White bass or White perch?

How to tell the white bass from the white perch (and why it matters).
Don't let the name fool you--the white perch is not a member of the perch family. Actually, it's in the same family as the white bass (the temperate basses). These two fish can be very hard to tell apart.

While the white bass is native to the Great Lakes, the white perch is an invader that may reduce populations of native fish such as walleye and white bass. Additionally, white bass can interbreed with white perch, which could dilute the gene pools of both species. (See the white perch profile for more information.)

There are several ways to tell the fish apart.

First, the white bass has 6-10 dark horizontal lines on its back and sides; the white perch does not.
Second, gently pull the spiny dorsal erect. If the soft dorsal fin also becomes erect, you've got a white perch. If not, it's a white bass.
For more information and other ways to tell a white bass from a white perch, see "Is It a White Bass or a White Perch" by Ohio Sea Grant.

To confuse the issue further, the freshwater drum (or sheepshead) is sometimes (incorrectly) called a white perch. The freshwater drum can be distinguished by a lateral line that extends all the way to the end of its bluntly pointed caudal (tail) fin.

Back to white perch profile.
Back to white bass profile.

Sources: "Is It a White Bass or a White Perch," written by Fred L. Snyder, Ohio Sea Grant, 1999.
Fishes of Wisconsin, George C. Becker, University of Wisconsin Press, 1983.

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