428 I^TATUEAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



Allen Look, of Tisbury, Massachusetts, testified before the fishery committee of the Massa- 

 chusetts legislature, in 1870, that in 1845 he caught twenty-seven tons, or about 17,000 Striped 

 Bass, in Tisbury Great Pond, and that the largest catch within the pond from 1865 to 1870 was 

 one hundred, taken in December, 1869.' 



The following extract from a Newport (Ehode Island) paper for 1861 shows how abundant 

 these fish have been in past years in Narragansett Bay : 



"As an evidence that fish are not scarce in our waters, the recent haul of Bass by hook and 

 line is evidence. Within a week the market has been more than supplied, as the following will 

 show: 



" Purchased by Samuel Albro : Of Nason & Tenant, 1,339 pounds ; William James, 960 pounds; 

 W. A. Munroe, 429 pounds; Dunwell & Gladding, 1,500 pounds; James Hazard, 357 pounds. 



" Purchased by Carry & Co. : Of George Crabb, 950 pounds ; John Heath, 130 pounds; James 

 Eead, 300 pounds; Edward Smith, 60 pounds; G. Dunwell, 50 pounds. 



" Henry Gladding & Co. shipped to New York 1,100 pounds. Making a total of 7,175 pounds 

 for one week, and these were all taken from the rocks at the south end of the city." 



The Eock-flsh has been propagated artificially by the United States Fish Commission, the 

 first experiment having been made by Mr. Holton in 1873, supplemented by more satisfactory 

 operations in 1879, under the direction of Major Ferguson, when about 400,000 eggs were hatched 

 out and turned loose in Salmon Creek, North Carolina. The species was introduced into Califor- 

 nia some years ago, and Jordan reported in 1880 that several specimens had been captured along 

 the coast. 



143. THE WHITE BASS— ROCCUS CHRYSOPS (Raf.) Gill. 



This species is generally known by the name of " White Bass "; occasionally as " Striped 

 Bass." Its greatest abundance is in the Great Lake region, although it has a wide distribution in 

 the Ohio and upper tributaries of the Mississippi, and is found in ma.ny streams farther south. It 

 frequents chiefly the lakes and ponds and the deeper parts of the rivers. It feeds upon minnows 

 and the like, usually taking the hook readily, and is considered gamy by the angler. As a food- 

 fish it ranks high, being little inferior to the Black Bass. Its usual weight is from one to three 

 pounds. The White Bass is said to be an excellent fish for cultivation in artificial ponds. Like 

 most of its relatives, this species spawns in late spring. 



"It is frequently taken in the Ohio Eiver," writes Jordan, "and frequents chiefly deep or still 

 waters, seldom ascending small streams. It is said to thrive well in ponds." 



This is doubtless the Silver Bass of Canada {le Silver Bass du Canada), the details of whose 

 introduction into France, and successful propagation by M. Carbonnier, from 1877 to 1879, are 

 recorded by that experimenter in the "Bulletin of the Society of Acclimation for 1881." ^ 



The following notes upon the abundance of the White Bass, Boccus chrysops, in the Great 

 Lakes and bays adjacent have been made by Mr. Kumlien : 



Two instances only of the presence of this species at and in the vicinity of the Apostle Islands 

 are known to Mr. Bantin. Some of the other fishing points of that region are as follows : Sand 

 Island, York and Eock Islands, Magdalen Island, Chequamegan Point, and Siscourt and Fry Bays. 



1 Four hundred Bass were taken at a single haul in Tisbury Great Pond, Martha's Vineyard, on one day last week, 

 and shipped to New York.— GJouceste- Telegraph, November 23, 1870. 



A cargo of four hundred and nineteen Striped Bass, one of which weighed more than fifty pounds, was brought 

 into New London by an old fisherman a few days since. One hundred and eighty-five of them were canght with a 

 hook and line in three hours.— iVeui Yorh Evening Post, December 1, 1874. 



•Bulletin Mensuel de la Soci6t6 d'AooUmation, Tiii, No. 2, p. 10. 



