4 history of the fishes of massachusetts. 



Perca flavescens, Cuv. 



The American Yellow Perch. 



(Plate II. Fig. 1 ) 



Bodianus flavescens, Yellow Perch, Mitchill, Trans Lit. and Phil. Soc. of N. Y., I. p. 421. 



La Percke jaunalre d'Amirique, Perca flavescens, Cuv. et Val., Hist. Nat. des Poissons, II. p. 46. 



Perca flavescens, American Perch, Rich., Fauna Boreal. Americ, III. p. 1, pi. 74. 



" " Common Perch of Massachusetts, Stoker, Massachusetts Report, p. 5. 



Bodianus flavescens, Yellow Perch, Kirtland, Rep. on Zool. of Ohio, pp. 168, 190. 

 Perca flavescens, Yellow Perch, Kirtland, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist., v. p. 337, pi. 27, fig. 2. 



" " American Yettoio Perch, Dekay, N. Y. Report, p. 3, pi. 1, fig. 1. 



" " Ayres, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist., iv. p. 256. 



" " American Yellow Perch, Linsley, Cat. of Fishes of Conn. 



La Percke a opercules grenucs, Perca serrato-granulata, Cuv. et Val., ii. p. 47. 

 Perca serrato-granulata, Griffith's Cuv., x. pi. 3!), fig. 1. 



" " Dekay, N. Y. Report, p. 5, pi. 22, fig. G4. 



" " Common Perch, Thompson, Hist. Vermont, p. 129. 



La Perche a tite grenue, Perca granulata, Cuv. et Val., vii. p. 48, pi. 49. 

 Perca granulata, Jardine, Nat. Lib., i. p. 92, pi 1. 



" " Dekay, N. Y. Report, p. 5, pi. 48, fig. 220. 



" " Lissley, Cat. of Fishes of Conn. 



La Percke a museau pointu, Perca acuta, Cuv. et Val., ii. p. 49, pi. 10. 

 Perca acuta, Sharp-nosed Perch, Rich., Fauna Boreal. Americ, III. p. 4. 



Yellow Perch, Dekay, N. Y. Report, p. 6, pi. 68, fig. 222. 

 La Perche grele, Perca gracilis, Cuv. et Val., ii. p. 50. 

 Perca gracilis, Rich., Fauna Boreal. Americ, m. p. 4. 



" " Slender Yellow Perch, Dekay, N. Y. Report, p. 6. 



Perca flavescens, Storer, Mem. of Amer. Acad., New Series, II. p. 269. 



" " Storer, Synopsis, p. 17. 



" " Agassiz, Lake Superior, p. 291. 



Color. Above of a greenish-yellow ; sides golden-yellow, crossed by seven trans- 

 verse dark bands, all broader above than below, and those upon the middle of the 

 body broadest. Abdomen white ; lower jaw tinged with pink. Centre of operculum 

 of a deep green. Head darker than rest of body. Pupils back ; irides golden. 

 Dorsal and caudal fins yellowish-brown ; pectorals yellow ; ventrals and anal a 

 bright scarlet. 



Description. The length of the head is less than one fourth of the entire length. 

 Top of head broad and flattened ; that portion of it between and in front of eyes 

 is naked, and covered by a smooth membrane ; the portion back of eyes is bony, and 

 roughened by raised, radiating striae. The preoperculum is scaled, and serrated along 

 its entire edge, save a small portion of its superior posterior angle, which is naked 

 and smooth. The operculum is a subtriangular bone, covered at its upper part by 

 a few scales, but otherwise almost entirely scaleless, and exhibiting numerous raised 

 lines diverging to its outer edge, which presents in some instances a few serrations, 

 and terminates posteriorly in a sharp angle or spine. The subopercle is scaled above, 

 naked beneath, and minutely denticulated along its edge. The scapulary bones are 



