AFFINITIES OF THE PERCH 45 



in conformity with it ; but the stripes, spined fins, and other 

 characteristics of the family are easily recognised under the 

 modifications. 



In North America the place filled in the British angler's 

 •esteem by the common perch is occupied by a nearly related 

 genus, the black bass {Labrax).'^ Percichthus, differing from 

 Perca chiefly in the number of spines, is a genus comprising 

 the fresh-water perches of South America. The Nile and 

 other African rivers nourish a great perch, known to science 

 as Lates niloticus ; while Lates calcarifer, the perch of the 

 Ganges and other Indian waters, is indeed a formidable fellow, 

 sometimes attaining the length of five feet. This fish, which 

 is held in high gastronomic esteem, has developed the 

 anadromous habit ; that is, it resorts alternately to fresh and 

 salt water. Our own perch show a slight tendency in that 

 direction ; those of the Norfolk Broads entering brackish water, 

 where, it is said, their flesh acquires a superior flavour from 

 a diet of shrimps. The Indian perch, called " Cockup " by the 

 inhabitants of Calcutta, who greatly appreciate its excellence as 

 food, extends as far as the waters of Queensland ; but in 

 Australia a third species of Lates takes its place (L. colonorum) ; 

 and in South Australia we first come across a valuable food fish 

 of the Perch Family, the Murray River cod [Oligorus nacquari- 

 ensis\ famous for its excellent flesh and huge proportions. It 

 sometimes weighs nearly 100 lb., and gives good sport to anglers. 

 But these must not be fastidious in their art, nor scorn such 

 tackle as will carry the most successful bait, which is said to 

 be half a pound of raw mutton. A seafaring relative of this 

 great perch, Oligorus gigas — the " Hapuku " of the Maoris — 

 which frequents the coast and reaches of New Zealand, has been 

 taken weighing as much as three or four hundredweight. 



One of the coral fishes, so called because they haunt the 

 coral reefs of tropical seas, is a highly-developed perch {^Apogon 

 frenatus). It is brilliantly coloured, and we may trace in its 



* Placed by American naturalists in a separate genus, Micropterus. 



