Hello!
Recently, I headed out to Beaverton, Ontario with my family to fish on Lake Simcoe. During that trip, my brother caught one perch that was quite perculiar. The perch had blue markings on its side and near its mouth. Below, I have included a picture of the weird perch beside the picture of a typical perch. Can anyone identify the cause of the blue markings?
Interesting. Could it be a variant of one of these?
The guy in reply #19 says he has caught partly blue perch before.
My dad used to take me out to fish on that lake every summer!! I remember catching a few blue perch and I would ask my dad if it was a new species. He explained that color differences between a species are normal, and that more than differences in color are necessary to call something a new species! I'd say your brother just got a very lucky catch! XD
Yup, mutated long ago unless you think evolution is a hoax perpetrated by Satan.
I don't know much about this topic, but rare color markings in animals because of very small genetic defects happens. For example, blue lobsters are rare but not unheard of:
I think you caught a freak of nature, but probably something that is known to happen from time to time.
Google blue perch fish.
There's many different kinds of perch being farmed worldwide as they're good for ya.
In the UK we have a lot of rainbow trout fisheries which stock a small number of blue and also golden trout. These are rainbow trout that have been selectively bred to loose one or more pigments so they are no longer rainbow just blue or gold.
EDIT: Link added
I assume this colour variation through lose one or more pigments can also occur naturally and in most species.
Went fishing yesterday, 44 degrees, lots of bites but only one small snapper landed.
Duane B