FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 
237 
the length of 3 to 7 feet. One fish in an aquarium at the Bureau of Fisheries, Washington, D. C., deposited a string 88 inches 
long. The weight after fertilization was 41 ounces, while the weight of the fish before the escape of the eggs was only 24 ounces. The 
egg masses are not attached to stones, vegetation, or other submerged objects, but are deposited loosely in the water. Spawning 
takes place at night in water having a temperature of 44° to 50° F., and the hatching period lasts from two to four weeks. 
Vast numbers of eggs of this species are hatched annually by fish-cultural stations situated on 
streams tributary to Chesapeake Bay. 
This fish averages less than 1 foot in length and 1 pound in weight. The maximum size 
recorded is pounds. The perch is of wide distribution and an important food and game fish 
immany parts of its range, including the streams tributary to the northern part of Chesapeake Bay. 
It is common enough in the brackish waters in certain sections of the Chesapeake to be of some 
commercial value, and ranks fairly high as to the quality of its flesh. It is a ready biter, taking a 
large variety of baits. It is also caught with fyke nets, pound nets, and seines. 
Habitat. — North Carolina to Nova Scotia, the Great Lakes region, northern part of the Missis- 
sippi Valley, northward to the Red River Basin. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous records: None definitely from brackish water, (b) Speci- 
mens in collection: From Havre de Grace, Baltimore, Annapolis, Love Point, Solomons, and 
Oxford, Md., and Lewisetta, Va. Highest salinity, at Annapolis, November 1, 1921, 12.94 per mille. 
Comparison of lengths and weights of yellow perch 
Number of fish weighed and measured 
Length 
Weight 
Inches 
3 34 
434 
434 
5 
Ounces 
0.3 
f> 
.6 
3 
.7 
2 
.8 
8 
534 
5 34 
5 34 
6 
1.0 
5 
1. 1 
6 
1 
1.3 
1 
- 
1.4 
3 
6 
GX 
634 
634 
7 
1.5 
1 
1.8 
2 
2.0 
1 
2.3 
Number of fish weighed and measured 
Length 
Weight 
Inches 
Ounces 
7 34 2. 4 
734 2.6 
734 2. 8 
8 3.6 
834 3.9 
834 4. 2 
834 4. 6 
9 5.0 
934 5.2 
934 5. 7 
10J4 7. 3 
Family LVIL-ETHEOSTOMiD^E. The darters 
The darters usually have been considered dwarf or diminutive perches and are often all placed 
under the perch family, Percidte. Jordan, in his “A Classification of Fishes” (1923, p. 187), how- 
ever, gives the darter family rank under the name Etheostomidte. The Etheostomidse, as under- 
stood by Jordan, differ from the Percidce in having six branchiostegals instead of seven; head (pre- 
opercle) unarmed; air bladder obsolete or nearly so; anal with one or two spines. A single genus 
and species of this large family of fresh-water fishes comes within the scope of the present work. 
97. Genus BOLEOSOMA DeKay. Tesselated darters 
Body elongate, fusiform; head small; snout dorsally strongly decurved; parietal region slightly 
convex; mouth small, horizontal; premaxillaries protractile; small, pointed teeth present on jaws and 
vomer; gill membranes narrowly to broadly connected; scales rather large, those on median line of 
abdomen not enlarged or deciduous; lateral line complete or interrupted; dorsal with 8 to 10 spines; 
soft dorsal notably longer than the anal; anal with a single short spine; ventral fins well separated; 
coloration rather plain, without red or blue. 
127. Boleosoma olmstedi (Storer). Darter; Johnny darter. 
Etheostoma olmstedi Storer, Jour., Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., 1839, p. 61, PI. V, fig. 2; Hartford, Conn. 
Estrella atromaculata Girard, Proc., Ac. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1859, p. 66; Potomac River. 
Boleosoma olmstedi Uhler and Lugger, 1876, ed. I, p. 134; ed. II, p. 115; Smith and Bean, 1899, p. 186. 
Boleosoma nigrum olmstedi Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 1057, Pi. CLXXI, fig. 451; Evermann and Hildebrand, 1910, 
p. 161; Fowler, 1912, p. 55. 
Head 3.85 to 4.15; depth 5.45 to 6.1; D. VIII to X-14 or 15; A. I, 9 to 11; scales 48 to 55. 
Body slender, scarcely compressed anteriorly; caudal peduncle compressed, 2.4 to 2.8 in head; 
