HABITS OF THE WHITE PEROH. 433 



of some size, the river, although iu and above tide-water, fairly teems with them. At this season 

 they go in schools, sometimes of large size. I have known of twelve, fifteen, and twenty dozen 

 August Perch being taken with a line in as short a time as from three to five hours. Fishing, in 

 this way a line with half a dozen hooks is used, and worms, sturgeon spawn, or live minnows are 

 used as bait. These schools of small Perch I supposed to be broods of the preceding May, and 

 that they kept together until late in November. They pass down to the salt water and there 

 separate. Larger adult fish are not as restless as these smaller ones, and are found in deeper 

 water, and usually in the tide-waters. In their feeding habits the White Perch agree very closely 

 with the rock- fish. In all their habits, in fact, the two fish are much alike, and in the Delaware 

 they are always associated, the most noticeable difference in their habits being the ability of the 

 Perch to remain and thrive in warmer waters than the Eock-fish is ever found frequenting."' 

 So much has been said by the standard authorities in past years regarding the inferior quality 

 of this fish as an article of food that it seems worth while to recur to this point, and to state that 

 at the present time there is no fish found in the markets of our seaboard towns which is more 

 generally a favorite for frying, or, as the phrase goes, as a pan-fish, than the White Perch. 



146. THE BLUEFISH FAMILY— POMATOMIDiE. 



The Bluefis : — Pomatomxjs salxatrix. 



Names. — This fish, which on the coast of New England and the Middle States is called 

 the Blueflsh, is also known in Rhode Island as the "Horse Mackerel"; south of Gape Hatteras as 

 the "Skipjack"; in North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland it is said to be called the "Green-fish." 

 Young Bluefish are in some parts of New England called "Snapping Mackerel" or "Snappers"; 

 about New Bedford "Blue Snappers"; to distinguish them from the Sea Bass they are sometimes 

 spoken of as the "Bluefish." About New York they are called "Skip Mackerel," and higher up 

 the Hudson Eiver "White-fish." In the Gulf of Mexico the name "Bluefish" is in general use. 



Distribution. — This species is widely distributed — in the Malay Archipelago, Australia, at 

 the Gape of Good Hope, at Natal and about Madagascar; in the Mediterranean, where it is a 

 well-known and highly- prized food-fish in the markets of Algiers, though rare on the Italian side. 

 It has been seen at Malta, at Alexandria and on the coast of Syria, and about the Canaries. It has 

 never been seen on the Atlantic coast of Europe, and, strangely enough, never in the waters of the 

 Bermudas or any of the Western Islands. On our coast it ranges from Central Brazil and the 

 Guianas through the Gulf of Mexico and north to Nova Scotia, though never seen in the Bay of 

 Fundy. From Cape Florida to Penobscot Bay, Bluefish are abundant at all seasons when the 

 temperature of the water is propitious. It is not yet known what limits of temperature are the 

 most favorable to their welfare, but it would appear, from the study of the dates of their appear- 

 ance during a period of years iu connection with the ocean temperature, that they prefer to avoid 

 water which is much colder than 40°. It is possible that the i^resence of their favorite food, the 

 menhaden, has as much influence upon their movements as water temperature. It is certain that 

 few Bluefish are found on our Middle and Southern coast when the menhaden are absent; on the 

 other hand, the Bluefish do not venture in great numbers into the Gulf of Maine at the tijne when 

 menhaden are schooling and are at their greatest abundance. Their favorite summer haunts are 

 in the partially protected waters of the Middle States, from May to October, with an average tem- 

 perature of 60° to 75°. The menhaden, or certain schools of them, affect a cooler climate and 

 thrive in the waters of Western and Central Maine in the months when the harbor temperatures 

 are little above 50° and 55°, and that of the ocean considerably lower. 



Professor Baird has published in the First Eeport of the United States Fish Commission an 



'Report U. S. Fish Commis., part iv, 1878, p. 375. 

 28 P 



