CHAPTER IV 



rHE 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 . . Acanthoptet* ygii ; Spiny'f inned Fishes 



First Sub-Order . Acanthopterygii Perciformes : Perch-like Spiny- 

 finned Fishes 



In the sub-class T'eleostei^ 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 

 Talaichthyes^ 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 vertebras 

 of the spinal column are completely formed, justifying the 

 general term Teleostean — completely bony. 



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