FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 
279 
rakers long and slender, 23 to 25 on lower limb of first arch; scales moderate, ctenoid, extending 
forward on head, cheeks, and opercles; small scales present at least on the base of the fins; dorsal 
fins contiguous, the first with slender, flexible spines, the third and fourth the longest, rather longer 
than the longest soft rays; caudal fin slightly rounded in adult, lanceolate in young; anal fin small, 
the second spine large and strong, 2.5 to 2.65 in head; ventral fins rather large, inserted slightly 
behind base of pectorals; pectoral fins 1 to 1.35 in head. 
Color in alcohol grayish above, silvery underneath; sides with seven to nine vertical black bars; 
fins plain with dusky punctulations; mostly yellowish in life. 
This species is represented in the present collection by three specimens, respectively 190 milli- 
meters (l l /2 inches), 200 millimeters (7J4 inches), and 215 millimeters (8)d> inches) long. The 
foregoing description is based upon these and 12 specimens from Beaufort, N. C., ranging in length 
from 30 to 205 millimeters (1 34 to 8j/£ inches). This fish is the only one of this genus of tropical 
fishes that ranges northward as far as Chesapeake Bay. It is readily recognized by its short body, 
nearly vertical mouth, and dark bands on the sides. 
This species is not a stranger to the fishermen of the lower sections of Chesapeake Bay, where it 
is known as the “bastard perch,” some of the fishermen believing it to be a cross between the 
“sand perch” ( Bairdiella chrysura ) and the black drum ( Pogonias cromis). However, it is not 
common enough to rank as a food fish of any importance in Chesapeake Bay. Welsh and Breder 
(1923, p. 170) offer the following relative to its distribution: “South of this point (Cape Hatteras) 
and on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico it is one of the most abundant fishes, being taken in large 
numbers in the trawls of the shrimp fishermen. ” These authors, however, say that the majority 
of the fish caught in shrimp trawls are small, individuals exceeding 8 inches in length being rare; 
and that, furthermore, the species is of little or no economic importance because of its small size. 
Habitat . — Massachusetts to Texas, occurring only as a straggler north of Chesapeake Bay. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous record: Cape Charles city, Va. (5) Specimens in collec- 
tion: From Lynnhaven Roads, Va. The species was observed only in the southern part of the bay. 
122. Genus BAIRDIELLA Gill. Mademoiselle 
Body moderately elongate; compressed; back elevated; mouth oblique; gill rakers rather long; 
preopercle with serrate margin, the lower spine curved downward and forward; skull little cavernous; 
coloration plain. A single species of this genus of tropical fishes occurs in Chesapeake Bay. 
155. Bairdiella chrysura (Lac6p§de). “White perch”; “Sand perch”; “White sand perch”; 
“Virginia perch”; “Yellow-tail”; “Tint.” 
Dipttrodo n chri/surus Lacfipede, Hist. Nat. Pois., Ill, 1803, p. 64; South Carolina. 
Liostomus xanthurus Uhlcr and Lugger, 1876, ed. I, p. 117; ed. II, p. 99. (Not L. xanthurus Lacfipede.) 
Bairdiella chrj/mra Bean, 1891, p. 88; Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 1433, PI. CCXXII, fig. 566; Evermann and Hilde- 
brand, 1910, p. 163; Fowler, 1918, p. 18; Welsh and Breder, 1923, p. 171. 
Head 2.85 to 3.4; depth 2.8 to 3.15; D. XI or XII, 19 to 21; A. II, 9 or 10; scales 55 to 59. 
Body oblong, compressed; back moderately elevafed; head moderate; snout conical, 3.75 to 4 in 
head; eye 2.85 to 4.15; interorbital 3.75 to 4.15; mouth a little oblique, terminal; maxillary reaching 
nearly or quite below posterior margin of pupil, 1.95 to 2.35 in head; teeth small, those in upper jaw 
in a band, mostly in a single series in lower jaw; preopercle serrate, a few of the spines at angle 
somewhat enlarged; gill rakers rather long, slender, 14 to 16 on lower limb of first arch; scales moder- 
ate, rather firm, ctenoid, small scales covering most of soft dorsal, caudal, and anal fins, also present 
on base of ventrals and pectorals; dorsal fins contiguous, the first composed of slender spines, the 
third and fourth spines the longest, higher than any of the rays in the soft part of the fin; caudal 
fin very slightly double, truncate in adult, the middle rays longest, broadly rounded in young; 
anal fin with one very short and one rather long strong spine, not quite reaching the tips of the 
soft rays immediately behind it, origin of fin somewhat behind middle of base of soft dorsal; ventral 
fins inserted a little behind base of pectoral, equal to or a little longer than pectorals; pectoral fins 
short, not reaching tips of ventrals, 1.4 to 1.55 in head. 
Color olivaceous, greenish, or bluish gray above; lower part of sides and abdomen bright silvery; 
fins mostly yellowish; dorsals and caudal and sometimes the anal partly dusky. 
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