FISHES OF NEW YORK 529 



D. IX, I, 12; A. Ill, 10. Scales 7-51-11. The dorsal fins are 

 separated by a very deep notch, but connected by membrane; 

 upper parts grayish or greenish; sides silvery; young individ- 

 uals have pale, longitudinal streaks. 



This is the perch or river perch of Schoepff, which he records 

 ^s an inhabitant of the coasts of New York and Long Island, 

 in and at the mouths of fresh-water streams. Dr Mitchill (1815) 

 gives it the name of red perch, and states that when not in the 

 breeding season it is called black perch because its colors are 

 browner and darker. De Kay describes it, in the Fishes of New 

 Yorkf as the ruddy bass. In Great Egg Harbor bay individuals 

 taken from salt water are sometimes called yellow perch or 

 peerch. 



The species is found from Nova Scotia to South Carolina, and 

 inhabits both salt and fresh water. Mitchill saw specimens 14 

 inches long and nearly 5 inches deep, from Quag, Long 

 Island. There is an important winter fishery for the white 

 perch at Bellport. It is taken in seines and gillnets. The 

 writer has occasionally found this species in various parts of 

 Great South bay, for example, at Smith's point. Whale House 

 Hole, Swan river; also in the east end of Shinnecock bay, in the 

 fresh water of Head of Oreek, near Southampton. The fishermen 

 affirm that when its feeding grounds are disturbed by seining 

 the fish suddenly leave the locality. The white perch is never 

 plentiful in Gravesend bay; it is abundant in fresh^water lakes 

 of Central park. New York, and Prospect park, Brooklyn. Near 

 Montauk, Long Island, the species is abundant and reaches a 

 large size. Eugene Smith has found it common in brackish 

 waters near New York, where it occurs all the year; he had it 

 also from fresh water. Mearns states that it remains in the 

 Hudson throughout the year and is taken in abundance in win- 

 ter in nets set through the ice. In Oscawana lake, Putnam 

 •county, individuals weighing 2 or 3 pounds were reported to him. 



In the vicinity of Woods Hole Mass. the fish is abundant in 

 fres^-water ponds connected with salt water. 



It is said that the white perch formerly extended south to 

 Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, but this is discredited by com- 



