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Pike-Perch

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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PIKE-PERCH ( Lucioperca ), fresh-water fishes closely allied to the perch, but with strong canine teeth standing between the smaller teeth of the jaws and palate. They resemble the pike in their elongate body and head, and they are also most dangerous enemies to other fresh-water fishes, though they compensate for their destructiveness by the excellent flavour of their flesh. In Europe two species occur, the more celebrated being the "Zander" of North Germany or "Schiel" of the Danube (Lucioperca sandra); strange to say, it is absent in the system of the Rhine. It prefers the quiet waters of large rivers and clear deep lakes, in which it reaches a weight of 25 lb or 30 lb. The second ( Lucioperca wolgensis ) is limited to rivers in southern Russia and Hungary. In North America several pike-perches have been described, but in the most recent works only two are distinguished, viz. Lucioperca americans, which grows to a weight of 20 lb, and the much smaller Lucioperca canadensis; both are abundant in the Canadian lakes and upper Mississippi, and the latter also in the Ohio.