PHYLUM:
Chordata; CLASS: Osteichthyes; SUPERORDER: Teleostei
FAMILY:
Percidae; SUBFAMILY: Percinae
GENUS:
Perca SPECIES: flavescens DESCRIBER:
(Mitchill)
Position
of Perca
flavescens in
worldwide arrangement of fish species.
What
are YELLOW PERCH?
Yellow Perch are
elongate, 10-25 cm (4-10 in), darkish, laterally
compressed fish of the family Percidae, subfamily Percinae.
Their backs and heads are green to olive, to golden
brown; their sides are yellow-green to yellow with
7 dark bars; their bellies are grey to milky white.
They are abundant from British Columbia eastward to
Nova Scotia. Yellow
Perch eat numerous insect larvae and nymphs, small
molluscs, various aquatic crustacea and fish.
EARLY
LIFE HISTORY of YELLOW
PERCH:
Spawning Season of Adult YELLOW PERCH:
Spring, mid-April to early May.
Where YELLOW PERCH Eggs are Found: Adult YELLOW
PERCH move into shallow waters, 60 cm to 700 cm deep,
of lakes and connecting streams or rivers. Females
use submersed branches, aquatic plants and/or rocks
to help them extrude the semi- boyant gelatinous
masses, after which the eggs are fertilized . These
gelatinous masses may contain as many as 90,000 eggs.
Characteristics
of Eggs: Eggs are demersal, adhesive, transparent,
embedded in a transparent, semi- boyant, accordion– shaped,
gelatinous mass which may be as long as 2.1 m and
as wide as 100 mm. Diameter of eggs 3.5 mm.
Size
of Babies at Hatching: Babies hatch at ca.
5 mm at 8 days to 10 days of incubation.
Movements of YELLOW PERCH Babies after hatching: Baby
YELLOW PERCH wiggle out of their gelatinous masses
and move out into open, limnetic areas in large
numbers, in large aggregations not in schools. They
were caught in these areas at certain times in great
abundance (Refs. 02, 03, 05, 06, 07, 14, 17,
21).
