Life History of the Yellow Perch, Perca flavescens, in Estuarine Waters of Severn River, a Tributary of Chesapeake Bay, Maryland

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A detailed study on the life history of yellow perch in the Severn River was conducted during 1958. Additional data were collected during 1959, 1960 and 1961 on tag returns and during 1959 on growth of young-of-the-year yellow perch. Spawning took place in March and was restricted to fresh and brackish water areas of the upper Severn River and Run, where salinities were below 2‰ Some egg strands were also found in isolated coves downstream in years of high precipitation. Males arrived on the spawning grounds prior to the females; males remained on these areas over longer periods. The size composition of spawning stock, was fairly constant throughout the spawning period. A fecundity study indicated that there was a direct relationship between the number of eggs produced and the size of the female. Hatching success of eggs was found to be adversely affected by salinity and silt. Adult yellow perch marked on the Severn River spawning grounds remained within the system since only one out of 176 tagged fish recaptured by anglers was taken outside the river. Tag returns also indicated that marked fish dispersed over the entire river system largely during the summer months. In the fall, tags were recovered in the upper half of the Severn River, an area with salinities from fresh water to 7‰, but females were caught in greatest numbers farther downstream. After tagging, nylon streamer tags were returned for two years, but Petersen disk tag returns were spread over a four-year period. Angler harvest was 11 per cent for 1958, 2 per cent for 1959, and 1 per cent for 1960 and 0.1 per cent for 1961 or a total 13.9 per cent of the 1261 yellow perch tagged. Comparison of the size classes of recaptured fish against the numbers tagged in that size class revealed no angler selectivity. Food habits of young-of-the-year yellow perch were similar to those of the same species in freshwater habitat; small crustaceans and insects, especiallyChironomous sp. were the major food items. Growth rates of estuarine yellow perch were greater than that recorded for most freshwater habitats but were variable between year classes. Five adult yellow perch tagged in 1955 and 1956 provided checks on the validity of annuli as age indicators; annuli were present for each year following marking. Abundance of young-of-the-year yellow perch in the Severn River appeared to be related to the commercial catch in the upper Chesapeake Bay three and four years later and to the spawning run in the Severn River four years later.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: