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Yellow Perch; Ringed Perch — Part 2
Images coming soon.
Artificial propagation, in the full sense of the term, has not been attempted with the yellow perch, but mature fish have been placed in aquariums and their naturally fertillized eggs hatched. The eggs are arranged in a very interesting manner, being laid in a single mass, which soon unfolds into a ribbon-like structure. The length of this string is very great, sometimes exceeding 7 feet. One yellow perch in a Fish Commission aquarium at Washington deposited a string of eggs 7 feet 4 inches long, 4 inches wide at one end and 2 at the other. After being fertilized this string weighed 2 pounds 9 ounces, while the weight of the fish before the eggs were discharged was only 1 pound 8 ounces. The eggs are very small, measuring only 1/13 inch in diameter, and requiring 28,000 to the quart. At Washington the spawning-time extends from the middle of March to the middle of April.
Through the various fish commissions the yellow perch has been introduced quite successfully into a number of small lakes in Washington, Oregon, and California.
Colour on back, olivaceous; sides golden yellow; belly white; side with about 6 or 8 broad dark bars, which extend from back to below axis of body; lower fins largely red or orange, especially in the spring; upper fins olivaceous; a distinct black spot sometimes present on spinous dorsal. The colour varies greatly: the yellow is sometimes very bright, at other times quite pale; and the black bars are much stronger in some waters than in others. There is also frequently a greenish, sometimes coppery, reddish or purplish wash on head and sides; sometimes in mature breeding fish the lower fins are very brilliantly red.