Endangered
Sacramento perch
Archoplites interruptus
The Sacramento perch is a freshwater sunfish endemic to California, and transplanted to other parts of the western United States.
Appearance
Being deep-bodied refers to it being wide in length from its ventral to dorsal side. The dorsal fin has a strictly spiny portion with about 12–14 spines that is continuous, with the soft-rayed portion that has 10–11 spines. It has fairly large cycloid scales numerously ranging from 38 to 48 along the lateral line in an adult.
On average, its depth is 2.5 times greater than the average length of all other Centrarchids. A Sacramento perch at age one would measure 6–13 cm, at age two it would be 12–19 cm, and the growth rate will begin to slow.
Range and habitat
Historically, the Sacramento perch was found throughout the Central Valley of California at elevations below 100 m. It inhabited sloughs, slow-moving rivers of the Pajaro and Salinas rivers, and lakes with emergent vegetation such as Clear Lake. This species has been eliminated from 90% of its natural habitat due to habitat destruction, egg predation by invasive fish species, and interspecific competition with other centrarchids, mainly bluegill.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet
Aquatic insects are critical to the Sacramento perch's diet. This fish mostly feeds on chironomid midge larvae and pupae found on the bottom or in aquatic plants during winter months.
During the summer months, this fish will mostly feed on plankton and other surface organisms. The Sacramento perch is an opportunistic species and will generally prey upon whatever is in abundance. Spawning occurs from late March through early August, with peak times being late May and early June when water temperatures are between 18 and 29 °C.
In crisis
Due its small range and the impact of introduced species on it, it is considered Endangered on the IUCN Red List. While there is no updated analysis of their populations in these states, it is certain that they still exist throughout California. Even so, there is speculation of viable populations in Utah, Nevada, and Colorado.
The Sacramento perch is considered endangered according to the IUCN red list and its populations are projected to continually decline. The main threat to its population numbers is not so much climate change or even the change in water quality.
Sacramento perch is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Sacramento perch, Wikidata item Q2152200. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
