PERCH. 3 



attached as a bait — there being no other of any description on the hook. The float disap- 

 peared almost instantly; and on landing the new comer, it turned out to be the fish I had 

 the moment before thrown in, and which had thus been actually caught by his own eye." 



Perch are for the most part gregarious, and swim in shoals, so that when the angler 

 has come across a shoal he generally manages to catch several. I have, on some occasions, 

 been very successful in taking large numbers of good-sized Perch by means of eel-lines, 

 the hooks being baited with a lob-worm, and the line thrown into the water with the bait 

 on the ground, the other end of the line being fastened to the bank by a peg. Minnows 

 are very attractive bait to the Perch, and fishing with one of these natural baits is a 

 successful method of taking good fish ; but so voracious are they that they will take 

 almost any bait, and I have frequently caught them with an artificial fly when fishing for 

 trout. According to Mr. Jesse, Perch may be attracted to a certain locality by placing a 

 number of live minnows in a glass bottle, the mouth being closed with a piece of perforated 

 zinc to admit ingress and egress of water. A minnow as a bait is then dropped quietly 

 among the assembled Perch, which is immediately taken. A Perch of a pound to two 

 pounds weight may be considered a good-sized fish ; instances of their reaching the weight 

 of four, five, six, and even nine pounds are on record. 



Mr. F. Buckland mentions a curious epidemic disease as occasionally occurring among 

 Perch. In 1867 a Perch-plague is said to have destroyed hundreds of thousands of these 

 fish in the Lake of Geneva; according to the investigations of Dr. Forel and Dr. Du Plesis 

 this disease was caused by the presence in the blood of the fish of certain minute fungi. 

 This epidemic is said to occur not unfrequently in England {Famil. Hist. Brit. Fish. p. 5.) 



The flesh of the Perch is excellent, being in my opinion unsurpassed by any non-migratory 

 fresh-water species with the exception of the eel ; it more nearly resembles the sole than any 

 other fresh-water fish in the quality and flavour of its flesh. 



Some writers speak of a deformed variety of Perch, with an elevated back and distorted 

 tail, as occurring in Sweden, and lakes in the north of Europe, and in Llyn Raithlyn, 

 Merionethshire. A figure of this variety of Perch may be seen in Daniel's Rural Sports, 

 p. 247. Perch almost entirely white have been occasionally found, and Yarrell mentions his 

 having received specimens from Yorkshire, which were of a uniform slate-grey colour with a 

 silvery tint, and adds that the fish retained the peculiarity of colour when transferred into 

 other waters. Mr. C. Pennell states that he has taken deformed Perch in some ponds near 

 New Brighton, Cheshire, and that they are not uncommon in other neighbourhoods. 



The following is the formula of the number of fin rays in the Perch :■ — ■ i 



Dorsal 14 — 15, all spinous; i — 2 spinous -H 13 — 1+ soft. 



Pectoral 14, all soft. 



Ventral i spinous -f- 5 soft. 



Anal 2 spinous -|- 8 — 9 soft. 



Caudal or tail fin 17 rays soft. 



The stomachal appendages or pyloric cceca 3. 



The Perch, which is one of the most beautiful of our fresh-water fishes, has the upper 

 part of the body a rich greenish brown, passing into golden yellowish white below; belly 

 white ; the sides are marked with about seven broad black transverse bands ; the first dorsal 

 fin is large and prickly, having a black patch on the posterior part; the second dorsal and 

 pectoral fin pale brown ; ventral, anal, and caudal bright vermilion ; the eye large and full, 

 with golden irides ; przeoperculum notched below and serrated on the posterior edge ; oper- 

 culum smooth, ending in a flattened point directed backwards ; branchiostegals seven ; lateral 

 line distinct, at first ascending, then gradually descending, ending at about the middle of 

 the tail. 



