Get to know yellow perch: identifying features, habitat, food, and life cycle.
Identification & habitat
- Scientific name: Perca flavescens; perch family.
- Bars: Usually 6–8 dark vertical bars.
- Color: Olive back, golden-yellow sides, pale belly.
- Fins: Two separate dorsal fins.
- Teeth: Lacks the large canine-like teeth of walleye.
- Regional size: Missouri adults often 6–8 inches; size varies geographically.
- Habitat: Primarily a lake fish, more common farther north.
- Movement: Often deeper by day, moving inshore late in the day.
- Placement: Egg strings settle over vegetation, sand, or gravel.
Food & behavior
- Social: Forms large schools.
- Food: Small crustaceans, insects, and fish.
- Food-web role: Important prey for bass, walleye, pike, and fish-eating birds.
Spawning, growth & lifespan
- Spawning: Spring.
- Eggs: Released in long connected gelatinous strings.
Sources & further reading
Research checked October 18, 2026. Common sizes and ages are examples rather than hard limits. Missouri spawning dates are regional unless another location is named. Consult the current local fishing rules for the water you plan to fish.