FISH OF ONTARIO. 83 



It feeds principally towards evening, and the best bait for it is a 

 bright, lively shiner or chub. 



Genus AMBLOPLITES. (Rock Bass.) 



Body oblong, moderately elevated, compressed ; mouth large, the 

 broad maxillary with a well developed supplemental bone, lower jaw pro- 

 jecting; teeth on vomer, palatines, tongue, entopterygoids and ectoptery- 

 goids, lingual teeth in a single patch, pharyngeal teeth sharp; branchio- 

 stegals six ; opercle ending in two flat points ; preopercle serrate at its 

 angle, other membrane bones chiefly entire ; gill rakers rather long and 

 strong, dentate, less than ten in number, developed only on the lower part 

 of the arch ; scales large, somewhat ctenoid ; lateral line complete, the 

 tubes occupying at least the anterior half of the surface of the scale; 

 dorsal fin much more developed than the anal fin, with ten or eleven rather 

 low spines ; anal spines normally six ; pectorals obtusely pointed with 

 fourteen or fifteen rays, the upper longest ; caudal fin emarginate. 



(87) Rock Bass. 



(Ambloplites rupestris.) 



Body robust, oblong ; caudal peduncle stout, almost as deep as long. 

 Dorsal profile rather steep, strongly concave over eye. Eye large. Mouth 

 large, the maxillary reaching to vertical from posterior end of pupil. The 

 heavy lower jaw projects slightly. The opercle ends in two flat points ; 

 preopercle serrated at its angle. Gill rakers long and strong, less than 

 ten in number ; six branchiostegals ; scales large, those on the cheeks in 

 about eight rows ; caudal rather deeply emarginate. The lateral line is 

 complete, placed high on body and follows the contour of the back. 



D. XL, 11; A. VI., II. Scales, 5-46-14. 



Colour olive green, with a brassy tinge and much dark mottling ; the 

 young are pale or yellowish, irregularly barred and blotched with black; 

 adults with a dark spot at the base of each scale, these spots sometimes 

 forming interrupted black stripes; a dark spot on the opercle; soft dorsal, 

 anal, and caudal fins with dark mottlings ; iris golden overlaid with crim- 

 son. 



The Rock Bass grows to a length of about a foot and a weight of a 

 pound and a half, though such large specimens are not often seen now. 

 It ranges throughout the whole of this Province, and is said to occur in 

 Manitoba, but I did not find it there. 



Its usual haunts are dark holes in streams or lakes, where aquatic 

 vegetation flourishes, and it is often to be found in considerable numbers 

 about docks or timber work, which shades the water. From these places 

 it emerges towards nightfall and roams about in search of the insects, 

 crustaceans and small fish which form its food. When taken from clear, 

 cold water, it is esteemed as a table fish, and when fished for with light 



