﻿504 
  REPORT 
  OF 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  [16] 
  

  

  tail: 
  Very 
  pronounced 
  hooked 
  teeth 
  are 
  shown 
  in 
  both 
  jaws 
  in 
  Rice's 
  

   figure, 
  and 
  the 
  air-bladder 
  is 
  developed 
  relatively 
  farther 
  back 
  than 
  is 
  

   shown 
  in 
  the 
  figures 
  given 
  by 
  Agassiz. 
  The 
  earlier 
  stages 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  

   seen 
  of 
  undoubted 
  embryos 
  of 
  Roccus 
  lineatus 
  are 
  likewise 
  more 
  slender 
  

   than 
  those 
  figured 
  by 
  Agassiz, 
  and 
  this 
  point 
  is 
  also 
  confirmed 
  by 
  the 
  

   later 
  stage 
  figured 
  by 
  Rice. 
  

  

  HYBRIDIZATION 
  OF 
  THE 
  STRIPED 
  BASS 
  WITH 
  OTHER 
  FISHES. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  rather 
  extraordinary 
  that 
  the 
  striped 
  bass 
  should 
  so 
  readily 
  lend 
  

   itself 
  to 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  cross-fertilization 
  with 
  other 
  closely 
  allied 
  spe- 
  

   cies, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  white 
  and 
  yellow 
  perch, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  still 
  more 
  astonishing 
  

   that 
  it 
  should 
  be 
  possible 
  to 
  cross 
  this 
  species 
  with 
  another 
  belonging 
  

   not 
  simply 
  to 
  a 
  different 
  family, 
  but 
  even 
  to 
  a 
  widely 
  different 
  order 
  

   and 
  sub-class. 
  That 
  the 
  eggs 
  of 
  the 
  shad 
  (Chipea 
  sapidissima) 
  might 
  

   be 
  fertilized 
  with 
  the 
  milt 
  from 
  the 
  male 
  striped 
  bass 
  seems 
  almost 
  in- 
  

   credible, 
  yet 
  it 
  seems 
  that 
  the 
  evidence 
  showing 
  that 
  the 
  eggs 
  of 
  a 
  

   physostomous 
  form 
  may 
  be 
  fertilized 
  by 
  the 
  milt 
  from 
  a 
  physoclistous 
  

   acanthopterygian 
  is 
  incontestable, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  eggs 
  of 
  the 
  latter 
  type 
  

   may 
  even 
  be 
  fertilized 
  with 
  milt 
  taken 
  from 
  the 
  first-mentioned 
  type. 
  

   The 
  shad 
  and 
  striped 
  bass 
  therefore 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  fertile 
  inter 
  se, 
  as 
  the 
  

   following 
  evidence 
  seems 
  to 
  prove. 
  

  

  That 
  the 
  shad 
  ovum 
  may 
  be 
  fertilized 
  with 
  the 
  milt 
  of 
  the 
  striped 
  

   bass 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  established 
  by 
  the 
  evidence 
  presented 
  in 
  a 
  paper 
  33 
  by 
  

   the 
  writer 
  published 
  in 
  1883, 
  from 
  which 
  I 
  quote 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  

  

  A 
  number 
  of 
  young 
  fish 
  which 
  had 
  already 
  lost 
  their 
  yelk-sacks, 
  in 
  

   consequence 
  of 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  supposed 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  already 
  several 
  

   days 
  old, 
  were 
  received 
  from 
  Havre 
  de 
  Grace, 
  Md., 
  at 
  the 
  central 
  

   station 
  on 
  the 
  evening 
  of 
  June 
  13, 
  1882. 
  They 
  were 
  immediately 
  placed 
  

   in 
  an 
  aquarium, 
  but 
  all 
  of 
  them 
  died 
  in 
  a 
  day 
  or 
  two 
  after 
  save 
  about 
  

   fifty, 
  which 
  were 
  transferred 
  by 
  the 
  writer 
  to 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  smaller 
  of 
  the 
  

   carp 
  ponds 
  in 
  charge 
  of 
  Dr. 
  Rudolph 
  Hessel, 
  where, 
  as 
  Professor 
  Baird 
  

   had 
  suggested, 
  they 
  might 
  possibly 
  find 
  some 
  food 
  suited 
  to 
  their 
  wants 
  

   and 
  grow 
  large 
  enough 
  for 
  us 
  to 
  learn 
  something 
  of 
  their 
  future 
  history. 
  

   The 
  case 
  is 
  an 
  extraordinary 
  one, 
  as 
  the 
  possibility 
  of 
  interbreeding 
  

   members 
  of 
  such 
  very 
  distinct 
  families 
  as 
  the 
  Clupeoids 
  and 
  rercoids, 
  

   unless 
  the 
  impregnation 
  was 
  performed 
  under 
  the 
  very 
  eyes 
  of 
  the 
  nat- 
  

   uralist, 
  might 
  well 
  be 
  doubted 
  by 
  those 
  familiar 
  with 
  the 
  recorded 
  facts 
  

   which 
  have 
  generally 
  been 
  considered 
  to 
  prove 
  that 
  fertile 
  interbreed- 
  

   ing 
  even 
  between 
  different 
  genera 
  was 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  question. 
  The 
  evi- 
  

   dence 
  in 
  favor 
  of 
  the 
  fact 
  in 
  this 
  case 
  is, 
  however, 
  too 
  strong 
  to 
  be 
  

   passed 
  over, 
  and 
  until 
  we 
  know 
  more 
  of 
  the 
  later 
  history 
  of 
  this 
  singu- 
  

   lar 
  hybrid, 
  the 
  following 
  notes 
  on 
  the 
  differences 
  which 
  were 
  presented 
  

   by 
  the 
  embryos 
  in 
  question 
  when 
  compared 
  with 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  true 
  shad 
  

  

  33 
  Ryder. 
  Notice 
  of 
  an 
  extraordinary 
  hybrid 
  between 
  the 
  shad 
  and 
  striped 
  bass. 
  

   Bull. 
  U.S. 
  Fish 
  Com., 
  ii, 
  1882, 
  p. 
  187. 
  

  

  