the saw-perches or jag-perches forms an extensive perch-group of over 500 types in 30 types as well. We find the largest form-variety in tropical and subtropical seas, the species-number is only low in the restrained waters on the other hand. Far most jag-perches live marin, however, many rise into rivers to spawning. Some few saw-perches from the types spends Roccus and Siniperca its life fully in the freshwater.
Shape Jag-perches let themselves distinguish usually good from other perch-fishings. This frequently very much penetrated and robustly built animals are compressed in the rear part of the body at the side, in the head-area, until to the wide mouth-split, widens however. Only the types, that freely one - and fast-swimming way of life leads, also is in the front compressed more strongly at the side and consequently streamlined.
The mighty one, from thick lips, mouth bordered a large number of small, sharp teeth, that are ordered in several rows, carries. With some saw-perches, the mouth with bigger fangs ("dog-teeth") is additionally still fortified. The serrated back-fin (therefore the name) almost always is nonstop, therefore bisected not, and becomes, as with all perches, supported in the fore part through thorn-radiations.
Within the family, we find considerable size-differences: Face the smallest types with only 3 cm of length such with 3 m of total-length. Accordingly, also the weights fluctuate. While the dwarfs among the jag-perches weigh only few grams, the heaviest types bring almost one half ton on the scales with 350-450 kg.
We discover enormous variety also in color and drawing. Particularly among the coral-reef-living in saw-perches, there are splendid types in iridescent colors (black, blue, violet, red, orange and yellow) with the most diverse dot, point, and line-patterns. According to mood, some forms can change the color even in a flash. The showy color-clothes obviously are with the innerartlichen precinct-demarcation of meaning, like like we this also from other coral-fishings knows (Borstenzähner, coral-perches, butterfly-fish).
Loot-acquisition The main-food of the saw-perches consists of fishings, cancers and mollusks. The observer is easily inclined, that for hours motionless in a hiding place of holding out fish as "lazy" and, to classify "inertly", until it this quickly hastily-finishes perch of a better taught. Near past-swimming loot-animals are packed so fast with the far torn mouth that they can indeed hardly escape. The strongly muscular tail-stalk with the powerful tail fluke awards the perch the necessary acceleration on that occasion.
Other types are free-swimming robbers, who pursue the loot-fish escaping in swarms with big endurance, in contrast to this Lauertyp lying on the reason.
In the aquarium, many jag-perches prove to be insatiable lurch, that easily überfressen itself and then under digestive-difficulties suffers. At the feeding, restraint therefore is offered.
Reproduction At the reproduction of the saw-perches, we find showy peculiarities. Sundries types are hermaphrodites, d. h., each of the animals owns a complete female and male sex-appliance and produces eggs and seed-cells simultaneously. These hermaphrodites fertilize themselves mutually. In the extreme-case, with lack of a Geschlechtspartners, the self-fertilization even occurs.
Another type, the black saw-perch (Centropristis striatus) from the American East coast and from the golf from Mexico, lives mainly as young-fish as females. A certain part of these females then is converted to normal, fertilization-capable males after approximately 5 years, an appearance, that we observe also with Meerbrassen and Lippfishesn in similar manner.
Types In the following one, only the most important types should be listed.
Wreck-perches (type Polyprion)) One often meets wreck-perches near old shipwrecks or flotsam. Besides loot-fishings and mollusks, the fish find also sea-smallpox there, that they eat with big preference. Found out fishers often catch large quantities of these perches at such wrecks. The Atlantic wreck-perch (Polyprion americanus), as well up to 2 m of length one of the most magnificent saw-perches, populates the coasts of the tropical Atlantic and the Mediterranean and advances also in the North sea as an exception.
Strip-perches (type Roccus)) In this type, there are several freshwater-inhabitants. This yellow saw-perch (Roccus mississippiensis); Length until 45 cm, is given a home in the Mississippi-stream-area, while the white saw-perch (Roccus chrysops, until 45 cm) occurs in the big seas farther northwards as well.
The wolf or sea-perch (Roccus labrax) occurs also at German coasts. However, the waters are the main-spread-area south from the British islands, as well as the Mediterranean as far as to the black sea. The fish, who goes to spawning into rivers, now and then was caught also in the Elbe earlier however, what should occur hardly more at the present-day water pollution.
The wolf-perch hunts smaller swarm-fish like sardines and other small-herrings usually in troops. it is primarily fished with fishing rods and is very much estimated with sport-anglers because of its pugnacity.
Writing-perch (Serranus scriba)) Another European type is the writing-perch living in the Mediterranean, who looks with blue stain on silvery until brownish reason actually so, as one has tried out a fountain pen on its body. This quite frequent saw-perch occupies rock-caves and other natural hiding place-possibilities as precinct-center. The only 30 cm long fish claims a precinct of 40-70 m2 after all, as could be determined at homestead-observations in the Adriatic.
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