that tlie Lucioperca Canadensis of H. Smitli 

 and the L. grisea of Dekay are nothing more than the L. Ameri- 

 cana. This fish, the Lucioperca Americana, has been very gener- 

 ally called Pike, Yellow Pike, or Pickerel, although it is not a 

 Pickerel at all, not even belonging to the same order as the 

 Pickerels. Dekay has translated the Latin name, and calls it 

 Pikeperch, but the analogous European fish is called Sandre, and 

 this might with great propriety be called the American Sandre. 



The Canadian student will also find the genus Grystes : it iw«; 

 nobly reprensented by the Black Bass, Grystes nigricans ; also the 

 genus Centrarchus, of which we have but one species, the Rock 

 Bass, Centrarchus ctneus ; and the genus Pomotis, which he can 

 study in the common Pondfish, Pomotis vulgaris. 



The fourth f^iraily of this order, the Scienid.^, so called from 

 the Maigres, Science, being the type, is represented in Canadian 

 waters by the genus Corvina, of which there are two species, the 

 Malasheganay, Corvina Rlchardsonii^ found only in the lakes 

 above Niagara Falls, and the Lake Sheepshead, Corvina oscula., 

 which is as abundant below the Falls as it is above. The first ip 

 an excellent fish, and always considered a prize ; the second is tougli 



