_L 



Photo by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt] 



LARGE-MOUTHED BLACK BASS. 



[Washington. 



The introduction of this fish into the fresh-waters of Great Britain has been frequently 



urged. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE PERCH FAMILY. 



BY JOHN BICKERDYKE, M.A. 



E thick-set, golden-bronze, dark- 

 barred, hog-backed fish known 

 as the PERCH has many striking 

 characteristics, and is remarkable, 

 among other things, for the vast 

 number of its relations scattered all 

 over the world. So numerous, indeed, 

 are its cousins that ichthyologists 

 have had to divide the Perch Family 

 into a large number of groups. There 

 are various species of perch found, as 

 a matter of fact, in the fresh-waters 

 and on all the coasts of the tem- 

 perate and tropical regions. 



The COMMON PERCH, which is 

 widely distributed over Europe, 

 Northern Asia, and North America, 

 is properly an inhabitant of rivers, 

 lakes, and ponds, but sometimes descends to brackish water. It runs up to about 5 Ibs. in 

 weight, and is carnivorous, eating most kinds of fish small enough for its swallow, including 

 the fry of its own species, which are, in some waters, an excellent bait. 



In England perch spawn in the spring, the eggs being held in a band-like mass of 

 gelatinous matter deposited on weeds or the roots of trees not far below the surface of the 

 water. The spawn, as a matter of fact, is often collected by fish-culturists and hatched out. 

 Swans and water-fowl gener- 

 ally eat the eggs by the million, 

 and wherever perch are pre- 

 served these birds should, so 

 far as possible, be kept from 

 the water during the spawn- 

 ing-season. At Henley and 

 other places on the Thames 

 those interested in fishery 

 preservation place wire netting 

 round the boughs and weeds 

 where perch have spawned, 

 to prevent the eggs being 

 eaten by swans and ducks. 



Perch are usually termed 

 voracious fish, but when large 

 are extremely shy and difficult 



Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S.] 



BUTTER-FISH. 



A native of the tropical parts of the Indo-Pacific Ocean. 

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