Siniperca chuatsi (Basilewsky, 1855)
Mandarin fish
photo by CAFS

Family:  Sinipercidae (Chinese perches)
Max. size:  70 cm TL (male/unsexed); max.weight: 8,000.0 g; max. reported age: 9 years
Environment:  benthopelagic; freshwater; pH range: 7 - 7.40000009536743; dH range: 2 - 5; depth range - 10 m
Distribution:  Asia: Amur River basin and China.
Diagnosis:  Big mouth, upper jaw extend trailing edge of eye. High body, side flat, backside with ridges. Anomalistic macula and dark spots on the sides; 4-5 dark horizontal stripes near the base of dorsal fin (Ref. 85820).
Biology:  Adults inhabit rivers (Ref. 26334). Are demersal piscivores which have very specialized feeding habits--as soon as they start feeding, they feed solely on fry of other fish species. Typical of stalking predators, they rely on vision for following the movement of prey before leaping forward and snapping at the victim. Prey consist mostly of diurnal fishes whose eyes have color vision and high acuity but cannot function at night. The habitat of the Chinese perch is usually rich in macrophytes and might be very turbid during rainy season (Ref. 28033).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 17 March 2020 Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


Source and more info: www.fishbase.org. For personal, classroom, and other internal use only. Not for publication.