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White perch

Morone americanus

Information and species illustrations courtesy of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Species Information
Size Maximum 5 inches long and 2 pounds; average 8 to 10 inches long and 1 pound, or less.
Diagnostic characters
Habitat, biology, and fisheries The white perch is much more closely restricted in its seaward range than striped bass. They are taken in undiluted sea water along southern New England, and at various other localities westward and southward, they are much more plentiful in ponds connected with the sea, in the brackish water of bays behind barrier beaches, in estuaries, and in river mouths. White perch also occur landlocked in fresh-water ponds in many places. A schooling fish, they are ordinarily found in shallow water, usually not deeper than 1-2 fathoms, but as deep as 10-21 fathoms in Chesapeake Bay. In winter they congregate in the deeper parts of the bays and creeks, where they become less active. White perch feed on small fish fry of all kinds, young squid, shrimps, crabs, and various other invertebrates, as well as on the spawn of other fish. They bite freely on almost any bait, natural or artificial. Along southern New England the white perch spawn in April, May, and June. Presumably the season commences a few weeks later around the Gulf of Maine, but definite data are lacking. Those living in salt water run up into fresh or slightly brackish water to spawn. The eggs (about 0.73 mm. in diameter, with large oil globule) sink and stick together in masses, or to a substrate. Incubation occupies about 6 days at a temperature of 52°. The newly hatched larvae are about 2.3 mm long.
Distribution Atlantic coast of North America from the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Nova Scotia to South Carolina, breeding in fresh or brackish water and permanently landlocked in many fresh ponds and streams.
Citations Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 1: Introduction, molluscs, crustaceans, hagfishes, sharks, batoid fishes, and chimaeras. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 1-600. Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae). FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 601-1374. Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 1375-2127.