St. Tammany farmer., 1905-06-24
OUR FISH MISNAMED.
FIRST coMERs TO AMERICA
KNEW BUT FEW NAMES.
Species Found in Our Waters Given
the Applications of Fishes
Native to Foreign
Streams.

The fishes of the United States are
oddly misnamed, according to Dr. Theo.
dore Gill, cooperative worker with the
bureau of fisheries, reports the New
York Sun. DR.. Gill says:
The known fishes of England are
few, and the early colonists knew few
even of them. The newcomers were
astounded at the abundance of the
fishes about their new home. To these
numerous fishes they transferred names
of English species with which they
were more or less familiar. On account
of the great number of species common
to the two countries, those who came
from old England to New England
were not very far astray, but as they
or their successors wandered farther
and farther they made many mistakes
A few examples will illustrate:
Among the most common of the
English fishes are the cod,perch, bass
and trout. The immigrants to Massa-
chusetts applied these names to fishes
OF the same genera as the originals, but
mostly of different species. Perch has
been used in this country as a name
for very different sorts of fishes. In
England the name is specifically ap-
piled to well-known water fish. The
immigrants to New England found a
fish almost undistinguishable from it,
and gave it the same name. Others
gave 1T to fishes having no real re-
semblance. The so-called white perch
Of the Atlantic coast, is in reality, a
bass. The silver perch, the gray perch,
the white perch of the Ohio river, the
red perch and the blue perch are all
misnamed.
Bass is applied to many different
specles-a score or more. In England
it is the proper name of a marine fish
common only along the scuthern'coast.
A related species, though of different
genus, was found by the new settlers of
Massachusetts, and New York, and
quite properly called bass or striped
bass. There are. by the way, several
other species in this country entitled
to the name, but which, oddly enough
have been given the names of other
fish, as, for instance, the white perch,
All others are quite remote from the
true bass-even the so-called black
basses.
Trout is another of the English
names variously misapplied. In the
Old country it is given to single spe.
cies generally distributed through the
island IN clear, cold streams. The
Pilgrims found in similar streams in
fish somewhat like it.
and called it by the same name. al
though if Izaak Walton had been
among them he might have told them
It was not trout. but char. Others
found in Maine landlocked salmon. and
IN various large lakes another good
sized salmonid, and applied to them
also the name of trout. Settlers in
the troutless southern states. bound
to give the name to some fish, gave
It to the kind generally known az
black bass. Along the southern coast, |
Too, the name trout, or sea trout, was
given to entirely different kinds of !
ishes When the Americans reached |
he California coast they found certain |
fishes OF peculiar family, not at all |
ike trout in shape Or fins, but spotted,
md these they also called trout. Still |
another fish. found in the Gila river,
slender, large mouthed cyprinid, was |
called trout by early explorers, and |
still bears the name.
But this is not all, or the worst. |
These odd names are not only widely |
scattered; they accumulate Cod and |
rout are given to the same fish along
he Pacific coast. Another fish is
allied rock cod about Puget sound,
md rock trout and sea trout at San
francisco"