PERCA RIVER PERCH 2 77 



Its general distribution is decidedly northerly, except on the 

 Atlantic coast, where it has been found as far south as the Neuse 

 River in North Carolina. It occurs abundantly in the Hudson and in 

 all the Great Lakes, and ranges throughout Quebec and New Eng- 

 land to Nova Scotia, westward to Iowa and the Dakotas, and north 

 to the Red River basin. It is unknown from southern Indiana and 

 southern Ohio, as it is from southern Illinois. 



It is essentially a lake fish, but occurs also in running streams, 

 most abundantly in the larger rivers and least so in creeks. Our 

 eighty-three collections have been taken with approximately equal 

 frequency from the glacial lakes, the lakes of the bottom-lands, and 

 the rivers of the largest class. It is wholly carnivorous, but differs 

 greatly in its food according to the situation from which it comes. 

 Eighteen river specimens, for example, had made but 6 per cent, of 

 their food of fishes, about a fifth of it of the smaller thin-shelled 

 mollusks, a fourth of it of insect larv^, and nearly half of it of 

 Crustacea — crawfishes, fresh-water shrimps {PalcEmonetes), amphi- 

 pods and isopods — while a dozen lake specimens, on the other hand, 

 had eaten nothing but fishes and crawfishes, the former greatly pre- 

 ponderating. The perch is said by Cole to eat the spawn of other 

 fish. There is a notable difi:erence, also, between the lake and river 

 perch in respect to their coloration, the latter being usually much 

 the more brilliant. 



The yellow perch may reach a length of a foot and a weight of 

 more than two pounds, but does not commonly weigh much more 

 than a pound. It spawns in spring, usuall}^ during April and May, 

 when the temperature of the water is from 44° to 49° F. Ripe 

 males were taken by Craig at Havana on May 3, 1899. According 

 to Dr. C. C. Abbott, the sexes go in pairs to the spawning beds, 

 which are selected near shore where there is a sandy or pebbly bot- 

 tom. The eggs are laid in flat bands, and, after fertilization and 

 "water hardening," they increase greatly in size. A single adult 

 deposited in the aquarium of the Washington station of the United 

 States Fish Commission a string of eggs 88 inches long, which, after 

 fertilization, weighed 41 ounces. 



This perch is taken in fykes, gill-nets, and traps, or with seines and 

 hooks. It is one of the very best of our fishes for a pan fry, the flesh 

 being white, firm, and of an excellent flavor, better, however, in 

 northern localities than in southern. 



The catch of perch from Lake Michigan in 1899 was over three 

 million pounds, of which 677,000 pounds came from the Illinois 

 shore. In the Illinois River it is taken in considerable numbers, but 



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