Trout-perch
| Percopsis omiscomaycus | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Percopsiformes |
| Family: | Percopsidae |
| Genus: | Percopsis |
| Species: | P. omiscomaycus |
| Binomial name | |
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Percopsis omiscomaycus (Walbaum, 1792) |
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Percopsis omiscomaycus also known as the trout-perch, the grounder or the sand minnow, is one of two species in the family Percopsidae. They are freshwater fish that prefers clear to slightly turbid water. They are most often seen washed up on beaches and are rarely seen alive or correctly identified. They are found in rivers and lakes throughout North America. Its name comes from the Greek root words perc, meaning perch and opsi meaning appearance. The species name omiscomaycus is thought to be derived from a Native American word meaning trout. The trout-perch possess characteristics similar to both the trout and the perch. They are an important source of food for many predator fish such as walleye, northern pike, and lake trout. They are a generally small fish found in deep waters by day, but which migrate to shallower waters at night. They are not a major human fishery, but are occasionally used as a bait fish.
The trout-perch has been found at sizes of 20.0 centimetres (7.9 in) total length (TL) but the average total length is 8.8 centimetres (3.5 in). There are no distinguishing characteristics between males and females. They are overall silvery or nearly transparent in appearance with rows of dark spots on along the sides of their bodies both along their lateral line and above it. Their fins are almost entirely transparent. These fish have thick bodies with a long head, long snout, and a small mouth. They have a single dorsal fin containing 1–3 spines and 10–11 soft rays. They also have an adipose fin, similar to trout, which helps to distinguishes them from their look-alike species, the yellow perch and the walleye. Their tail or caudal fin is forked. Like most bony fishes, the trout-perch has thin, flexible plates of bone or leptoid scales. Their particular leptoid scales are ctenoid scales that are similar to the perch's.
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Wikipedia