CHAPTER II 
THE PERCH FAMILY 
BY JOHN BICKERDYKE, M.A. 
"AHE 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- 
olomsts have had to divide the Perch 
o 
F'amily 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 over Europe, 
Northern Asia, and North America, 
is properly an inhabitant of rivers, 
lake-', and ponds, but sometimes descends to brackish water. It runs up to about 5 lbs. in 
weight, and is carnivorous, 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. 
F^'.oto Dr. R. l(\ Shufeldt'j ashington 
LARGE-MOUTHED BLACK BASS 
exceedingly gam'^ 
In England perch spawn in the spring, the 
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 by fish-culturists and hatched out. 
Swans and water-fowl gener- 
ally eat the eggs by the million, 
and wherever perch are pre- 
served these birds should, so 
far as possible, be kept from 
the water during the spawn- 
ing-season. At Henley and 
other places on the Thames 
those interested in fishery 
preservation place wire netting 
round the boughs and weeds 
where perch have spawned, 
to prevent the eggs being 
eaten by swans and ducks. 
Perch are usually termed , , „ „ , 
v^oracious fish, but when large BUTTER-FISH 
are extremely shy and difficult a natinje of the tropical parts of the Indo-Pacifc Ocean 
\^Milford~on- Sea 
214 
