Perch Families

Climbing Perch

Ocean Perch

White Perch

Walleye

Pronounced "Wally", this largest member of the true perch family in North America and can grow to 42 inches and 25 pounds, but the photo specimen was 18-1/2 inches and 2-3/4 pounds. This freshwater fish is found in the great lakes and in most major rivers in the Northeast of the U.S. and Canada. It is found in the Mississippi river basin as far south as Arkansas. Commercial aquaculture is in the development stages but large numbers are hatched for restocking lakes and rivers. Red List status "Not Evaluated".   Details and Cooking.

Zander

This elongated perch is native to Eastern an Central Europe, Sweden, Finland and Western Asia, but has been introduced into England and other countries as a popular angling fish. It can grow to 39 inches and 44 pounds, but is commonly around 20 inches and is considered a very good eating fish. Red List status is "Least Concern". Restaurants in Minnesota have been busted for serving imported Zander as Walleye (from which it is indistinguishable on the plate), so see Walleye for Details and Cooking.   Photo by Elnuko contributed to the Public Domain.

Yellow Perch

This North American native lives mainly in northern lakes and rivers, but a few are found as far south as South Carolina. It can grow to nearly 20 inches and 4-1/4 pounds, but is commonly quite a bit smaller. Red List status "Not Evaluated".   Photo by U.S. Department of Agriculture = public domain.

Egli / European Perch

Very similar to the North American Yellow Perch, but not yet proven to be the same species. This perch infests the ponds, rivers and streams of Europe and most of Siberia, except Spain and Italy which are too warm for it. In Europe they grow to about 10 pounds, but they have been introduced to New Zealand and Australia where the record is 23 pounds. They are commonly marketed at around 10 inches. Considered an excellent eating fish, caught wild and farmed. IUCN rated LC (Least Concern).   Photo by Dgp.martin distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported..

Mandarin Fish

A fresh water fish native to China and the Amur River basin, Mandarin Fish is an aggressive predator feeding entirely on the young of other fish species. This fish is called for in many Chinese fish recipes but is very rare here in Southern California - and rather expensive when it is available. Now farmed as well as caught wild, this fish can grow to nearly 28 inches and 17 pounds, but the photo specimen was 11-1/4 inches long and weighed 15-5/8 ounces. Red list status: Not Evaluated.   Details and Cooking.

Barramundi

This Indo-Pacific fish is very important in Southeast Asia and northern Australia, and also much appreciated in West Bengal and Bangladesh. Both wild and farmed, it is a sought after fish that fetches a premium price. It can grow to 78 inches and 132 pounds, but the photo specimen was 17 inches long, weighed 2 pounds 14 ounces. It probably came from from a fish farm in Thailand, but a growing number are farmed in North America. They are also farmed in Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia, with smaller operations in the UK and Holland.   Details and Cooking.

Nile Perch

This very large perch is native to the large rivers of East Africa, Central Africa and Ghana in West Africa. It has been introduced to Lake Victoria with considerable disruption of the lake ecology. It can grow to 6 feet 6 inches and weigh 440 pounds. Nile Perch is a very important food fish in the parts of Africa where it is found, and is also exported to Europe. IUCN Red List LC (Least Concern) - considered a serious invasive in some regions.   Details and Cooking.   Photo by Daiju Azuma distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike v4.0 International.