Note: Information is dated. Do not rely on it.

Bass. The name of a number of fishes several genera, but original1y belonging to the perch family, and found in both salt and fresh waters . Morone labrax, a typical European species, called also sea dace and, from its voracity, sea wolf, resembles somewhat the salmon in shape; it is much esteemed for the table, weighing about fifteen pounds. Morone lineata or striped bass, an American species, weighing from thirty to ninety pounds, is much used for food, and is also known as rockfish. Both species occasionally ascend rivers, and attempts have been made to cultivate British bass in fresh-water ponds with success. Two species of black bass, American fresh-water fishes, are excellent as food and give fine sport to the angler. One of these is called the large-mouthed black bass, from the size of its mouth, the other the small-mouthed bass. Both make nests and take great care of their eggs and young. The great black sea bass of the California Coast is one of the largest of the spiny-finned fishes. Specimens weighing over four hundred pounds have been caught at Santa Catalina, California with rod and line.

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