236 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
Habitat . — New Jersey to Brazil; East Indies. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous records: “Southern part of Chesapeake Bay” (Uhler and 
Lugger, 1876); Norfolk and Cape Charles city, Va. ( b ) Specimens in collection: Ocean View, Va.; 
also observed at Buckroe Beach and Lynnhaven Roads, and reported by fishermen from the lower 
York River, Va. 
Family LVI. — PERCID^. The perches 
Body elongate, compressed or not; head moderate; mouth small or large, terminal or slightly 
inferior; maxillary without a distinct supplemental bone; teeth pointed (some species with a few 
canines), present on jaws and usually on vomer and palatines; pharyngeal bones with sharp teeth; 
branchiostegals 7; gills 4; preopercle serrate; opercle ending in a fiat spine; pyloric cceca few; lateral 
line present; scales firm, ctenoid; dorsal fins 2, with 8 to 16 spines; anal similar to second dorsal or 
smaller, with two spines; ventrals well developed, situated below or a little behind base of pectorals, 
with one spine and five soft rays; air bladder present. A single genus and species comes within the 
scope of the present work. 
96. Genus PERCA Linnaeus. Yellow perches 
Body elongate, only moderately compressed; mouth moderate, terminal; premaxillaries pro- 
tractile; teeth small, pointed, in bands on jaws, vomer, and palatines; opercle ending in a spine; 
preopercle serrate; gill membranes separate and free from the isthmus; scales rather small, ctenoid; 
lateral line complete; dorsal fins 2, well separated, the first with 12 to 16 rather high and slender 
spines; anal with two weak spines; ventral fins close together, with a strong spine. A single widely 
distributed species is known from American waters. 
126. Perea flavescens (Mitchill). Yellow perch; Red-fin. 
Morone flavescens Mitchill, Rept., Fish., New York, 1814, p. 18; near New York City. 
Perea flavescens Uhler and Lugger, 1876, ed. I, p. 128; ed. II, p. 109; Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 1023, PI. CLXV, 
fig. 436; Smith and Bean, 1899, p. 186; Fowler, 1912, p. 65; Snyder, 1917, pp. 18 and 28. 
Perea americana Bean, 1883, p. 365. 
Head 3.1 to 3.6; depth 3.35 to 3.85; D. XIII or XIV-II, 14 or 15; A. II, 7 or 8; scales 7-67 
to 83. Body elongate, moderately compressed; head long and low; snout pointed, 3.3 to 4.1 in 
head; eye 3.65 to 5.35; interorbital 4.2 to 4.55; mouth rather large, a little oblique, terminal; 
maxillary broad, reaching to or a little beyond anterior margin of pupil, 2.4 to 2.9 in head; gill 
rakers short and stout, 15 or 16 on lower limb of first arch; scales small, firm, ctenoid, present on 
cheeks and opercles and extending on base of caudal; lateral line complete; dorsal fins well separated, 
the origin of the first over base of pectorals, the spines pungent, the longest about half the length of 
head; caudal fin rather deeply emarginate; anal fin small, with two rather long, slender spines; 
ventral fins close together, inserted about an eye’s diameter behind base of pectorals; pectoral fins 
rather short, rounded, 1.7 to 1.9 in head. 
Color dark olive green above; sides yellow; abdomen and chest pale; back and sides with 
six to eight black crossbars (these obsolete in a few of the adult specimens at hand); dorsal and 
caudal dusky green; spinous dorsal sometimes with a black blotch posteriorly; anal, ventrals, and 
pectorals red or orange, brightest in males during the breeding season. Young usually with indefi- 
nite dark spots on sides in addition to black crossbars. 
Numerous specimens, ranging in length from 55 to 250 millimeters (2)4 to 9/4 inches) were 
collected. This fish is readily recognized by the black crossbars and the yellow coloration on the 
lower part of the sides. The young are not very different from the adults. They are somewhat 
more blotched, however, and rather more slender. 
The yellow perch is carnivorous, feeding on a large variety of animal life, ranging (according 
to published accounts) from microscopic organisms to sizeable animals like crawfish, minnows, and 
young fish. The stomach contents of 20 specimens taken in brackish water contained the following 
foods, named in the order of their apparent importance: Isopods, amphipods, fish, crabs, shrimp, 
insect larvae, and snails. Spawning takes place early in the spring and is described by Smith 
(1907, p. 251) as follows: 
The spawn is very peculiar, in that the eggs are cemented together in a single layer in the form of long, hollow strings, which, 
when extruded, are several inches wide and folded or plaited like the bellows of an accordian, but are capable of being drawn out to 
