REVIEW OF LOCAL FISHES 63 



The Pike Perch is closely rclatcMl to Ihc Yellow Perch hiil roaches a 

 much larger size, sometimes being three feet long and weighing between 

 ten and twenty pounds. It is an elongate slendcM* fish. Its mouth is 

 armed wMth large canine teeth, and is much larger than that of the Perch, 

 in fact, it is somewhat Pike-like in general appearance, although its fins 

 resemble those of the Perch with which its true affinities lie. The Pike 

 Perch is a native to the north and west of our locality and has been 

 introduced here. It has a considerable commercial value, indeed is 

 one of the most important fresh-water fishes, commonly reaching a 

 weight of ten pounds, and sometimes growing much larger, thirty-six 

 inches or more in length, with a weight of twenty or thirty pounds. 

 Closely related species are extensively marketed in Europe. 



The Johnny Darter and the Fusiform Darter are small, elongate, 

 perch-hke fishes which frequent the bottoms of small streams. They 

 usually take advantage of their concealing coloration by lying motion- 

 less on the bottom, when they wish to change their position, doing so 

 with a swift darting motion. The species are really very much alike 

 superficially and in color. The mouth is rather small with the upper jaw 

 the longer and there is usually a dark, narrow vertical bar below the 

 eye. Both have rather cylindrical bodies. They frequently bury them- 

 selves in the mud or trash at the bottom. The Johnny Darter has higher 

 and more finely speckled fins than the Fusiform Darter, the pectoral 

 fin being about equal in length to the head, and the spiny back fin being 

 about two thirds of the same,, whereas in the Fusiform the pectoral 

 is only about two thirds of the head and the spiny back fin less than one 

 half. In the Johnny Darter the top of the head is only shghtly convex, 

 whereas in the Fusiform Darter it is strongly so. 



There are two fishes found both in fresh and salt water which form 

 a connecting link between these purely fresh-water perch and the marine 

 species of bass. The first of these is the Striped Bass, a fish reaching a 

 weight of twenty-five, fifty or even one hundred pounds. Like its ally 

 the Perch, it has two dorsal fins, the first consisting of spines and the 

 second of soft rays. It is a moderately compressed, well formed fish, 

 tapering at the head and tail, with a forked tail fin. The mouth is 

 rather large and the lower jaw shghtly projecting, the upper jaw extend- 

 ing back to well under the eye. There are about sixty scales in a length- 

 wise series; the scales are white, those of the back and sides with dark 

 basal spots which form narrow lengthwise dark stripes on the fish's 

 body, about seven or eight in number. The Striped Bass is caught from 



