202 STRIPED BASS. 
CHAPTEK XXI 
STEIPED BASS. 
Ldbrax Lineatus — Hock-fish of Pennsylvania and the 
South — Perca Labrax (Smith) — Selena Lineata (Black.) 
This fish, which has a large number of scientific names 
and several popular ones, belongs to the Perch familj^, 
has two spines on the after part of the gill-cover, and the 
margin of the fore gill-cover rough like the edge of a 
saw. Its color is bluish on the back, light on the sides, 
and white on the belly. The sides are marked by seven 
to nine longitudinal dark lines, from which its name is 
derived, the upper of which reach the tail, but the lower 
fade out above the anal fin. These lines sometimes are 
broken or consist of contiguous dots. The ventral fins 
are below and somewhat behind the pectorals, and have 
the first rays spinous. The fore part of the dorsal has 
nine spiny rays, and at the interval between that and the 
after part there is another small hard ray, while the after 
part is composed of twelve soft rays. The pectorals 
have sixteen soft rays, the ventrals one hard and five 
soft, the anal three hard and eleven soft, and the tail 
seventeen soft rays. 
Whether the name Bass means Perch or not, I cannot 
say, although there is no such tradition among my 
Dutch ancestry, and I am unable to find the word in 
