104 BOOK OF THE BLACK BASS. 



but as is apt to be the case with good fishes, it is much less 

 abundant than several other species which are greatly its inferior 

 in point of quality. It is usually taken with tlie seine and its 

 weight varies from one to five or six pounds." — (Tho:mpson, Hist. 

 Vermont, 131, 1853.) 



Grystes nigricans Garlick, 1857. — "The body is com- 

 pressed, oval, back arched ; of a dusky greenish color, often 

 with transverse bands, with 3 olilique stripes on the operculum 

 or cheek. . , . The Black Bass, when full grown, measures 

 from 12 to 18 inches in length. The largest one by far that I 

 have ever seen was caught last summer by Prof. Ackley in the 

 Cuyahoga River: its length was a little over 22 inches, and must 

 have weighed 8 pounds or more. 



*' This fish is found from the St. Lawrence to the tributaries 

 of the Ohio, and perhaps still further south; it is quite common 

 in all the rivers and lakes of Ohio and all the Western States. 



" He is a bold biter, and when hooked fights with the most de- 

 termined fury to the very last, affording the best of sjDort to the 

 angler, and is excelled but by a very few fish w^hen placed upon 

 the table."— (Garlick, Treat. Art. Prop. Fish, 105, 1857.) 



Gristes salmoiedes Herbert, 1859. — "This fish, in general 

 form, closely corresponds with that last described [(?. nigricans^. 

 It has the same gibbous back, with the lateral line following the 

 dorsal curve, and the same protruded lower jaw. Its teeth are 

 set minutely in broad bands or patches. The operculum has 

 two moderate points. 



" Its color is deep greenish brown, w^ith a bluish black spot on 

 the point of the operculum. AVhen young it has 25 or 30 longi- 

 tudinal brownish bands, which become effaced by age. 



"The first dorsal has 10 spines, the second 13 or 14 soft 

 rays ; the pectorals 16 soft raj'^s ; the ventrals 1 spine and 5 soft 

 rays; the anal 3 spines and 11 or 12 soft rays; the caudal fin, 

 which is slightly lunate, has 17 soft rays." — (Herbert, Fish and 

 Fishing, 197, 1859.) 



