Yellow perch
Yellow perch | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Perciformes |
Family: | Percidae |
Genus: | Perca |
Species: | P. flavescens
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Binomial name | |
Perca flavescens (
Mitchill , 1814) | |
Native range of yellow perch | |
Synonyms[3] | |
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The yellow perch (Perca flavescens), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch or preacher is a freshwater
Latitudinal variability in age, growth rates, and size have been observed among populations of yellow perch, likely resulting from differences in day length and annual water temperatures. In many populations, yellow perch often live 9 to 10 years, with adults generally ranging from 4 to 10 in (10 to 25 cm) in length.
The world record for a yellow by weight is 4 lb 3 oz (1.9 kg)), and was caught in May 1865 in Bordentown, New Jersey by Dr. C. Abbot.[5] It is the longest-standing record for a freshwater fish in North America.[6]
Description
The yellow perch has an elongate, laterally compressed body
The upper part of the head and body varies in colour from bright green through to olive or golden brown.
Distribution
Yellow perch are native to the
The yellow perch has also been widely
Habitat
Yellow perch are commonly found in the littoral zones of both large and small lakes, but also inhabit slow-moving rivers and streams, brackish waters, and ponds. Due to human intervention, they are currently found in many man-made lakes, reservoirs, and river impoundments. The perch are most abundant in lakes that may be warm or cool and are extremely productive in smaller lakes where they can dominate unless controlled by predation.[4]
Biology
Yellow perch typically reach
In the northern waters, perch tend to live longer and grow at a slower rate. Females in general are larger, grow faster, live longer, and mature in 3–4 years compared to males, which mature in 2–3 years at a smaller size. Most research has showed the maximum age to be about 9–10 years, with a few living past 11 years. The preferred temperature range for the yellow perch is 17 to 25 °C (63 to 77 °F), with an optimum range of 21 to 24 °C (70 to 75 °F) and a lethal limit in upwards of 33 °C (91 °F) and a stress limit over 26 °C (79 °F). Yellow perch spawn once a year in spring using large schools and shallow areas of a lake or low-current tributary streams. They do not build a
A small aquaculture industry in the US Midwest contributes about 90,800 kg (200,200 lb) of yellow perch annually, but the aquaculture is not expanding rapidly.[4] The yellow perch is absolutely crucial to the survival of the walleye and largemouth bass in its range.[4] Cormorants feed heavily on yellow perch in early spring, but over the entire season, only 10% of their diet is perch.[15]
According to VanDeValk et al. (2002), "Cormorant consumption of adult yellow perch was similar to angler harvest, but cormorants consumed almost 10 times more age‐2 yellow perch and only cormorants harvested age‐1 yellow perch. Cormorants and anglers combined harvested 40% of age‐1 and age‐2 yellow perch and 25% of the adult yellow perch population. Total annual mortality of adult percids has not changed since cormorant colonization. Although cormorant consumption of adult percids has little effect on harvest by anglers, consumption of subadults will reduce future angler harvest of yellow perch and, to a lesser extent, walleyes."[16]
Life history
This section relies largely or entirely on a single source. (November 2022) |
Yellow perch spawn once a year in spring using large schools and shallow areas of a lake or low-current tributary streams. They do not build a
Ecology
Primarily, age and body size determine the diets of yellow perch.
Their microhabitat is usually along the shore among reeds and aquatic weeds, docks, and other structures. They are most dense within aquatic vegetation, since they naturally school, but also prefer small, weed-filled water bodies with muck, gravel, or sand bottoms. They are less abundant in deep and clear open water or unproductive lakes. Within rivers, they only frequent pools, slack water, and moderately vegetated habitat. They frequent inshore surface waters during the summer. Almost every cool- to warm-water predatory fish species, such as northern pike, muskellunge, bass, sunfish, crappie, walleye, trout, and even other yellow perch, are predators of the yellow perch. They are the primary prey for walleye Sander vitreus, and they consume 58% of the age zero and 47% of the age one yellow perch in northern lakes. However, in shallow natural lakes, largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides may be most influential in structuring the quality of yellow perch populations. In Nebraska's Sandhill lakes, the mean weight and quality of yellow perch is not related to invertebrate abundance, but is related to the abundance of largemouth bass. The three primary factors influencing quality panfish populations are predators, prey, and the environment.[17]
In eastern North America, yellow perch are an extremely important food source for birds such as
Perch are commonly active during the day and inactive at night except during
Some examples of parasites and diseases that afflict yellow perch include the epizootic bacterium Flavobacterium columnare,[19] red worm Eustrongylides tubifex,[4]: 14–15 cnidarians of subphylum Myxozoa[20]: 760 [21] including brain parasite Myxobolus neurophilus,[19][22]
: 14–15Current management
Managers employed management techniques at
In 2000, the
Fishing
This section possibly contains original research. (January 2015) |
Yellow perch are a popular sport fish, prized by both recreational anglers and commercial fishermen for their delicious, mild flavor. Because yellow perch are among the finest flavored
Some good baits for perch include worms, live and dead minnows, small freshwater clams, crickets, and any small lure resembling any of these. Larger perch are often caught on large live minnow on a jighead, especially when fished over weed beds. Bobbers, if used, should be spindle type for the least resistance when the bait is struck, but small, round bobbers work well, too, yet indicate any slight pull of the bait. Raising the rod tip is usually more than enough force to set the hook.
Some yellow perch fisheries have been affected by intense harvesting, and commercial and recreational harvest rates often are regulated by management agencies. In most aquatic systems, yellow perch are an important prey source for larger, piscivorous species, and many fishing lures are designed to resemble yellow perch.[citation needed]
Aquaculture
Yellow perch is a viable species for aquaculture. This species has shown a net weight gain between 37 and 78 grams over a three-year period in a study that raised yellow perch in outdoor ponds.[24] Yellow perch meet several characteristics that make a species fit for aquaculture. Some such characteristics are as follows: they are low on the food chain, needing an optimal protein content of 21-27%, are accepting of pelleted fish feed, grow well in high densities due to their schooling nature, and the fish do not turn cannibalistic at high densities.[25] When grown in ponds or tanks, yellow perch do not exhibit off flavors compared to wild caught yellow perch. These fish become sexually mature before they reach market size under natural conditions. Yellow perch rely on environmental cues, such as cooler temperatures, to mature. Controlling the temperature of the system allows yellow perch to be grown to market size before they mature.[25][26][27]
Market
For over 100 years, Canada and the United States have been commercially harvesting yellow perch in the Great Lakes with trapnets, gillnets, and poundnets. In Canada, the estimated catch in 2002 was 3,622 tons with a value of $16.7 million, second only to walleye at $28.2 million.[4]: 15 The greatest demand in the United States is in the north-central region, where nearly 70% of all yellow perch sales in the US occur within 80 km (49.7 mi) of the Great Lakes.[4]: 16 Yellow perch is one of the easiest fish to catch, and can be taken in all seasons, and tastes great. Therefore, it is a desirable sport fish in some locations within the US and Canada. It even makes up around 85% of the sport fish caught in Lake Michigan.[4]: 16
The market demand for wild yellow perch has decreased due to overfishing in the 1960s and 1970s but farmed perch has become more popular. Farmed yellow perch reduce the need for mass harvesting from bodies of water. In 2000 farmed perch on the domestic and international markets were often the same or similar quality to wild perch.[26]
Etymology
According to Brown, Runciman, Bradford and Pollard (2009), the genus name, Perca, is derived from ancient Greek for "perch" and the specific epithet, flavescens, is Latin for "becoming gold" or "yellow colored".[4]: 2 Perca may also mean "dusky".[20]: 761 [28]
References
- . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ "Perca flavescens Yellow Perch". NatureServe. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
- ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2019). "Perca flavescens" in FishBase. December 2019 version.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac Brown, T. G.; Runciman, B.; Bradford, M. J.; Pollard, S. (2009). "A biological synopsis of yellow perch Perca flavescens" (PDF). Canadian Manuscript Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 2883: i–v, 1–28. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ "Perch, yellow (Perca flavescens)". International Game Fish Association. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ Sutton, Keith "Catfish" (15 March 2018). "Oldest Fishing Record". Water Gremlin. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f Creque, Sara (2000). Fink, William (ed.). "Perca flavescens American perch". Animal Diversity Web. Regents of the University of Michigan. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f "Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens)". Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Government of Canada. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ "Maryland Fish Facts: Yellow Perch". Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ "Yellow Perch". Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- .
- ^ a b Fuller, Pam; Neilson, Matt (15 August 2019). "Perca flavescens (Mitchill, 1814)". Nonindigenous Aquatic Species. USGS. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- .
- S2CID 14232024.
- ^ Belyea, G. Y.; Maruca, S. L.; Diana, J. S.; Schneeberger, P. J.; Scott, S. J.; Clark, R. D. Jr.; Ludwig, J. P.; Summer, C. L. (1999). Impact of double-crested cormorant predation on the yellow perch population in the Les Cheneaux Islands of Michigan (Report). US Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. pp. 47–60.
- .
- S2CID 14232024.
- .
- ^ PMID 25274742.
- ^ a b c Scott, W.B.; Crossman, E.J. (1973). Freshwater Fishes of Canada. Ottawa: Fisheries Research Board of Canada. pp. 755–761. Bulletin 184. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- PMID 7799162.
- PMID 24617301.
- S2CID 41736987.
- ^ Malison, Jeffrey; Held, James (2008). "Farm-based Production Parameters and Breakeven Costs for Yellow Perch Grow-out in Ponds in Southern Wisconsin".
- ^ a b Weldon, Vanessa (26 August 2019). Tiu, Laura; Weeks, Chris (eds.). "Yellow Perch Aquaculture". Freshwater Aquaculture. National Cooperative Extension. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ^ a b Manci, Bill (December 2000). "Prospects for Yellow Perch Aquaculture" (PDF). The Advocate. Global Aquaculture Alliance. pp. 62–63. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ^ Hart, Steven D.; Garling, Donald L.; Malison, Jeffrey A., eds. (October 2006). "Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) Culture Guide" (PDF). North Central Regional Aquaculture Center. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ^ Ladwig, Christopher. "Perch Dissection". Vandenberg Middle School. Retrieved 22 November 2022.