YELLOW PERCH 



Perca jiavescens (Mitchill) 



The yellow perch is distributed from southern Canada to the Carolinas and 

 westward to the upper Mississippi valley. They may be found along the Atlan- 

 tic drainage from Nova Scotia to South Carolina. 



The yellow perch is one of the four most important warm-water game fish 

 in Maine. The preferred habitat is a warm, weedy lake with the young being 

 found in the shallows and the adults in deeper water. 



Like the rest of the perch family the yellow perch spawns in the spring, 

 usually in early May, when the water temperature ranges from 45 F. to 55 F. 

 The spawning period may last from 2 to 4 weeks. Yellow perch make no nest 

 and do not guard the eggs after they are spawned. The eggs of the perch are 

 unique among fresh-water fishes since they are laid in hollow, ribbon-like bands 

 which swell considerably upon contact with the water. In some cases these rib- 

 bons may be as long as eight feet. Many of the eggs and tgg masses are eaten by 

 predators or destroyed when the water dries up or they are washed ashore. 

 Although spawning has not as yet actually been observed it is believed that most 

 spawning occurs over weedy areas since the tgg masses are frequently observed 

 entwined among aquatic plants or submerged aquatics. Number of eggs pro- 

 duced depends on the size of the fish varying from 10,000 to 45,000. 



The young fish hatch in three weeks depending on the water temperature. 

 These small fish remain in schools usually among the aquatic vegetation. 



Yellow perch are voracious carnivores preferring a diet of fish but eating a 

 considerable amount of aquatic insects. The food of the yellow perch is quite 

 similar to that of the white perch with the exception that the yellow perch feeds 

 more on other fish than insects and the white perch feeds more on insects than 

 fish. 



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