White Perch
Taxonomy
The White Perch is a deep-bodied fish, meaning their body is deeper from back to belly than it is wide. The White Perch has an elongated snout, compressed head and terminal mouth with small sharp teeth. Weighing up to 13 ounces and reaching more than 11 inches in length, the White Perch is recognized by it's unique color, hence the name, White Perch. Though it is often confused with its relative, the White Bass, the White Perch lacks dark horizontal stripes on its sides. which distinguish the two.
White Perch (top) can be easily taken for one of its relative, the Striped Bass (middle) or White bass (bottom)
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The Morone americana, more commonly known as the White Perch is a fish of the temperate bass family. The White Perch is typically found on the East Coast, and are viewed as food or game fish.
The White Perch goes by several other names including Sea Perch, Silver Perch, Gray Perch, Blue Nose Perch, Wreckfish, and White Crappie. Its common name eludes to its distinct silvery white coloring.
White Perch become fertile at around 2 to 4 years of age. Females reach the length of 90 to 98 millimeters long and males are about 72 to 80 millimeters. Females can release 20,000 to 300,000 eggs in multiple breeding periods a year between March and July. A female releases her eggs, which often rest at the muddy bottom of the estuary. Males then release their sperm which fertilize their eggs. Eggs can be fertilized by different fathers. Through this method of reproduction, eggs can easily be stick to fishing equipment, shoes, other fish/animals, and thus can be easily spread. This type of fish especially, with the population growing exponentially, is very hard to stunt.
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