CHAPTER II 



THE PERCH FAMILY 



T 



Photo by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt] [Washington 



LARGE-MOUTHED BLACK BASS 



An exceedingly gamy fighter 



BY JOHN B1CKERDYKE, M.A. 



iHE 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 scat- 

 tered all over the world. So numerous, 

 indeed, are its cousins that ichthy- 

 ologists 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 

 temperate 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 wa,ter, Itrruns 4 up to about 5 Ibs. in 

 weight, and is carnivorous, eating most kinds, pf fish, sn^aJJ. enqughv for. its swallow, including 

 the fry of its own species, which are, in^ some waters, sh^ 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 



Phut fy W. Savilli-Ktnt, F.Z.S.] 



lMilftrd-on-Sta 



BUTTER-FISH 



A native of the tropical parts of the Indo-Pacifc Ocean 

 6l2 



