THE SEA BASSES. 
So gaat hethier : dat’s Werelts overvloed, 
(Waar mee de Mensch word koninglijk gevoed 
Door guile gunst des milden gevers) doet 
Hem vaak vergeeten. 
Steenbrassem, Steur en Dartien en Knor-haan. 
En Zee-Baars die geen vorst sal laten slaan 
En Kabellau : en Salm, die (wel gebraan). 
Is vet, en voedig. 
Jakob Steendam, t' Louf van Niew Nederland, 1661. 
4 4*T*HE SEA BASS is another gentleman among his finny comrades,” 
A wrote Frank Forester. He belongs to the family Serranidoe , the 
members of which are similar in form and habits to the Perches, from 
which they are distinguished by certain anatomical characters, scarcely 
tangible to persons not expert in ichthyology. This family contains a 
very large number of species, some of which are to be found in all the tropi¬ 
cal and temperate seas. On our Atlantic coast there are over twenty 
kinds, while in California, there are four, at least, which are of economic 
importance. 
The Sea Bass is also known south of Cape Hatteras as the “ Blackfish,” 
and is the most important species on our coast. In the Middle States the 
Sea Bass is called “ Black Will,” “Black Harry,” and “ Hannahills ;” 
about Newport and New Bedford, “Bluefish,” and at New Bedford also, 
“Rock Bass.” Curiously enough, the Southern name, “ Blackfish,” is 
in use at Oak Bluffs, on Martha’s Vineyard, and, it is said, also in New Jer- 
