The European perch (''Perca fluviatilis''), also known as the common perch, redfin perch, big-scaled redfin, English perch, Euro perch, Eurasian perch, Eurasian river perch, Hatch, poor man’s rockfish or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the perch, is a predatory species of the freshwater

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Per ...

native to Europe and northern Asia. The species is a popular quarry for anglers, and has been widely introduced beyond its native area, into

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. They have caused substantial damage to native fish populations in Australia and have been proclaimed a noxious species in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Description

European perch are greenish with red pelvic, anal and caudal fins. They have five to eight dark vertical bars on their sides. When the perch grows larger, a hump grows between its head and dorsal fin. European perch can vary greatly in size between bodies of water. They can live for up to 22 years, and older perch are often much larger than average; the maximum recorded length is . The British record is , but they grow larger in mainland Europe than in Britain. As of May 2016, the official all tackle world record recognised by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) stands at for a Finnish fish caught September 4, 2010. In January 2010 a perch with a weight of was caught in the river

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...

, Netherlands. Due to the low salinity levels of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

, especially around the Finnish archipelago and

Bothnian Sea The Bothnian Sea ( sv, Bottenhavet; fi, Selkämeri) links the Bothnian Bay (also called the Bay of Bothnia) with the Baltic proper. Kvarken is situated between the two. Together, the Bothnian Sea and Bay make up a larger geographical entity, th ...

, many freshwater fish live and thrive there. Perch especially are in abundance and grow to a considerable size due to the diet of

Baltic herring Atlantic herring (''Clupea harengus'') is a herring in the family Clupeidae. It is one of the most abundant fish species in the world. Atlantic herrings can be found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, congregating in large schools. They ca ...

Distribution and habitat

The range of the European perch covers fresh water basins all over Europe, excluding the Iberian peninsula. Their range is known to reach the

Kolyma River The Kolyma ( rus, Колыма, p=kəlɨˈma; sah, Халыма, translit=Khalyma) is a river in northeastern Siberia, whose basin covers parts of the Sakha Republic, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and Magadan Oblast of Russia. The Kolyma is froz ...

in Siberia to the east. It is also common in some of the brackish waters of the

. They are most abundant in relatively shallow lakes and lakes with deep light penetration, and less abundant in deep lakes and those with low light penetration. European perch has been widely introduced, with reported adverse ecological impact after introduction. In Australia, the species is implicated in the decline of the now-endangered native fish, the Macquarie perch. The European perch lives in slow-flowing rivers, deep lakes and ponds. It tends to avoid cold or fast-flowing waters but some specimens penetrate waters of these type, although they do not breed in this habitat.

Behaviour and reproduction

The perch is a predatory species. Juveniles feed on

zooplankton Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...

, bottom invertebrate fauna and other perch fry, while adults feed on both invertebrates and fish, mainly sticklebacks,

roach Roach may refer to: Animals * Cockroach, various insect species of the order Blattodea * Common roach (''Rutilus rutilus''), a fresh and brackish water fish of the family Cyprinidae ** ''Rutilus'' or roaches, a genus of fishes * California roa ...

and

minnow Minnow is the common name for a number of species of small freshwater fish, belonging to several genera of the families Cyprinidae and Leuciscidae. They are also known in Ireland as pinkeens. Smaller fish in the subfamily Leusciscidae are c ...

s. Perch start eating other fish when they reach a size of around 120 mm. Male perch become sexually mature at between one and two years of age, females between two and four. In the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

they spawn between February and July, depositing their eggs on water plants or the branches of trees or shrubs immersed in the water. There has been speculation, but only anecdotal evidence, that eggs stick to the legs of wading birds and are then transferred to other waters.

Taxonomy

The first

scientific description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have b ...

of the river perch was made by Peter Artedi in 1730. He defined the basic morphological signs of this species after studying perch from Swedish lakes. Artedi described its features, counting the fin rays scales and vertebrae of the typical perch. In 1758,

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...

named it ''Perca fluviatilis''. His description was based on Artedi's research. Because of their similar appearance and ability to cross-breed, the

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Sam ...

(''Perca flavescens'') has sometimes been classified as a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics ( morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all specie ...

of the European perch, in which case its

trinomial name In biology, trinomial nomenclature refers to names for taxa below the rank of species. These names have three parts. The usage is different in zoology and botany. In zoology In zoological nomenclature, a trinomen (), trinominal name, or ternar ...

would be ''Perca fluviatilis flavescens''.

Fishing

European perch is fished for food and game fishing. Its flesh is described as good eating, with a white, firm, flaky texture and well flavoured. According to FAO statistics 28,920 tonnes were caught in 2013. Largest perch fishing countries were

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

, (15,242 tonnes),

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

(7,666 tonnes),

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

(2,144 t),

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

(1,121 t) and

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

(1,103 t). Baits for perch include

goldfish The goldfish (''Carassius auratus'') is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the wild have bec ...

, weather loaches, pieces of raw

squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fittin ...

or pieces of raw fish (

mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...

, bluey,

jack mackerel Jack mackerels or saurels are marine fish in the genus ''Trachurus'' of the family Carangidae. The name of the genus derives from the Greek words ''trachys'' ("rough") and ''oura'' ("tail"). Some species, such as ''T. murphyi'', are harvested i ...

, sardine), or brandling, red, marsh, and lob worms,

maggot A maggot is the larva of a fly (order Diptera); it is applied in particular to the larvae of Brachycera flies, such as houseflies, cheese flies, and blowflies, rather than larvae of the Nematocera, such as mosquitoes and crane flies. En ...

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are ref ...

(''

Caridina ''Caridina'' is a genus of freshwater atyid shrimp. They are widely found in tropical or subtropical water in Asia, Oceania and Africa. They are filter-feeders and omnivorous scavengers. They range from 0.9–9.8 mm ('' C. cantonensis'') to 1. ...

'', '' Neocaridina'', '' Palaemon'', ''

Macrobrachium ''Macrobrachium'' is a genus of freshwater prawns or shrimps characterised by the extreme enlargement of the second pair of pereiopods, at least in the male. Species It contains these species: *''Macrobrachium acanthochirus'' F. Villalobos, ...

'') and peeled

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, m ...

tails. The tackle needed is fine but strong. Artificial lures are also effective, particularly for medium-sized perch. It is possible to fly fish for perch using artificial flies tied for the purpose. Often, the flies required are "streamers" or bait-fish imitations and use flash, colour and movement to entice a take from the perch.

Predators

The European perch is a frequent prey of many fish-eating predators, such as the Western osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''),

great cormorant The great cormorant (''Phalacrocorax carbo''), known as the black shag in New Zealand and formerly also known as the great black cormorant across the Northern Hemisphere, the black cormorant in Australia, and the large cormorant in India, is a w ...

(''Phalacrocorax carbo'') and common kingfisher (''Alcedo atthis''). It is an important item in the diet of the globally threatened

Dalmatian pelican The Dalmatian pelican (''Pelecanus crispus'') is the largest member of the pelican family, and perhaps the world's largest freshwater bird, although rivaled in weight and length by the largest swans. They are elegant soaring birds, with wingspa ...

(''Pelecanus crispus''), and non avian predators include the

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish water, brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are kno ...

(''Esox lucius'') and the Eurasian otter (''Lutra lutra'').

Diseases and parasites

Cucullanus elegans ''Cucullanus elegans'' is a species of parasitic nematode. It is an endoparasite of the European perch (''Perca fluviatilis''). ''Cucullanus elegans'' Zschokke, 1884, ''C. elegans'' Sramek, 1901, ''C. elegans'' Levander, 1926 and ''C. elegans'' ...

'' is a species of parasitic nematode. It is an endoparasite of the European perch. Juvenile perch are commonly infected by ''

Camallanus lacustris ''Camallanus lacustris'' is a species of freshwater parasitic roundworm in the family Camallanidae. Definitive hosts are fish and intermediate hosts are copepods. References * Advances in Parasitology, Volume 20, R. Muller and J.R. Baker, 1 ...

'' (

Nematoda The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a broa ...

), '' Proteocephalus percae'', '' Bothriocephalus claviceps'', '' Glanitaenia osculata'', '' Triaenophorus nodulosus'' (all

Cestoda Cestoda is a class of parasitic worms in the flatworm phylum (Platyhelminthes). Most of the species—and the best-known—are those in the subclass Eucestoda; they are ribbon-like worms as adults, known as tapeworms. Their bodies consist of ...

) and '' Acanthocephalus lucii'' ( Acanthocephala).

Perch in culture

The European perch is

's national fish. It is also pictured in emblems of several European towns and municipalities, such as

Bad Buchau Bad Buchau () (formerly Buchau; Swabian: ''Buacha'') is a small town in the district of Biberach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany with about 4,000 inhabitants. It is situated near Lake Federsee, which is separated from the town by a wide reed belt. ...

, Gröningen and Schönberg, Plön. The raw fish item in the game Factorio is a plush toy of the European perch.

References

External links

Redfin Perch – Perca fluviatilis
{{Taxonbar, from=Q166812 Perch Fish of the Baltic Sea Freshwater fish of Europe Fish of Asia Fish of Russia National symbols of Finland Fish described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus