June 7, 1870.] 440 [Cope. 



A PARTIAL SYNOPSIS OF THE FISHES OF THE FRESH 



WATERS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



By Edw. D. Cope. A.M. 



Read before the Amer. Philosophical Society, June 7, 1870. 

 The material on whicli the present investigation is based was, for the 

 most part, procnred by the writer dnring- the autumn of 1869. A journey 

 from tlie Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee to the ocean, offered 

 oi^portunity for making collections in the waters of five hydrographic 

 basins, viz. : those of tlie Cumberland, Tennessee, Catawba, Yadkin and 

 Neuse. The streams of the Tennessee examined were the Clinch and 

 French Broad ; the former in a tributary called Coal Creek, in Anderson 

 Co., Tenn. ; the latter at various iDoints, both in the mountainous part of 

 its course, and in the elevated and flat valley of Henderson Co., where it 

 takes its rise. A small seine with fine meshes, kindly lent me by the ad- 

 ministration of the Smithsonian Institution, was used in the smaller 

 streams ; and fishermen's apparatuses, especially weir traps, furnished 

 most of the species inhabiting the river channels. Passing many of the 

 latter at the time of year when the migratory fishes were descending, the 

 writer was able to examine and procure them in great numbers. The 

 opportunity of seeing fishes in life, it is believed, is no small aid to their 

 proper specific determination. 



ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



PERCA, Linn. 

 1. Pekca flavescens, Cuv, 



Neuse River. 



Neuse River. 



ROCCUS, Gill. 

 2. Roccus LiNEATUs, Bloch. 



STIZOSTEDIUM, Raf. 

 8. Stizostedium americantjm, C. v. 

 This is the largest Percoid of the Western waters, occasionally attain- 

 ing a weight of 85 lbs. : no specimen of more than 10 lb. came under my 

 observation. It loves the most boisterous and rapid streams, ascending 

 them to near their sources, having much the manners, and haunting the 

 same waters as the trout, but of much more voracious habits. Its swift- 

 ness enables it to take the black perch (Micopterus fasciatus) with ease, 

 though that fish is, after it, much the most powerful swimmer of the 

 rivers it inhabits. I took two from the stomach of a Lucioperca of eight 

 pounds, one of which weighed 2h lbs. Suckers are used as bait in taking 

 them by hook ; but the mode in which large specimens are most readily 

 taken is by shooting. When the Lucioperca has gorged himself, he seeks 

 some shallow bayou, and lies in a sluggish state, digesting his meal. Then 



