THE TRUE FISHES. 179 



Perches (Percubf). The perches are carnivorous 

 fishes of great variety, about one fifth inhabiting the fresh- 

 water streams of various countries, while the others are 

 marine. Perca fluviatilis is a common form in the United 

 States. They spawn during the winter, forming nests or 

 hollows in the gravel near the shore, in which they deposit 

 their eggs. Allied are the pond-fishes {Eupomotis aureus), 

 that are often richly colored. They are famous nest- 

 makers, both male and female aiding in clearing away the 

 refuse of the bottom where the nest is to be made. A de- 

 pression is then formed and the eggs deposited and care- 

 fully guarded. The spotted sunfish hibernates in the win- 

 ter, burying itself in the mud. 



Bass (LabraadcB). The bass are mostly marine fishes 

 The striped-bass attains a length of five feet, and range- 

 from Nova Scotia to Florida. The white perch, yellow 

 pike-perch, and striped lake-bass, are allied forms. The 

 hard-scaled bass of Californian waters attains a length of six 

 feet and a weight of four hundred pounds. Allied are the 

 black sea-bass, groupers, etc. The Chromis (Fig. 222) of 

 Lake Tiberias, that carries its eggs and young in its mouth, 

 belongs to this group. Nearly all are important food-fishes. 



Big Drum - Fish (Pogomus). The drum - fish is a 

 large, deep fish, attaining a weight of eighty pounds, and 

 remarkable as a sound-producer.* 



* Sir John Richardson states that when aboard ship he has been* 

 kept awake by their drumming. The noises are made, according to 

 some authorities, by beating their tails against the vessel, clapping to- 

 gether their pharyngeal teeth, or due to the action of the pneumatic 

 duct and swimming-bladder. The maigre is said to produce a flute- 

 like note, audible in twenty fathoms. Many fishes utter sounds, but 

 perhaps the grunt (ff&mu&m), on the outer Florida reef, is most re- 

 markable for the variation of the sounds, that are so loud and striking 

 as to have caused the author, on more than one occasion, to toss the 

 fish back for its pains. The dog-fish utters a croak or bark. The 

 gizzard-shad, hippocampus, eels, cat-fish, porcupine-fish, sunfish, carp, 

 gurnards, etc., utter sounds, either accidental or intentional. 



