Sightings of rare and unique critters are popping up around Sudbury recently.
Last week, Sudbury.com received photos of a rare blue bullfrog, and earlier this week, thanks to some help from Science North, we were able to identify a colour-changing tree frog.
The hits keep coming, as Bob Ethier sent us photos of a blue perch he caught while fishing with his grandchildren Alla (8) and Max (5) last week on Whitewater Lake in Azilda.
"I don't really fish all that much, just when my grandchildren visit," said Ethier. "We were out on the lake and I caught this little guy and when I brought it in the boat I was pretty surprised by the colour of it."
Bob snapped a few photos of the fish, which is actually a yellow perch, before tossing it back in the lake.
"The grandkids were really excited to see it, once we got it in the boat and saw it in the sunlight it was really neat, it was almost a transparent blue," said Ethier.
"I had seen the story about the blue frog on Sudbury.com and thought I should get some photos and send them in."
Blue perch are quite rare to the Greater Sudbury area, according to Science North staff scientist Amy Henson, who explained that much like the blue bullfrog, blue perch are the result of genetic mutation where the fish lacks yellow pigmentation.
"I always compare these types of thing to leaves in the fall," said Henson. "During the summer, chlorophyll causes the leaves to be green, but as the chlorophyll disappears you see the underlying colours like yellow and orange and red start to show through."
While not that common in Sudbury, Henson says that this mutation in yellow perch is seen with some regularity in northern parts of the United States.
"I haven't seen one like that around here, but in northern states like Minnesota you can see entire populations with this mutation," said Henson. "If you're catching them to eat, they are still safe, the blue colour won't have any negative effects on the fish."
Ethier and his grandkids didn't eat their perch, but Bob says he's hopeful that he'll see another like it, if not the same fish.
"We just tossed him back in there, he was pretty small," said Ethier. "Maybe we'll catch him again one day when he's bigger."
Have an unusual animal you'd like to share with Sudbury.com? Send a photo or video to [email protected].
