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| European perch | ||||||||||||||
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| Perca fluviatilis Linnaeus, 1758 |
The European perch (Perca fluviatilis) is a highly predatory 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. They have caused substantial damage to native fish populations in Australia.
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 60cm and reach a maximum weight of around 10.4kg in Australasia, a maximum of less than 3kg in the UK (the British record stands at 5lb 15oz), they grow to moderately larger maximums in mainland Europe than in Britain.
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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Fishing
Baits for perch are minnows, or brandling, red, marsh, and lob worms, shrimps and artificial lures. The tackle should be fine but strong. When using a fish as bait, a trout or pike may occasionally be hooked, therefore the perch angler has a certain responsibility to use a wire trace with such baits as considerable damage could be done to pike or trout if light line is broken. Artificial lures are also be quite effective, particularly for medium sized perch. The best bait overall for perch are large worms.
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.
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. Retrieved on 6 June 2006.
- Fishbase.org - European perch
- British Record Perch
External links
- Redfin Perch - Perca fluviatilis
- Perch details
- Cross-breeding of Yellow and European perch
- Fishing Statistics - European perch
