CHAPTER: TV 
THE PERCH FAMILY 
The Perch—Protective Coloration—Affinities of the Perch—Teleostean 
Fishes—The Zander, or Pike-Perch—Outward Appearance of the 
Perch—Size—Habits—Reproduction—The Hearing of Fish—Perch as 
Food—How to Cook Perch—Angling for Perch—The Paternoster— 
Float-Fishing—Spinning and Fly-Fishing—The Bass, or Sea-Perch— 
Angling for Bass—The Ruffe, or Pope—Outward Appearance—Angling 
for Pope. 
Second Sub-Class TELEOSTEI: BONY FISHES 
First Order . . Acanthopterygii: Spiny-finned Fishes 
First Sub-Order . ACANTHOPTERYGIL PERCIFORMES: PERCH-LIKE SPINY- 
FINNED FISHES 
In the sub-class Te/eostei, or Bony Fishes, are comprised 
the great majority of fishes at present inhabiting the waters 
of the earth. Geologically they are more modern than the 
Paleichthyes, or Archaic Fishes, the Teleostean type not having 
been recognised in a fossil state in formation older than the chalk; 
nevertheless they are not to be regarded as descended from the 
older extant forms, but as a separate race of creature, sprung, 
probably, from a common source, attaining by independent 
evolution a more successful organisation than the other, and, in 
virtue thereof, superseding it largely in possession of the waters. 
The most obvious distinctions of Teleostean fish are that 
the skeleton, instead of being gristly, is bony, and the vertebre 
of the spinal column are completely formed, justifying the 
general term Teleostean—completely bony. 
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