CHAPTER II 



THE PERCH FAMILY 



BY JOHN BICKERDVKE, M.A. 





Thalo by Dr. R. H'. .ShuftldQ 



LARGE-MOUTHED BLACK BASS 



^■Jn exceedingly ^am\ fighter 



THE 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 di\'ide 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 o\er Europe, 

 Northern Asia, and North America, 

 is properly an inhabitant of ri\'ers, 



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



weight, and is carni\'orous, 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 lingland 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 b}- fish-culturists and hatched out. 



Swans and water-f")wl gener- 



allyeat the eggs by themillion, 



and wherever perch are prc- 



serx'cd these birds should, so 



far as possible, be kept from 



the water during the spawn- 

 ing-season. At I lenley and 



other places on the Thames 



those interested in fishery 



pireservation place wii'e netting 



round the boughs and weeds 



where perch have spawned, 



to prevent the eggs being 



eaten b\' swans and ducks. 

 Perch are usually termed 



voracious fish, but when large 



are extreme!)' shy and difficult 



Thouh iV. .U^illi-K,nl, F.Z.S.] 



\_M,lfard-on-S<a 



BUTTER-FISH 



A neitii'e of the tropical parts of the Jndo-Facific Ocean 

 61 2 



