European perch
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 Photo by C. Gerharz
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| Perca fluviatilis Linnaeus, 1758 |
The European perch (Perca fluviatilis) is a species of perch found in Europe and Asia. In some areas it is known as the redfin perch or English perch, and it is often referred to by the shortform perch. The species is very popular and has been widely introduced beyond its native area, into Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
European perch are greenish with red pelvic, anal, and caudal fins. They have 5-9 dark vertical bars on their sides.
European perch size can vary greatly between bodies of water; in Australia the fish are sometimes much larger than in their native Europe. The perch can live for up to 22 years, and older perch are often much larger than average; the maximum recorded length is 20 inches (51 cm) and the largest recorded weight is 10.4 lbs (4.75 kg).
The perch spawns at the end of April or beginning of May, depositing it upon weeds, or the branches of trees or shrubs that have become immersed in the water; it does not come into condition again until July.
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[edit] Fishing
The baits for perch are, minnows, red, marsh, brandling or lob worms, shrimps and artificial lures. The tackle should be fine but strong, as with a fish bait a trout or pike may frequently be hooked. Lures can be quite effective too, such as spinners and rubber/gum artificial lures. Perch, unlike fish of prey, are gregarious, and in the winter months, when the frosts and floods have destroyed and carried away the beds of weeds, they congregate together in the pools and eddies, and are then to be angled for with greatest success from 10 to 4 o'clock, from the edge of a stream eddy.
[edit] Relation to the yellow perch
Because of their similar appearance and ability to cross-breed, the yellow perch has sometimes been classified as a subspecies of the European perch, in which case its trinomial name would be Perca fluviatilis flavescens.
However, it is unclear whether or not hybrids are viable, and most classifications treat the two fish as separate species. According to NatureServe, allozyme data indicates that Perca fluviatilis and Perca flavescens are separate species.
[edit] References
- World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1996). Perca fluviatilis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006.
- Perca fluviatilis (TSN 168470). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 6 June 2006.
