Premium
Observations on the biology of the perch, Perca fluviatilis , in the River Stour, Dorset
Author(s) -
MANN R. H. K.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
freshwater biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.297
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2427
pISSN - 0046-5070
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2427.1978.tb01444.x
Subject(s) - perch , biology , spawn (biology) , fecundity , minnow , nymph , fishery , percidae , notropis , zoology , predation , fish <actinopterygii> , ecology , population , demography , sociology
SUMMARY. Opercular bones from 323 perch from the River Stour were used for age and back‐calculated growth determinations. Annuli were formed during May at the beginning of the growth period. Growth was minimal from October to April. Female perch grew faster than males, and the growth rates of both sexes were higher than those observed in most other European waters. Spawning occurred during late April and early May; male gonads began development in August and had attained their maximum weight in September, but the ovaries developed gradually from August until April. Immature perch had an annual cycle of condition with a maximum in June‐July and a minimum in December‐January. The condition of mature males and females was affected by the gonad cycle. The fecundity of Stour perch is expressed by the formula: log egg number = 2.40 log length (mm) ‐ 1.34. Approximately 25% of males were mature at age I and all were mature at age II, whereas most females did not spawn until age III. Ephemeroptera nymphs and minnow fry constituted the bulk of the diet of 0‐group perch; Ephemeroptera nymphs, minnow fry and Corixidae were the most numerous items in I group perch, whereas older perch contained Corixidae and a wider range of fish prey species, although minnows were the most numerous of these.