404 SEVENTH REPORT OK THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



The Yellow Perch is one of the most abundant fishes of Lake Champlain and in 

 the mouths of rivers falling into that lake. 



The fish abounds in the parks of New York and Brooklyn. In the Hudson 

 Highlands Dr. Mearns reported it as abundant in the Hudson as well as in all of the 

 larger mountain lakes and ponds. It habitually frequents Poplopen's Creek from 

 its source to its mouth. In the Hudson, he was informed, it is unusual to take 

 specimens weighing more than I pound ; but in Poplopen's Pond he has taken a 

 number that weighed about 2 pounds each. In the same pond Jerome Denna 

 caught two which weighed 2^ to 3 pounds each ; and a fisherman named Samuel 

 Runnels assured Dr. Mearns that he had taken a Yellow Perch there which weighed 

 4^ pounds. The fish continue to feed in that region throughout the winter. 

 Eugene Smith obtained the fish in Greenwood Lake, Orange County, and in Hack- 

 ensack streams, in Rockland County. 



The species reaches a length of I foot and weight of 2 pounds. It is one of 

 the best known of our food fishes and has excellent game qualities. Its flesh, how- 

 ever, is rather soft and coarse and is far inferior to that of the Black Bass and other 

 members of the Sunfish family. It is a voracious feeder, its food consisting of small 

 fishes, crustaceans and other animal matter. 



The Yellow Perch spawns early in the spring. The eggs are adhesive and enclosed 

 in thin translucent strips of adhesive mucus. The spawning of this species was 

 described by William P. Seal in Forest and Stream of April 17, 1890. The spawning 

 season extends from December to April. Mr. Seal describes the egg mass as having 

 the shape of a long tube, closed at the ends and arranged in folds like the bellows of 

 an accordion. When folded the mass was about 8 to 12 inches long, but was capable 

 of being drawn out to a length of 3 or 4 feet. Spawning in the aquarium took 

 place at night and was observed by William Maynard, who describes it as follows : 

 "The female remained quiet in one spot on the -bottom of one of the hatching 

 aquaria tanks, one or more of the males hovering over and about her with pectoral 

 fins vibrating with intense activity. The males would at times lie close alongside of 

 her and at other times endeavor to force themselves under her with the evident 

 intention of assisting in the extrusion of the eggs." Mr. Seal remarks that " the roe 

 when taken from the dead fish not yet ripe is in a single compact mass, covered by a 

 thin membrane ; but in spawning the mass separates, one side being spawned before 

 the other." This was noticed in a specimen which had spawned one side and 

 appeared to be unable to get rid of the other. It was stripped from her and arti- 

 ficially fertilized successfully. Mr. Seal believes that the Yellow Perch spawns at the 

 age of one year. 



