White Perch

The White Perch is a member of the temperate bass family Moronidae, not a true perch despite its common name, and is closely related to striped bass and white bass. It is native to brackish and coastal freshwater habitats along the Atlantic coast of North America, from the Canadian Maritimes to South Carolina, and has also spread into Great Lakes and other inland freshwater systems where it was introduced. White Perch are highly adaptable, tolerating a wide range of salinities, and are considered invasive in some inland lakes where they compete with native fish and disrupt food webs.

White Perch have a deep, laterally compressed body with a uniformly silvery to pale olive-green back, lacking the dark horizontal stripes seen in related white bass and striped bass, which makes plain, unmarked sides a key field mark.

• Two dorsal fins set close together, nearly touching
• Smooth, unbroken silver sides with no stripe pattern
• Moderately large eyes and a somewhat humped back in older fish
• Anal fin with three spines, the third notably shorter than the second
• Typically 15-30 cm, smaller than its striped bass relatives

White Perch are native to brackish estuaries, tidal rivers, and coastal bays along the Atlantic seaboard of North America, ranging from Nova Scotia to South Carolina, and move seasonally between saltier and fresher water depending on temperature and spawning needs. They tolerate a broad salinity range, from nearly full-strength seawater to entirely fresh water, and have established self-sustaining populations in freshwater lakes and reservoirs, including the Great Lakes, after introduction. They favor open water over structure, often schooling near the surface in bays, harbors, and river mouths.

White Perch are schooling fish that move in large, loose aggregations through open water, feeding opportunistically on small fish, fish eggs, insects, and crustaceans. They undertake seasonal migrations, moving upstream into fresher water or shallow estuarine shoals in spring to spawn, broadcasting large numbers of eggs over submerged vegetation or debris with no parental care afterward. Their tolerance for varying salinity and temperature, combined with prolific egg production, allows White Perch populations to expand rapidly, sometimes outcompeting native species in lakes where they have been introduced.