732 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 



preorbital ; no incisors nor molars, but often canines ; pseudobranchs 

 large ; opercle with one or two points ; anal short, with three spines ; 

 vertebrae twenty-five; air-bladder adherent to abdominal walls. 



ROCOUS, Mitch. 



(Labrax, Cuv.) 

 R. lineatus, Bloch. Striped Bass. Rockfish. 



Anal spines strong ; branchiostegals seven ; teeth villiform, 

 some on base of tongue in two patches ; caudal forked ; dorsal 

 divided ; no supplemental maxillary ; first dorsal with nine 

 spines; lower jaw projecting ; olivaceous silvery, white or brassy 

 below ; sides with seven or eight dark bands, one on lateral line ; 

 young slender; mouth large and oblique; twelve soft rays in 

 dorsal and anal. Lateral-line scales, 65 ; length, 3 to 4 feet. 



" Numerous in the various rivers of our State, and probably 

 most so in the Delaware. Although met with during the greater 

 part of the year in the rivers, it nevertheless appears to be a 

 marine species that ascends in the spring for breeding purposes, 

 and in the fall is again met with seeking the head-waters, this 

 time to meet the outgoing shad, that are now making their way 

 to the ocean to pass the winter. Many ' rockfish ' winter in the 

 salt creeks, but the majority seek the deep sea-water." 



R. americanus, Gmel. {Morone, mucronata, nifus.) White Perch. 



Sides not striped with black ; olivaceous, with silvery sides 

 and faint lighter streaks ; back arched ; head depressed and 

 pointed ; mouth small, oblique ; dorsal fins united. Lateral- 

 line scales, 50; length, 12 inches (maximum). 



" This well-known fish is abundant in the rivers of the State, 

 and wandering from the rivers, enters the various creeks, and is 

 to be met with in great abundance in tide-water streams in the 

 neighborhood of flood-gates, where they congregate to catch the 

 thousands of minnows that are swept through the gates at the 

 ' turn of the tide.' No finer sport is to be had than fishing for 

 ' white perch ' at this time. 



" This fish i« abundant on the coast during the late autumn 

 and winter, and from the brackish streams and various fishing- 

 grounds it is brought at this time of year to the markets. They 

 rarely reach over a foot in length, if ever. The largest speci- 

 men preserved at Philadelphia measures one foot." 



