Name:
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- Percopsis, from the Greek, "perch-like"
- omiscomaycus, a native American name containing
the root for "trout"
- Common name from its similarity to both trout and perch
- Other common names include: Grounder Minnow, Sandroller, Silver Chub
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Taxonomy:
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- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata, animals with a spinal chord
- Subphylum Vertebrata, animals with a backbone
- Superclass Osteichthyes, bony fishes
- Class Actinopterygii, ray-finned and spiny rayed fishes
- Subclass Neopterygii
- Infraclass Teleostei
- Superorder Paracanthopterygii
- Order Percopsiformes
- Suborder Percopsoidei
- Family Percopsidae, the trout-perches
- Genus Percopsis, the trout-perches
- One of only two species in the trout-perch family Percopsidae, these
little fish combine the characteristics of spiny-rayed and soft-rayed fishes,
resembling both trout and perch. They are a surviving remnant of a larger
group now mostly extinct.
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Description:
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- An unusual little fish of interesting pedigree.
- Length 3"-5", females larger than males
- Coloration
- back and sides pale olive, straw-colored, or silvery to almost translucent
- five distinct rows of black spots on back and sides
- belly whitish
- Body
- thick-bodied
- tail fin deeply forked
- fleshy adipose fin
- single dorsal fin with two weak spines and 10-11 rays
- anal fin with single weak spine and 6-7 rays
- pelvic fin with one spine and 8-9 rays
- lateral line of 47-58 scales
- Head
- large head
- mouth horizontal and large
- upper jaw not reaching beyond the front of the eye
- Lifespan 4 to 5 years
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Identification:
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- Resembles a small perch, but can be distinguished from them by the presence
of an adipose fin, a feature of trout.
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Distribution:
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- Alaska through central Canada to the midwestern and eastern US.
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Habitat:
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- Prefers stream habitats with high water quality and is most commonly found
in streams that have deep pools and bottoms of sand and gravel. Lake populations
avoid mud-filled bays.
- Spends daylight hours in deeper water or in piles of sticks, leaves or
other debris.
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Food:
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- Nocturnal; feeds over shallow bottoms on aquatic insects and other small
invertebrates. Moves during daylight into deep water or hides around
structure.
- Where abundant, an important prey species for Northem Pike (Esox
lucius), Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens),
and Walleye (Stizostedion vitreum).
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History:
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Uses:
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- Popular neither as game nor as bait.
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Reproduction:
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- Spawns from May through August over rock and sandy bottom.
- Random spawners, they give no parental care to the eggs or fry.
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Comments:
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Links:
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Last updated on 17 October 1999
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