The Perch is also known as the European Perch and the Redfin Perch because its fins have orange-red markings on them. It is a freshwater fish that can be found throughout the country in slow-flowing rivers, deep lakes and large ponds which have lots of water weeds. The Perch swims with other Perch and with other species of fish in a large group called a ‘school’. The school can be as large as twenty to three hundred.

The Perch usually grows about forty-five centimetres in length and weighs around ten kilogrammes. It has an oval-shaped body and as it grows bigger and bigger it develops a hump on its back. Its back is a dark olive colour and its sides are a golden colour with about five dark vertical lines running down the sides of its body. The Perch has two fins on the top of its body and these fins are called ‘dorsal’ fins. The dorsal fin at the front is made up of sharp spines. The Perch has rough scales all over its body and it has two large black eyes.

The Perch often keeps very still in shady parts of the water where there are water weeds, but although it lurks motionless, it can still catch food very quickly. It feeds on crustaceans, worms, insect larvae and small fish. Sometimes it even eats small Perch.