NOTES ON FISHES OF THE DELAWARE RIVER. 835 



well. Also a strip of bright red flannel attached to the shaft of a hoo^ 

 has been used with success. 



lu summer (after June 15) they are sometimes caught in considerable 

 numbers with an ordinary draw-net; and during the shad and herring 

 season (ending June 10) occasionally large specimens are taken in the 

 shad-nets; but they are, I judge, most numerous from July 1 to October 

 15. especially duriug the months of August and September. Small 

 specimens, *. e., 6 to 10 inches in length, are found associated with white 

 perch, and in a catch of these with a line there is sometimes 10 per 

 cent, of rock-fish, but usually not more than half that proportion. In 

 the tide-water creeks they are caught most abundantly just at the turn 

 of the tide, that is, as the high waters begin to recede. 



Rock-fish, both large and small, are always in demand, and readily 

 bring a good price, even when other kinds of fish are offered. Those 

 taken from the Delaware are really a better table fish than those from 

 the sea; but the great majority of the fish weighing over 5 pounds 

 come from salt water. The price per pound varies from 12 to 16 cents. 



4. — White perch, Morone americana. 



This fine fish is known only by the one name of " white perch." In 

 the Delaware River it must be looked upon as an anadromous fish ; but 

 many i^onds are now stocked with them, and these land-locked fish 

 flourish so well, that it is probable that a few, at least, remain in the 

 river throughout the whole year. When an open winter occurs, they 

 are caught in the deeper waters of the tide- water portion of the river 

 throughout the whole year. In ordinary seasons, the great bulk of these 

 fish are found in the river from May till October. During the early 

 part of the summer, they are principally found in the deeper portions 

 of the river, within tide limits. As late as June 10, 1 have found female 

 fish heavy with apparently ripe ova. Exclusive of the cyprinoids, and 

 the shad and herring in their season, this perch is the most abundant of 

 our river fish. I am disposed to think that their numbers exceed those 

 of even the river sun-fish, {Ichthelis appendix). The abundance, how- 

 ever, of large perch, say of one pound weight, has certainly decreased 

 during the past thirty years fully one-half. It would seem as if the 

 perch of that size had found more attractive breeding grounds else- 

 where, and that only the smaller and weaker breeding-fish frequented 

 our waters. 



The largest specimens of white perch taken in the Delaware, that I 

 have accurate knowledge of, weighed, respectively, 1 pound 9 ounces; 

 1 pound 13 ounces, and 2 pounds 1 ounce. These were caught in a shad- 

 net, in May, at the fishery opposite Trenton (Lamberton), in 1865. The 

 average adult fish may be said to measure 8 inches and weigh from 7 to 

 9 ounces. 



I believe, for reasons to be given, that the growth of the young is very 

 rapid, and that the August perch are young hatched late in the pre- 



