PERCH— RUFF 



343 



the fresh waters of the whole of Europe and northern Asia. Such a familiar fish 

 requires but little description; it is greenish yellow in colour, marked on the back 

 with six or seven indistinct blackish cross-bands, the fins being- reddish in the 

 Of the two dorsal fins, the first has thirteen or fourteen spines, 



breeding-season. 



THE BUFF. 



while the anal fin has two spines. The favourite haunt of the perch is in still 

 waters, but it is found in many rivers, particularly those which run sluggishly. 

 In disposition it is bold and greedy, and it is reported to eat not only worms and 

 fishes but newts and small frogs. 



THE I'IKE-I'KBCH. 



Ruff. 



The ruff ( Acerina cernua), a near ally of the perch, is character- 

 ised by the short body, blunt snout, and the olive-green back and sides 

 marked with irregular dark spots and dots, the whitish abdomen, and the presence 

 of rows of blackish spots on the back-fin and tail. The back-fin is continuous, and 

 contains from thirteen to nineteen spines ; the anal fin, as in the perch, has two spines. 

 An allied species, the golden perch (A. rossiea), distinguished by gill-covers glittering 



