“…In late spring and early summer, the open water of many deep, thermally stratified European lakes and reservoirs is occupied by young‐of‐the‐year European perch ( Perca fluviatilis : Percidae, L.), a widely distributed species that accounts for a considerable proportion of pelagic early juveniles communities (Čech, Kubečka, Frouzová, Draštík, Kratochvíl, & Jarošík, ; Jůza et al., ; Probst, Thomas, & Eckmann, ; Vašek et al., ; Vejřík, Matějíčková, Jůza, et al., ; Wang & Appenzeller, ). Perch early juveniles (larvae and juveniles till the metamorphosis when fish started to be fully pigmented with individual fins fully developed) were observed to split into vertically separated communities (epipelagic, bathypelagic) in which spatially and temporarily distinct bathypelagic early juveniles migrated vertically as part of their antipredatory behaviour.…”