THE BIOLOGY OF THE WHITE PERCH, MORONE AMERICANA, IN 



THE HUDSON RIVER ESTUARY 



D. W. Bath and J. M. O'Connor 1 



ABSTRACT 



White perch, Morone americana, are found throughout a 250 km region in the Hudson River from 

 Manhattan north to Albany, New York. They represent a dominant species in most portions of the 

 river, although they are of little importance in the commercial fishery. Life history information was 

 determined for more than 7,500 white perch collected from a 15 km region of the Hudson River be- 

 tween Haverstraw and Bear Mountain, New York. 



Annulus formation began by the first week in May and was completed by the end of July. Maxi- 

 mum age for both male and female white perch was 7 years. Most of the growth occurred in the first 

 3 years for both males and females, and represented 78% of the length attained by the seventh year. 

 Most fish were sexually mature by their second year. The length-weight relationship observed for 

 Hudson River white perch was Log W= -4.743 + 3.093 Log L. The mean fecundity was 50,678 eggs 

 per female, with a range of 15,726-161,449. 



The white perch, Morone americana (Gmelin), 

 inhabits rivers, bays, and estuaries of the Atlan- 

 tic coast from Nova Scotia to South Carolina 

 (Hildebrand and Schroeder 1928; Bigelow and 

 Schroeder 1953; Leim and Scott 1966). The spe- 

 cies has been introduced to freshwater lakes and 

 reservoirs through migration, stocking, and by 

 being landlocked in impoundments (Bigelow 

 and Schroeder 1953; Mansueti 1961; Woolcott 

 1962). White perch has been reported in Lake 

 Ontario (Sheri and Power 1969), Lake Erie (Lar- 

 sen 1954; Trautman 1957), and the waters of 

 Quebec (Scott and Christie 1963; Leim and Scott 

 1966). Most recently it has been introduced into 

 the waters of Nebraska (Hergenrader and Bliss 

 1971). 



White perch is found throughout a 250 km re- 

 gion in the Hudson River from Manhattan north 

 to Albany, N.Y. It represents a dominant species 

 in most portions of the river (McFadden 2 ), al- 

 though it is of little importance in the commer- 

 cial catch (Sheppard 3 ). The species is particu- 

 larly abundant in the Hudson River from Nyack 



north to Catskill, N.Y. (Perlmutter 1967). 



With the exception of a fecundity study 

 (Holsapple and Foster 1975), no life history infor- 

 mation for white perch in the Hudson River has 

 been published. Site-specific data for white 

 perch populations are available in reports (Ray- 

 theon Co. 4 ; Lawler, Matusky and Skelly Engi- 

 neers 5, 6 ; Texas Instruments Inc. 7 ). The present 

 study was carried out to investigate the life his- 

 tory of white perch in the Hudson River estuary 

 over a 15 km section, from Haverstraw to Bear 

 Mountain, N.Y. This section of the Hudson River 

 is a very stressful environment owing to frequent 

 changes in salinity: On an annual basis, the re- 

 gion experiences one to several transitions be- 

 tween limnetic and oligohaline conditions 

 (Abood 1974). The white perch is one of the high- 

 ly adaptable species that can tolerate these 

 changes. Along with the hogchoker, Trinectes 

 maculatus, it is a dominant year-round resident 

 of this portion of the Hudson region. 



'New York University Medical Center, Department of En- 

 vironmental Medicine, Laboratory for Environmental Studies, 

 550 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016. 



2 McFadden, J. T. 1978. Influence of the proposed Corn- 

 wall pumped storage project and steam electric generating 

 plants on the Hudson River Estuary with emphasis on striped 

 bass and other fish populations. Rep. for Consolidated Edison 

 Co. of N.Y., Inc., 1179 p. 



3 D. J. Sheppard, New York State Department of Environ- 

 mental Conservation, 50 Wolfe Road, Albany, NY 12223, pers. 

 commun. March 1980. 



Manuscript accepted December 1981. 

 FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 80, NO. 3, 1982. 



4 Raytheon Co. 1971. Indian Point ecological survey re- 

 port II, January-June 1970. Submarine Signal Div., Ports- 

 mouth, R.I., 165 p. 



5 Lawler, Matusky and Skelly Engineers. 1974. Hudson 

 River aquatic ecology studies at Roseton and Danskammer 

 Point. Vol. III. Fish. Rep. to Central Hudson Gas and Electric 

 Corp., N.Y., 114 p. 



6 Lawler, Matusky and Skelly Engineers. 1974. Hudson 

 River aquatic ecology studies— Bowline Point and Lovett Gen- 

 erating Stations. Vol. IV, 445 p. 



7 Texas Instruments Inc. 1974. Hudson River ecological 

 study in the area of Indian Point. 1973 Annu. Rep. to Consol- 

 idated Edison Co. of N.Y., Inc., 426 p. 



599 



