FISHES AND FISHERIES 253 



Atlantic and Pacific Coasts and in many other parts of the 

 world. Some of the species such as the Spanish mackerel and 

 the tuna, are unexcelled as food or game fishes. 



The large family CentrarchidcB includes the sunfishes and 

 rock bass, black bass and others. The various species of sun- 

 fishes occur in almost all parts of the country. Some of them 

 are handsomely marked and they are all good food fishes. 

 The black bass are among the most important of the game 

 fishes, and are fast taking the place of the trout in many 

 streams where the latter have not been able to hold their own 

 on account of the changed conditions of the water and the 

 intensive fishing. The bass quickly adapt themselves to their 

 surroundings and have been successfully introduced into 

 California, Europe and other places where they do not occur 

 naturally. The fresh water white bass and yellow bass, and 

 the larger striped bass or rock-fish which lives in the sea and 

 runs up the rivers to spawn, and many other important sea 

 bass, belong to the family Serranida. The giant bass, some- 

 times called jewfish, reaches a weight of more than 500 pounds. 



The family Percidce includes the wall-eyed pike and the true 

 perches of which the yellow perch is our most common ex- 

 ample. They are both good game and food fishes. 



On the west coast is a family of perch-like ocean fishes, 

 family Embiotocida, commonly called perch or surf- fish. 

 These differ from almost all of the other higher fish in being 

 viviparous, the young being carried in the body of the mother 

 until they have attained considerable size. 



The codfish, family Gadida, is one of the most important 

 of the North Atlantic fishes. It occurs also in the North 

 Pacific but in small numbers. The codfish industry gives 

 employment to thousands of men and warrants a profitable 

 investment in boats and other apparatus to the extent of 

 millions of dollars. The flesh of the cod is flaky and with 

 little flavor but it is well adapted to drying or salting and it 

 is in this condition that it is most largely used. 



Among the most remarkable of our well-known fishes are 

 the flounders and halibut, family Pleuronedidte. The young 

 at first swim upright in the water like other fishes and have 



