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GENUS PERCA PERCH. 



THE genus Perca, first and typical of the family, 

 is familiarly known in the form of the Common 

 Perch. The characters, after finding its place in 

 the table, taken from the form and situation of 

 the fins, may be shortly stated : " Preopercle, 

 toothed ; opercle, spined ; suborbitary bones, 

 delicately toothed ; tongue free. The dorsal 

 fins are very powerful, the spines strong and 

 sharp. The scaling moderately large, and with 

 the posterior edge toothed. Swimming bladder 

 very large. Number of vertebrae in the common 

 species, forty-two." They are all inhabitants of 

 the fresh waters, delighting in lakes and still 

 running streams. Feed on marine insects and 

 small fish. The colours are often brilliant, dis- 

 posed in bands on the body, or distributed in 

 vivid tints on the fins, which contrast with the 

 more sombre shades. They inhabit Europe, India, 

 North America, and a single species is mentioned, 

 from the drawings of Banks, to be found in New 

 Zealand. The sea-like lakes of America, and the 

 sluggish parts of her vast rivers, afford the most 

 numerous species; and to illustrate the genus we 

 nave chosen one 



