22 6 
THE PERCH. 
I 
Genus XXXVIII .— ’the Penh. 
i his genus comprehends no lefs than thirty-fix dir" 
ferent fpecies, very few of which frequent thefe feas, 
and their hiftory is on that account but imperfectly 
known. Only five kinds bf the perch are found in the 
lakes and on the coafts of Britain ; the river perch, the 
fea perch, the bade, the ruffe, and the black perch *. 
Some fpecies of this tribe have one, and others two 
aorfal fins ; forne have the tail bifurcated, which in 
others terminates in a ftraight line. The body is ge- 
nerally oblong, laterally comprefled, and covered with 
hard feales. The jaws are of unequal length, large, and 
arcuated ; the teeth are incurvated, and arranged in fe- 
veral rows. The eyes are large and protuberant, cover- 
ed with a nictating membrane, and fituated at the blink 
of the forehead f . 
Thefe animals are remarkably tenacious of life; feme 
of them, particularly the rivet perch, have been carried 
fixty miles among ft raw, and have furvived the journey- 
Their fins are fo prickly, that they are laid to defy the 
attacks of the pike: this, however, is only true with re- 
gard to the larger perches, if it can be credited at all ? 
for there is no animal which the pike will more readily 
devour than a final! perch. From the eafe with which 
trie river perch is taken and tranfported, it has become 
the 
* Bntjfit ZqoI. f Guin. Hilt. pile. 141, 
