FISH OF ONTARIO. 99 



Genus ROCCUS. (Striped Bass.) 



Base of tongue with one or two patches of teeth ; anal spines gradu- 

 ated ; dorsal fins entirely separate; anal rays III., ii or 12;" supraoccipital 

 crest scarcely widened aboAC ; lower jaw projecting. 



Subgenus LEPIBEMA. 



(105) White Bass. 



(Roccus chrysops.) 



Body oblong, elevated and compressed; head subconical, depressed 

 over eye ; mouth moderate, the maxillary reaching to below middle of eye ; 

 villiform teeth in bands on jaws, palatines vomer and tongue; the dorsal 

 outline much curved. 



D. IX., I., 14; A. III., II to 12. Scales, 8-60-13. 



Colour, silvery, tinged with golden below; sides with narrow dusky 

 lines, about five above the lateral line, one along it and a variable member 

 below, these sometimes more or less interrupted or transposed. Length, 

 twelve to fifteen inches ; weight, about a pound and a half. 



The White Bass is found in all the Great Lakes of Ontario ; it rarely 

 ascends streams, but occurs sometimes abundantly at the mouth of the 

 larger rivers. It is gregarious, usually swimming in shoals containing a 

 large number of individuals. As a game fish it ranks high, for it takes 

 minnow bait readily, and during the summer months rises to a fly well. 

 It is an excellent table fish when fresh caught. 



It spawns in May or June. 



Suborder RHEGNOPTERI. 



Family SCI^NID^. (The Drums.) 



Body compressed, more or less elongate, covered with thin more or 

 less ctenoid scales. Lateral line continuous, extending on caudal fin ; 

 head usually large, scaly; bones of head cavernous, the muciferous system 

 highly developed, the surface of the skull very uneven ; chin with pores ; 

 n^outh and teeth various; maxillary without supplemental bone, slipping 

 bitneath preorbital ; premaxillaries protractile; nostrils double; pseudo- 

 branchiae usually present and usually large ; branchiostegals seven ; gill 

 membranes separate, free from the isthmus ; lower pharyngeals separate 

 ortin'ted, often enlarged, the teeth conic or molar; preopercle serrate or 

 not, opercle usur.lly ending in two flat points ; dorsal deeply notched or 

 divided into two fins, the soft portion being the longer, the spines depres- 

 sible into a groo\ e ; anal with never more than two spines ; caudal usually 

 not forked ; ear-bones or otoliths very large ; air bladder usually large and 

 complicated, its structure enabling the fish to make grunting or drumming 

 sounds. 



