Bass, Pike, Perch, and OthersHenshall, James A. (James Alexander)
Science
Bass, Pike, Perch, and Others
Henshall, James A. (James Alexander)
Fishes; Fishing
THE SACRAMENTO PERCH
(_Archoplites interruptus_)
The Sacramento perch is closely allied in structure to the rock-bass,
and is the only perchlike fish in fresh water west of the Rocky
Mountains. It was collected by the Pacific Railroad Survey and described
and named _interruptus_ by Girard, in 1854, owing to the interrupted
character of the vertical markings. It inhabits the Sacramento and
Joaquin rivers in California, and is much esteemed as a food-fish, but
unfortunately it is being rapidly exterminated by the carp and catfish
that are said to infest its spawning grounds. In its conformation it is
almost identical with the rock-bass, but differs in having more teeth on
the tongue and more gill-rakers. In coloration, however, it differs very
much, being sometimes uniformly blackish or brassy, but usually the
black coloration is disposed in several vertical bars or markings of an
irregular shape. It has a black spot on the angle of the gill-cover.
I have had no experience in angling for the Sacramento perch, which is
said to be taken with the hook in large quantities for the market. I
have no doubt but the tackle recommended for the rock-bass would be just
as effective for this fish, with similar baits.
THE WARMOUTH PERCH
(_Chænobryttus gulosus_)
The warmouth perch, also known as the black sunfish in the North, was
first described by the French naturalists, Cuvier and Valenciennes, in
1829, from specimens from Lake Pontchartrain. Louisiana. They named it
_gulosus_, "large-mouthed," owing to its big mouth. There is a slight
variation between the Northern and Southern forms. It abounds in all
coastwise streams from North Carolina to Florida and Texas, and
sparingly in Lake Michigan and the upper Mississippi Valley. In its
general shape and appearance it is not unlike the rock-bass, though in
the radial formula of its fins and in its large mouth it approaches
nearer the black-bass than any other species of the family. It has a
large head and deep body, almost as deep as long, and is nearly
symmetrical in outline. Its teeth are in brushlike bands on the jaws,
with patches on the tongue. The Southern form has one or two less soft
rays in the dorsal and anal fins.
It is dark olive on the back, lighter on the sides, with blotches of
blue and coppery red, and the belly brassy or yellowish. Iris red,
ear-flap black, bordered with pale red, with three dusky red bars
radiating from the eye across the cheeks. Fins mottled with a darker
color, and a black blotch on the last rays of the soft portion of the
dorsal fin.
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