130 



NATURAL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Part I 



THE PIKE-PKRCH. 



THE SUN FISH. 



AMERICAN riKE-PERCH. 



Lucio-Pcrca umcricana. — Cc; vi er. 



Cuv, et Val. Hist. Nal cles Pi.iss. (El. p. 132, pi. IG. 

 Fauna Dore.ili Americana, fislic.-*) p. 10. 



Descriptio.v. — Body tapering and c}'!- 

 indrical towards the tail; color nearly 

 black above, sides brown and ornnnre, bel- 

 ly yellowish or bluish white, tail and fins 

 spotted with black on a yellow ground, 

 but varying much in different individ- 

 uals; head depressed; eyes large, pupil 

 transparent, iris yellow ; lower jaw longer 

 than the upper ; two rows of teeth in the 

 upper jaw and one in the lower ; teeth 

 hooking inward and many of them long; 

 operculum terminated by a membranous 

 point, pveoperculum serrated and spinous 

 at the angle ; a bony plate over the pec- 

 toral tin ; rays of the first dorsal fin spi- 

 nous. 



Rays, Br. 7, P. ]3, V. G, D. 14— 21, 

 A 14, C. 17. 



IliSToRv. — The usual length of this fish 

 is from fourteen to twenty inches, and its 

 weight from one to four jjounds. It is ta- 

 ken very lilentifully from the waters of 

 lake Champlain and its tributaries. It is 

 a firm, bony fisii, but as the bones are 

 large and easily separated from the flesh, 

 they are much less troublesome than in 

 the Perch, and some other species. Its 

 flesh is well flavored, thouoh not so juicv 

 and rich as that of our White Fish and 

 some few others. In the form of its body 

 and the situation of its fins, it closely re- 

 sembles the Perches,but its head and teeth 

 are more like the Pikes, and hence its 

 name, Lucio-Perca, or P'.kc-Perch. This 

 fish is called by Dr. Williams, in his His- 

 tory of Vermont, the Jl'/ulc Perch, but is 

 generally known in Vermont simply by 

 the name of Pike, while the fish usuallv 

 called Pike in other places is here called 

 Pickerel.. This fish, on the contrary, is 

 called Pickerel in Canada. We have an- 

 other species of this genus, probably the 

 L. canadensis, but I am unable to say so 

 positively at present. 



Gk.nus PoMOTis — Cuvicr. 



Generic Characters. — A single dorsal fin ; 

 6 gill rays on each side ; teelli small ami crowd- 



ed ; body compressed and oval ; a membranous 

 prolongation at the ansile of t!ie o;jcrculuin. 



tH^ 



SUN FISH, UR PO-ND PERCH. 



Pvviotis Tuliraris. — Cuvier. 



Phaw's Zoolofry, IV— 482. Lit. and Phi) Tran.s.N. 

 v., 1 -40y Fauna Bureali Americana, p. 23. i5io« 

 rer's Report, p. U. 



Descriptio.v. — Color brownish green 

 above; below yellow ; sides bluish, spot- 

 ted with brownish, umber, and dark pur- 

 ple ; sides of the head striped longitudi- 

 nally with undulating deep blue lines, 

 with umber spots ; a large black spot, 

 edged with silvery above and below, on 

 the posterior angle of the operculum and 

 its skinny prolongation, terminating back- 

 ward in bright scarlet ; all the fins brown- 

 j ish, portions of the dorsal and caudal spot- 

 ted finely with black ; head between the 

 eyes smooth, dark green, with 3 pores, or 

 pits, the lines connecting which form very 

 nearl}' an equi-lateral triangle ; teeth mi- 

 nute and sharp in both jaws ; upper jaw 

 protractile ; under jaw longest ; mouth 

 small ; nostrils'double, with a pore, mak- 

 ing it ai)pear triple ; eyes large and round ; 

 back regularly curved from the nape to 

 the posterior of the dorsal fin ; lateral line 

 parallel to the curve of the back. Depth 

 of the body to the total length of the fish, 

 as I to 3, nearly ; commencement of the 

 anal fin equi-distant from tlia two ex- 

 tremities; usual lenirth about .5 inches. 



Rays Br. 6, P. 13, V. 115, D. 0112, A. 

 3|]0, C. 17. 



HisTOKV. — This is a very common fish 

 in the coves along the margin of lake 

 Champlain, and about the mouths of our 

 rivers. Though extensively known by 

 the name of Sun Fish, and Pojid Perch, it 

 is, perhaps, more generally known by the 

 naine of Pumpliin Seed. It is also some- 

 times called Bream. This fish, though 

 said in Jardine's Naturalists' Library to 

 be of unobtrusive colors, is one of the 

 highest colored and most beautiful fishes 

 found in our waters — ' oftentimes vieing 

 in brilliancy with the tropical fishes.' 

 The Sun Fish, though often taken with 

 other fishes in the seine, is more common- 

 ly taken with the hook, at which it bites 

 with avidity. Its flesh is white and pal- 

 atable, but the fish being small, thin, and 

 bony, is little sought as an article of 

 food. 



