European perch

{{Speciesbox

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Freyhof, J. |author2=Kottelat, M. |date=2008 |title=Perca fluviatilis |volume=2008 |page=e.T16580A6135168 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T16580A6135168.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}

| fossil_range = 3.6-0 Ma {{Fossil range|Piacenzian|Present}}

| image = Perca fluviatilis - Perche commune - European perch Cropped.jpg

| image2 = Barsche im See (Jungfische).jpg

| taxon = Perca fluviatilis

| authority = Linnaeus, 1758

| synonyms = *Perca vulgaris Schaeffer, 1761

Perca vulgaris Schrank, 1792
Perca italica Cuvier, 1828
Perca vulgaris Fitzinger, 1832
Perca helvetica Gronow, 1854

| synonyms_ref = {{FishBase|Perca|fluviatilis|month=December|year=2019}}

| range_map = Perca fluviatilis distribution map.png

| range_map_caption = Distribution: {{leftlegend|#FF0000|native range|outline=gray}}{{leftlegend|#00FF00|introduced range|outline=gray}}

}}

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 freshwater fish native to Europe and North Asia. It is the type species of the genus Perca.

The perch is a popular game fish for recreational anglers, and has been widely introduced beyond its native Eurasian habitats into Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Known locally simply as "redfin", they have caused substantial damage to native fish populations in Australia and have been proclaimed a noxious species in New South Wales.{{cite web |url=http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/pests-diseases/freshwater-pests/species/redfin-perch |title=Redfin perch |publisher=NSW Government |access-date=23 January 2017 |archive-date=12 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212181514/http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/pests-diseases/freshwater-pests/species/redfin-perch |url-status=dead }}

Taxonomy

The first scientific description 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.{{cite book | author = John Thorpe | year = 1977 | title = Synopsis of the biological data on the Perca fluviatilis Linnaeus, 1758 and Perca flavescens Mitchill, 1814 | publisher = FAO | isbn = 9251005044 | url = http://www.fao.org/3/ap921e/ap921e.pdf}}

In 1758, Carl Linnaeus named it Perca fluviatilis.{{Cof record | spid=19543 | title = Perca fluviatilis | access-date = 12 September 2020}} His description was based on Artedi's research.

Because of their similar appearance and ability to cross-breed, the yellow perch (Perca flavescens) has sometimes been classified as a subspecies of the European perch, in which case its trinomial name would be Perca fluviatilis flavescens.{{cite web |url=http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=322958 |title=Perca fluviatilis flavescens (Mitchill, 1814) – unaccepted |last= Bailly |first= N |date= 2015 |website=World Register of Marine Species |access-date= 24 January 2016}}

Description

File:Perca fluviatilis2.jpg

European perch are greenish with red pelvic, anal and caudal fins. They have five to eight dark vertical bars on their sides.{{cite web |url=http://www.arkive.org/perch/perca-fluviatilis/ |title=Perch (Perca fluviatilis) |website=ARKive |publisher=Wildscreen |access-date=25 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202123529/http://www.arkive.org/perch/perca-fluviatilis/ |archive-date=2017-02-02 |url-status=dead }} When the perch grows larger, a hump grows between its head and dorsal fin.{{cite web |url=http://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/en/kalat/perch |title=Perch |website=Luontoportti |access-date= 25 January 2017}}

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 {{cvt|60|cm}}. The British record is {{cvt|6|lb|2|oz|order=flip}}, 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 {{cvt|2.9|kg|lboz}} for a Finnish fish caught September 4, 2010.{{cite web|url=http://wrec.igfa.org/WRecordsList.aspx?lc=AllTackle&cn=Perch,%20European|title= Official World Record|publisher=The International Game Fish Association |access-date=23 January 2017}} In January 2010 a perch with a weight of {{cvt|3.75|kg|lboz}} was caught in the river Meuse, Netherlands.{{cite web |url=https://www.fisch-hitparade.de/hitliste/fangmeldung/stephan-gockel-09-apr-2010 |title=Fischdaten |date=2010 |website=Fisch-Hitparade |access-date=23 January 2017 |language=de}} Due to the low salinity levels of the Baltic Sea, especially around the Finnish archipelago and Bothnian Sea, 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.

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

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. 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.{{Cite journal|last1=Seekell|first1=David A.|last2=Byström|first2=Pär|last3=Karlsson|first3=Jan|date=2018|title=Lake morphometry moderates the relationship between water color and fish biomass in small boreal lakes|journal=Limnology and Oceanography|language=en|volume=63|issue=5|pages=2171–2178|doi=10.1002/lno.10931|s2cid=53998313 |issn=1939-5590|doi-access=free|bibcode=2018LimOc..63.2171S }}

= Introduction outside Europe =

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.{{Cite web|title=The feasibility of excluding alien redfin perch from Macquarie perch habitat in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment {{!}} NSW Department of Primary Industries|url=https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/content/research/areas/aquatic-ecosystems/outputs/2010/1678|access-date=2021-01-31|website=www.dpi.nsw.gov.au}}

Behaviour and reproduction

File:Perca fluviatilis 1879.jpg

The European perch is carnivorous, with juveniles feeding on zooplankton, bottom invertebrate fauna and other perch fry, while adults feed on both invertebrates and fish, mainly sticklebacks, perch, roach and minnows. Perch start eating other fish when they become fingerlings at a size of around {{cvt|120|mm}}.

Male perch become sexually mature at between one and two years of age, females between two and four. In the Northern Hemisphere they spawn between February and July. Males reach spawning areas ahead of females, and court mates by chasing through underwater vegetation. During reproduction, the female lays a white ribbon of eggs up to one meter long, which is deposited on water plants or on 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_there_scientific_proof_that_water_fowl_can_transport_fish_eggs_from_one_water_body_to_an_other |title=Is there (scientific) proof that water fowl can transport fish eggs from one water body to an other? |date=2014 |access-date= 23 January 2017}}

The eggs hatch after a period of 8 to 16 days. The larvae are {{convert|5|mm|in}} long on hatching, and live in open water where they feed on plankton. Juveniles migrate to areas nearer the shore and bottom during their first summer.

= Diseases and parasites =

Cucullanus elegans is a species of parasitic nematode. It is an endoparasite of the European perch.{{cite web |url=http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=873902 |title=Cucullanus elegans Rudolphi, 1802 |website=World Register of Marine Species |access-date=24 January 2017 }} Juvenile perch are commonly infected by Camallanus lacustris (Nematoda), Proteocephalus percae, Bothriocephalus claviceps, Glanitaenia osculata, Triaenophorus nodulosus (all Cestoda) and Acanthocephalus lucii (Acanthocephala).{{cite journal|last1=Kuchta, R., Čech, M., Scholz, T., Soldánová, M., Levron, C., Škoríková, B.|title=Endoparasites of European perch Perca fluviatilis fry: role of spatial segregation|journal=Diseases of Aquatic Organisms|date=2009|volume=86|issue=1|pages=87–91|doi=10.3354/dao02090|pmid=19899354|doi-access=free}}

Predators

File:Schlange frist Fisch.jpg.]]

The European perch is a frequent prey of many fish-eating predators such as the Western osprey (Pandion haliaetus),{{cite web |url = https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/scotlands-wildlife/osprey-fact-file/ | title = Osprey Fact File | access-date = 12 September 2020 | publisher = Scottish Wildlife Trust}} great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo){{cite journal|last1=Čech, M., Čech, P., Kubečka, J., Prchalová, M., Draštík, V.|title=Size selectivity in summer and winter diets of great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo): Does it reflect season-dependent difference in foraging efficiency?|journal=Waterbirds|date=2008|volume=31|issue=3|pages=438–447|jstor=25148353|doi=10.1675/1524-4695-31.3.438|s2cid=84199917}}{{cite journal|last1=Čech M., Vejřík, L.|title=Winter diet of great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) on the River Vltava: estimate of size and species composition and potential for fish stock losses|journal=Folia Zoologica|date=2011|volume=60|issue=2|pages=129–142|doi=10.25225/fozo.v60.i2.a7.2011|s2cid=90464667}} and common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis),{{cite journal|last1=Čech M., Čech P.|title=Non-fish prey in the diet of an exclusive fish-eater: the Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis.|journal=Bird Study|date=2015|volume=62|issue=4|pages=457–465|doi=10.1080/00063657.2015.1073679|s2cid=85632259|doi-access=free|bibcode=2015BirdS..62..457C }}{{cite journal|last1=Čech M., Čech P|title=Effect of brood size on food provisioning rate in Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis|journal=Ardea|date=2017|volume=105|issue=1|pages=5–17|doi=10.5253/arde.v105i1.a3|s2cid=90362897}} and it is an important item in the diet of the globally threatened Dalmatian pelican (Pelecanus crispus).{{cite web | url = http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/dalmatian-pelican-pelecanus-crispus/text | title = Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus | access-date = 12 September 2020 | publisher = Birdlife}} Other non-avian predators include the northern pike (Esox lucius) and the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra).{{cite journal | author1 = Kloskowski, Janusz | author2 = Rechulicz, Jacek | author3 = Jarzynowa, Barbara | name-list-style = amp | year = 2013 | title = Resource availability and use by Eurasian otters Lutra lutra in a heavily modified river-canal system | doi = 10.2981/12-104 | journal = Wildlife Biology | volume = 19 | issue = 4 | pages = 439–451| s2cid = 86028541 }}

Relationship with humans

= Fishing =

File:Mastography of perch (Perca fluviatilis) fingerlings for quality control at Valperca.jpgs used for quality control of perch fingerlings at a Swiss fish farm]]

File:Perch dish.jpg

European perch is fished for food and as game. Its flesh is described as good eating, with a white, firm, flaky texture and well flavoured.{{cite news |title=Perch |url=https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/marine/marine-environment/species/fish/freshwater/perch#:~:text=Perch%20flesh%20makes%20exceptionally%20good,and%20eaten%20in%20large%20numbers. |access-date=30 August 2020 |publisher=Scottish Government}} According to FAO statistics, 28,920 tonnes were caught in 2013. Largest perch fishing countries were Russia, (15,242 tonnes), Finland (7,666 tonnes), Estonia (2,144 t), Poland (1,121 t) and Kazakhstan (1,103 t).{{cite web |url= http://www.fao.org/fishery/species/2298/en |title= Species Fact Sheet (incl. link to FishStat) |publisher= FAO |access-date=17 October 2015 }}

Baits for perch include baitfishes (e.g. minnows, goldfish), weather loaches, pieces of raw squid or pieces of raw fish (mackerel, bluey, jack mackerel, sardine), or brandling, red, marsh, and lob worms, maggots, shrimp (Caridina, Neocaridina, Palaemon, Macrobrachium) and peeled crayfish tails. The tackles needed are 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.{{Cite news|url=https://blog.fishtec.co.uk/perch-on-the-fly|title=Perch On The Fly|date=2016-11-28|work=Fishtec|access-date=2018-11-12|language=en-GB}}

= Perch in culture =

File:DEU Bad Buchau COA.svg]]

The European perch is Finland's national fish.{{cite web |url=https://finland.fi/life-society/iconic-finnish-nature-symbols-stand-out/ |title=Iconic Finnish nature symbols stand out |last=Weaver |first=Fran |date=2014 |website=thisisFinland |publisher=Finland Promotion Board |access-date=28 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025235927/https://finland.fi/life-society/iconic-finnish-nature-symbols-stand-out/ |archive-date=25 October 2017 |url-status=dead }}

It is also pictured in emblems of several European towns and municipalities, such as Bad Buchau, Gröningen and Schönberg, Plön.

The raw fish item in the game Factorio is a plush toy of the European perch.{{cite web |title=Friday Facts #348 - The final GUI update |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comments/gom295/comment/frgl1go/ |website=Reddit |date=22 May 2020 |access-date=16 December 2022}}