Perch Dissection Lab
By Aryeh Gruber
Objectives
Observe Internal and external anatomy of perch. Observe placement of organs and their relationships to one another.
Background Info
Perch, scientifically known as Perca flavescens, and mainly found in clearwater lakes. Perch are relatively bad swimmers, so perch stay in schools, or groups, for better protection. The main predators of perch are larger fish and of course humans. Perch mainly feed on algae and plankton, but as they age and grow bigger, perch will eat small aquatic animals. Based off this diet, perch have developed gill rankers, which are small filters in their gills which help filter out zooplankton. Perch are very economically advantageous for humans when it is fishing season. It was recorded that 85% of fish caught in Lake Michigan were perch. An interesting fact about perch is that there are seven differetn kinds of this one fish.
Circulatory System
The perch circulatory system is made up of a 2 chambered heart, arteries, gills, capillaries, veins. The Heart consists of one atrium and one ventricle. The circulatory system of the perch is a typical low pressure single type system in which the heart is a single pump and there is a single circuit of blood flow. Oxygen-poor blood from the body is pumped through the heart forward to the gills. From the gills, where the blood is oxygenated, the blood goes directly to the body. Here, the blood makes a single circuit during which it is pumped, oxygenated, and distributed to the body, before it returns to the heart.
Works Cited
http://gallery.nanfa.org/d/31185-3/Yellow+Perch+_edit__+8-31-10_+NT.jpg
http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/2010/dorff_kell/adaptation.htm
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Perca_flavescens/
http://www.anselm.edu/homepage/jpitocch/genbio/circclosed.JPG
http://www.thunderboltkids.co.za/Grade6/01-life-and-living/images/gd-0092.jpg
http://wiki.hicksvilleschools.org/groups/hsbiology/wiki/30912/images/__thumbs__/325db.jpg