SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE OF FISHES. 



251 



above dark olive-green, sides yellow, below pale, back and sides marked by 6 to 8 broad black 

 bands; a black blotch sometimes on spinous dorsal; lower fins red or orange, brightest in males 

 during spawning seast n. (flaiescens, yellowish.) 



The yellow perch is one of the best known fresh-wuter fishes of the Atlantic 

 and North Central States. Its range extends from North Carolina to Nova 

 Scotia, throughout the Great Lakes, and in the upper Mississippi basin. The 

 species abounds in Albemarle Sound and tributaries. It is also abundant in Lake 

 Mattamuskeet, but is less numerous than formerly. From Neuse River it was 

 recorded by Cope; McDonald and Milner collected it in the lower course of that 

 stream (Kinston), but Jordan and Evermann & Cox did not record it from that 

 river. In the vicinity of Wilmmgton, according to Mr. W. H. Yopp, it occurs in 

 Cape Fear River and tributary creeks but is not abundant. 



The yellow perch averages less than a foot in length and a pound in weight. 

 The maximum attained, by a specimen recorded from the Delaware River, is 



Fig. 109. Yellow Perch. Perca flavescens. 



4.5 pounds, but examples weighing as much as 2 pounds are very rare. The 

 females average considerably larger than the males. 



The paired and anal fins in spring are crimson, whence the local name 

 "red-fin" in use on Pasquotank River, Lake Majttamuskeet, and other waters of 

 the state. The name "raccoon perch", employed at Edenton, Plymouth, and 

 other points, lias reference to the vertical markings on the fish, which resemble 

 those on a raccoon's tail. "Englishman", heard at Edenton and elsewhere in 

 the western part of Albemarle Sound, is used in contradistinction to "Welsh- 

 man", the local name for the large-mouth black bass. The name "English 

 pearch" occurs in Lawson's work. 



The perch spawns in early spring — in February in Albemarle Sound. The 

 spawn is very peculiar, in that the eggs are cemented together in a single layer in 

 the form of long hollow strings which, when extruded, are several inches wide 

 and folded or plaited like the bellows of an accordeon, but are capable of being 

 drawn out to the length of 3 to 7 feet. One fish in an aquarium at the Bureau 



