CLASS PISCES 



467 



Family PerciDjE. — The Perches. The perch family contains 

 a large number of small fresh-water fishes, most of which are of 

 little economic importance. The yellow perch, Perca Jlavescens, 

 was chosen as a type of the class (pp. 432-442). The wall-eyed 

 pike or pike-perch, Stizostedion vitreum, is another well-known and 

 valuable species. It is common in the Great Lakes region and is ex- 

 tensively propagated by the Bureau of Fisheries (see Table XV). 



Family Centrarchid^e. — The Basses, Crappies, and Sun- 

 fishes. These fishes inhabit the fresh waters of North America. 

 There are about thirty species, most of which are good game- 

 fishes and also excellent for the table. Some of the most com- 

 mon species are the crappie, Pomoxis annularis, the rock-bass, 

 Anibloplites rupestris, the bluegill, Lepomis pallidus, the com- 

 mon sunfish or pumpkin-seed, Eupomotis gibbosus, the small- 

 mouthed black bass, Micropterus dolomieu, and the large- 

 mouthed black bass, Micropterus salmoides. The small-mouthed 

 black bass is considered " inch for inch and pound for pound, 

 the gamest fish that swims." (Henshall.) The male bass in 

 May or June makes a nest by clearing away a place near shore 

 where there are good-sized stones. Eggs are then laid and fer- 

 tilized, and the male guards them during the hatching period of 

 five or six days. The male continues to protect the young 

 until they reach a length of an inch and a quarter. Black bass 

 are successfully propagated in artificial ponds by the Bureau 

 of Fisheries (see Table XV). 



Family Echeneidid^e. — The Remoras (Fig. 400). This 

 family contains about a dozen species of peculiar fishes that live 



*^ 



Fig. 400. — A sucking fish, Remora brachyptera. (From the Cambridge 

 Natural History, after Goode.) 



