88 THE MAMMALS, REPTILES, AND FISHES OF ESSEX.
Class PISCES.
Sub-Class TELEOSTEI.
Order I. ACANTHOPTERYGII.
Family PERCIDAE, Day.
Genus PERCA, Artedi.
Perca fluviatilis, Rondeletius. Perch.
This well-known fish occurs in all parts of the county, our
sluggish streams apparently suiting its requirements. One
weighing four pounds is reported from Dagenham Lake {Field,
October 29th, 1881, p. 624).
Genus Labrax, Cuvier.
Labrax lupus, Cuvier. Bass or Basse.
A fish taken occasionally in all our estuaries. Mr. E. A.
Fitch records (Essex Nat., vol. ii., p. 19) the capture of several
in the Blackwater. They are very good for the table. I
have seen some nearly twenty pounds in weight.
Genus Acerina, Cuvier.
Acerina vulgaris, Cuvier. Ruff.
In a paper on "Isaac Walton and the River Lea," by
Lieutenant R. B. Croft (Trans. Herts. Nat. Hist. Soe., 1881-
1883, vol. ii., p. 12), this species is given as an inhabitant of
that river. I know of no other Essex stream in which it
occurs; but Yarrell says (British Fishes, 1836, vol. i., p. 18)
that it is found in the Cam, which river rises in Essex.