234 AN EAST COAST NATURALIST 



AMERICAN ROSE PERCH 



On 29th April 1894 a small but most beautifully 

 coloured American Rose Perch (Scorposna dacty- 

 loptera) was taken in a shrimp-net, and brought 

 to me by "Pintail" Thomas, a worn-out Breydon 

 punt gunner. Its length was 5f inches. Forward- 

 ing it to Mr. Southwell, I received from him the 

 following interesting letter : 



" I duly received [Scorpcena], and a very interest- 

 ing little chap it is. I will take it down to the 

 museum. . . . Day states generally that the species 

 is an inhabitant of the Northern Ocean, uncommon 

 in Greenland, occurs on the south-west coast of 

 Spitzbergen, frequently captured by the cod-fishers 

 of the Faroe Islands, not uncommon off Norway, 

 and extends as far south along the American coast 

 as New York. As a British fish it appears to have 

 been first recorded by Pennant ; has been met with 

 several times in Scotland, and in January 1867 near 

 Hartlepool ; also in 1851 in Swansea Bay ; it has 

 also occurred several times in Ireland. Day states 

 that its food consists of Crustacea and small flat 

 fishes, and that it is usually captured at profound 



