83 G REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



ceding May and early in June; these August perch measuring about 

 2J to 3 inches in length. 



There is little, if any, variation in the coloration or shape of the two 

 sexes, except the greater prominence of the abdomen of the female fish 

 at the time of their arrival in spring. 



My experience with reference to their arrival in spring wholly contra- 

 dicts itself, comparing year with year, and the most I can determine is 

 a certain amount of uncertainty in the time of their spawning. This, of 

 course, is affected somewhat by the character of the season, but, without 

 having ever seen the ova, after being deposited by the parent fish, 1 should 

 judge that spawning occurred between May 10 and June 10, usually 

 nearer the former than the latter date. This is based on the fact of hav- 

 ing gathered very young fish, the age of which I guessed from the gen- 

 eral condition and amount of development of the specimens. 



After the middle of June the white perch are found in localities widely 

 diiferent even quiet waters, with a dense growth of lily and river-weed 

 are found to contain them in apparent health and vigor ; spots where 

 the rock-fish could not live a day. Still later in the summer, as the 

 young perch become quite strong and of some size, the river, both in 

 and above tidewater, fairly teems with them. At this season they go 

 in schools, sometimes of large size. I have known of twelve, fifteen, 

 and twenty dozen August perch being taken with a line in as short a 

 time as from three to five hours. Fishing in this way, a line with half 

 a dozen hooks is used, and worms, sturgeon spawn,* or live minnows 

 used as bait. These schools of small perch I suppose to be broods of 

 the preceding May, and that they keep together until late in November 

 they pass down to the salt-water and there separate. The larger — adult — 

 fish are not as restless as these smaller ones, and are found in deeper 

 water, and usually the tide-waters. In their feeding habits the white 

 perch agrees very closely with the rock-fish. In all their habits^ 

 in fact, the two fish are very much alike, and in the Delaware they are 

 always associated ; the most noticeable difference in their habits being the 

 ability of the perch to remain and thrive in warmer waters than the 

 rock-fish is ever found frequenting. 



As an article of food, this fish is certainly popular, and I can scarcely 

 think it merits the terms of "dry," "tasteless," "chippy," frequently 

 applied to it. Those brought from the sea-coast, in winter, are not a& 

 good fish as the same sized fish caught in the river at other times of 

 the year. Notwithstanding the objection .of their diminutive size, I am 

 inclined to think the August perch the best, and am not alone in 

 this, as they command very ready sale in our streets, being hawked 

 about in barrows, and not sold in markets. 



5. — Black Bass, Micropterus salmoides. 



As is now well known, this valuable fish has been successfully intro- 

 duced into the Delaware River and its several unobstructed tributaries. 

 * Sturgeon ova are frequently kept in weak alcohol and water for this purpose. 



