Friday 17 May
Perch (Perca fluviatilis)
LEASTCONCERN
Perch fact file
- Description
- Biology
- Range
- Habitat
- Status
- Threats
- Conservation
- Find out more
- Glossary
- References
- Print factsheet
Perch description
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Actinopterygii |
| Order | Perciformes |
| Family | Percidae |
| Genus | Perca |
The perch (Perca fluviatilis) is a distinctive fish, with a deep greenish body marked with dark vertical bands, and the dorsal fin is stiffened with spines. The tail and anal fins are orange and the gill-covers are tipped with a sharp spine. The erect dorsal fin has a noticeable black spot at the rear.
- Size
- Body length: up to 25 cm
- Weight
- up to 4 kg
More »
Top
Related species
Perch biology
Perch live in schools, often mixing with other species of fish, usually in the top 50 metres of water. Spawning takes place in April, the very sticky eggs being produced in bands. Females twine these bands around submerged vegetation or among rocks while the males follow her and fertilise the eggs.
The young fish hatch after about three weeks and remain amongst the egg bands until the yolk sac is exhausted. They then venture into more open water and feed on planktonic animals. As they grow they begin to shoal together close to the bank. Males mature when they reach the length of seven to eight centimetres, females when they are ten centimetres.
TopPerch range
The perch is found over most of Europe, except in Spain, Italy or Greece. It is also found across northern Asia and Siberia as far as the Kolyma River. It has been introduced to a number of other countries.
More »
Species with a similar range
|
You can view distribution information for this species at the National Biodiversity Network Gateway. |
Perch habitat
This species prefers slow-moving rivers, deep lakes and ponds where it stays close to patches of vegetation and submerged objects. Perch require well-oxygenated water to survive.
More »
Top
Species found in a similar habitat
Perch status
The perch is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List (1).
Perch threats
Apart from pollution to their water bodies or rivers, perch do not appear to be a widely threatened species.
TopPerch conservation
In parts of its range, perch are a commercial fish, caught with seine and stake-nets. In the UK, it is mainly a sport fish, much prized for its fighting qualities when hooked. Perch may be caught throughout the coarse angling season (16 June to 14 March). In some of the countries where it has been introduced it is considered a pest species.
|
View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. |
|
|
There may be further information about this species available via the National Biodiversity Network Gateway. |
Authentication
This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact:
arkive@wildscreen.org.uk
Glossary
- Planktonic
- Aquatic organisms that drift with water movements; may be either phytoplankton (plants), or zooplankton (animals).
References
-
IUCN Red List (February, 2011)
http://www.iucnredlist.org/
More »Related species
Sign up to our newsletter
Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.
Get involved
ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!
Wednesday 15 May
Guest Blog: Join Our SOS! Campaign to Help Polar Bears with Polar Bears International
Monday 13 May
X
Close
Close
Image credit
Perch with dorsal fin up
© Brian Bevan / www.ardea.com
Ardea wildlife pets environment
35 Brodrick Road
Wandsworth Common
London
SW17 7DX
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 208 672 2067
Fax: +44 (0) 208 672 8787
ardea@ardea.co.uk
http://www.ardea.com
X
Close
Close
Link to this photo
Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
X
Close
Close
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.
X
Close
Close
Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials
Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.
Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:
- view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
- download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
- teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.
End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.
Additional use of flagged material
Green flagged material 
Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.
Creative commons material
Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.
Any other use
Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.
Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.