Sacramento perch facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sacramento perch |
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The Sacramento perch (Archoplites interruptus) is a type of sunfish that is currently endangered. It originally lived in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, Pajaro, and Salinas River areas in California. However, people have introduced it to many other places across the western United States.
This fish naturally lives in slow-moving waters like sloughs and lakes that have lots of plants. It can grow up to 61 cm (about 2 feet) long and weigh as much as 3.6 kg (about 8 pounds). Sacramento perch can live for up to six years. They are very good at adapting to different places and can eat many kinds of food. Young perch mostly eat tiny crustaceans. As they get older, they start eating insect larvae and then smaller fish.
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What is the Sacramento Perch?
The Sacramento perch, known scientifically as Archoplites interruptus, belongs to the fish family called Centrarchidae. This family includes many types of sunfish. Even though it's called a "perch," it's not a true perch. True perches are part of a different family called Percidae. The Sacramento perch is special because it's the only fish from the Centrarchidae family that lives west of the Rockies.
A. interruptus is the only species in its group, called Archoplites. The name Archoplites comes from ancient Greek words meaning "ruler" and "bearing a shield." The word interruptus describes the broken or irregular stripes on the fish's sides.
How to Identify a Sacramento Perch
This fish has a deep body and long fins on its back and underside. It has a large mouth with many small teeth on its jaws, tongue, and the roof of its mouth. Its scales are large and brown on its sides and top, giving it a shiny, greenish-purple look. The easiest way to spot a Sacramento perch is by its uneven vertical stripes.
Male and female perch look a little different when they are ready to breed. Males become darker and have purple gill covers. Females are plainer in color and have spotted gill covers. The size of a Sacramento perch depends on its age. A one-year-old fish is usually 6–13 cm long. At two years old, it can be 12–19 cm. The biggest Sacramento perch ever found was 61 cm long.
Where Do Sacramento Perch Live?
In the past, Sacramento perch were common throughout the Central Valley of California in areas below 100 meters in height. They were very popular for fishing and were even eaten often because there were so many of them. They lived in slow-moving rivers, sloughs, and lakes with plants growing out of the water, like Clear Lake.
Sadly, the Sacramento perch has disappeared from 90% of its original homes. This happened because their habitats were destroyed. Also, other fish that are not native to the area eat their eggs and compete with them for food. Now, Sacramento perch are quite rare. They are mostly found in warm, cloudy, and salty farm ponds, reservoirs, and fishing lakes where they have been introduced. Only two natural groups of Sacramento perch still exist. They live in Clear Lake and the Alameda Creek area, as well as in some gravel pit ponds near the Calaveras Reservoir.
What Do Sacramento Perch Eat?
Aquatic insects are a very important part of the Sacramento perch's diet. In winter, they mostly eat midge larvae and pupae found on the bottom or in water plants. In summer, they mainly eat tiny plankton and other creatures found near the water's surface.
Sacramento perch are "opportunistic" eaters, meaning they will eat whatever is easiest to find. They have even been seen eating mosquito larvae! Smaller perch mostly eat tiny crustaceans. As they grow bigger, they move on to aquatic insects and even other fish. These fish are most active around sunrise and sunset, but they can feed at any time of day or night.
Sacramento Perch Life Cycle and Breeding
Sacramento perch lay their eggs, a process called spawning, from late March to early August. The busiest time for spawning is late May and early June, when water temperatures are between 18 and 29 °C. Sacramento perch are ready to breed when they are 2–3 years old.
The fish gather in shallow waters, often near rock piles, submerged roots, or other places where they can hide. Male perch each protect their own small area and dig nests for the females to lay their eggs. Males fiercely defend these nests from other males by chasing, biting, and flaring their gill covers. Females release their eggs into the nest, and the male quickly fertilizes them. Sometimes, the male and female release eggs and sperm at the same time, side by side. The male then guards the fertilized eggs for several days until they hatch, protecting them from other fish. When the tiny fish hatch, they float to the surface to feed and grow for a few weeks before settling down into the plants at the bottom.
Sacramento Perch and People
Helping Sacramento Perch
The Sacramento perch is a very strong fish that can eat many different things. It can handle cloudy water, high temperatures, and even water with high salt and alkalinity levels. Because of this, it has been chosen as a main fish for aquaponics systems. Aquaponics farms in California are using this endangered fish to help grow vegetables. This also helps the fish, as it's a way to breed Sacramento perch and then release them back into their natural waters. This helps add variety to the wild fish groups.
With California's temperatures rising, the mosquito population has been growing. A study showed that Sacramento perch raised in captivity prefer eating mosquito larvae. This means these fish could help control mosquito numbers in California wetlands. Even though there are fewer Sacramento perch today than in the past, many programs are working to bring them back to California waterways. Places like Putah Creek and Clear Lake once had many Sacramento perch. They disappeared because of large building projects. Now, these fish are being reintroduced upstream of their original homes in gravel pit ponds.
Sometimes, fish in these isolated groups are too closely related, which can cause problems. To prevent this, reintroduction programs choose the most diverse fish from existing groups. They also carefully watch the diversity of the new groups using genetic markers.
Fishing for Sacramento Perch
The Sacramento perch is considered a game fish, meaning people like to catch it for sport. The world record for the biggest Sacramento perch ever caught was 1.44 kg (3 lb 3 oz). This fish was caught in Crowley Lake in California in 1995.
Images for kids
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A Sacramento perch with its distinctive vertical stripes.
