thefishgod's Identifications

At the Deep Cove Hostel, on Doubtful Sound in the Fiordlands of New Zealand I was fishing with my buddy when I caught a Perca fluviatilis, also known as a Redfin Perch. This specific type of perch belongs in the Percidae family, a family that has many different relatives in the northern hemisphere. There are 204 species in the Percidae family in 10 genera. Originally it was imported to New Zealand from England and has now become a main freshwater species in the Southland, Otago and many other parts of New Zealand as well. The Redfin Perch can be differentiated from other perch species by its two dorsal fins that have 13-17 sharp spines on it. It also has a broad flat spine on the gill cover. These perch have six plus dark bands along their sides; these are more prominent in juvenile fish. The bottom edge of the caudal fin is a reddish-orange as, the anal and pectoral fins have this same color as well.

As discovered while fishing, Redfin Perch are easy to catch and are good for children and new fishermen to catch. We caught them at the end of our lines, anywhere from 40-60 meters, if not more. They are quite difficult to unhook from a rod because of their extremely pointy fins. These fish prefer slow moving water and still water areas, where they hangout on the bottom and wait for food to fall or find small crayfish and smelt at the bottom. They are carnivorous, hence why we caught so many using other fish as bait. They reduce the amount of inanga, crayfish and smelts in lakes, but also have shown evidence of reducing the amount of common bullies as well.

I got this information from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand.