112 FISHES OF THE EAST ATLANTIC COAST. 



scrub, which I found very ready to steal any fish that I left exposed ; 

 and once I found a couple of marsh ponies devouring my bass. In 

 this region man, beast and bird all live on the fruit of the sea, and 

 there is enough for all — those destructive engines, the pound nets 

 and the mile long seines, not having been introduced. 



The red bass spawns in August and September in the inlets and 

 bays, as I am informed by Florida fishermen, and deposits a large 

 amount of eggs, making it a prolific species. It is a roving fish, and 

 must be sought for among its haunts, which are various ; deep chan 

 nels, mud flats, oyster beds, and along the marshy shores, all of 

 ty'^il^h it yioi.ts at different times of tide. 



[Since writing the above, I have received a copy of Jordan and Gilbert's " Sy 

 nopsis of the Fishes of North America," from which I take the following descrip- 

 tion of the above species :] 



Scioena ocellata — Gthr. Channel bass — red bass. Grayish silvery, iridescent ; 

 scales with dark spots forming faint irregular undulating stripes ; upper part of 

 base of caudal with an oval black spot as large as the eye, bordered by white or 

 orange; this spot is often duplicated.* Body rather elongate, not much elevated, 

 compressed behind, an almost even curve from snout to base of dorsal; preopercle 

 distinctly serrate ; eye large ; one and a-half in snout ; five and a-half in 

 head; gill rakers short and thick ; mouth large ; maxillary nearly reaching the 

 posterior margin of the orbit ; caudal truncate ; second and spine rather strong, 

 two-thirds as long as first ray ; pectoral fins very short, not reaching half-way to 

 anal ; lower pharyngeals narrow, with conical teeth. Head three and a-third ; 

 depth three and a half. D.X.I, 25 ; A.H. 8. Lat. . 50. Cape Cod to Mexico. 

 Common Southward. 



