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White Perch

Morone americana

White perch is a small, silvery fish with a dark, highly domed back. It lives in fresh and brackish waters throughout the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries.

Appearance:

• Silvery, greenish-gray body
• Highly domed, gray or blackish back
• Whitish belly
• Slightly projecting lower jaw
• Faint lines on the sides
• Mildly forked tail
• Deep notch in the dorsal fin. The first part of the dorsal fin has several spines.
• Three spines on the anal fin
• Grows 7-10 inches long and rarely weighs more than one pound

Habitat:

• Lives on flats and in channels in shallow, fresh and brackish waters
• Also frequents quiet, freshwater streams
• Moves to deep channels in winter

Range:

• Spends its entire life in the Chesapeake Bay and tidal tributaries
• Common in nearly every Bay river

Feeding:

• Adults eat small fish, insects, detritus, and fish eggs and larvae
• Juveniles feed on tiny zooplankton, including insects and crustaceans

Predators:

• Predators include bluefish, weakfish and striped bass
• Humans catch white perch recreationally

Reproduction and Life Cycle:

• Considered to be semi-anadromous because it does not travel all the way from the ocean to its spawning grounds in freshwater rivers
• Begins its spawning runs when water temperatures increase in late March
• Adults move upstream to fresh or slightly brackish streams and rivers. After spawning, adults migrate back downstream.
• Eggs hatch in approximately 1-6 days. Juveniles remain in the shallows of their natal rivers through summer and autumn. As they grow, juveniles migrate downstream to brackish waters.
• Can live as long as 17 years

Other Facts:

• A close relative of striped bass
• It is believed that each Chesapeake Bay river has its own white perch population, since this fish likely does not venture far from the stream where it was born
• The Maryland Chesapeake Bay record white perch, caught in 1979 in Dundee Creek, weighed 2 pounds, 10 ounces

Sources and Additional Information:

• Fishes of Chesapeake Bay by Edward O. Murdy, Ray S. Birdsong and John A. Musick
• Life in the Chesapeake Bay by Alice Jane Lippson and Robert L. Lippson
• Fish Facts: White Perch – Maryland Department of Natural Resources
• Animal Diversity Web: Morone americana – University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
• White Perch – Gulf of Maine Research Institute