European Perch

A freshwater fish native to basins across Europe, from the British Isles east to Siberia's Kolyma River, though absent from the Iberian Peninsula, and also found in the brackish Baltic Sea. Its greenish body carries five to eight dark vertical bars and red pelvic, anal and caudal fins, and older individuals often develop a hump behind the head. It favors slow-flowing rivers, deep lakes and ponds with good light penetration, avoiding cold or fast water, and can live over twenty years and reach 60 centimeters. Juveniles feed on zooplankton and bottom invertebrates before adults turn to eating smaller fish such as sticklebacks, roach and minnows.