The golden mandarin fish (''Siniperca scherzeri''), also known as the leopard mandarin fish, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of freshwater

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

, an Asian perch from the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Sinipercidae Sinipercidae, the Chinese perches or Oriental perches, is a Family (biology), family of freshwater ray-finned fishes , part of the order Centrarchiformes. They have been placed within the temperate perch family (Percichthyidae) in the past, but a ...

, which is native to eastern

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

(

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

). This species can reach at least in

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is ...

and in weight. It is typically yellowish-brown with blackish-brown speckles ("leopard"), but there are also bright yellow ("golden") individuals, which are particularly prized in Korea and selectively bred in captivity. It is a commercially important fish, but has declined due to

overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing Fish stocks, fish stock), resu ...

and

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

.Liu, L.; X.-F. Liang; and J. Fang (2017). The optimal stocking density for hybrid of Siniperca chuatsi (♀) × Siniperca scherzeri (♂) mandarin fish fed minced prey fish. Aquaculture Research 48(3): 1342–1345. It is farmed; typically using pure specimens, but sometimes involving hybrids with the faster-growing mandarin fish (''

Siniperca chuatsi ''Siniperca chuatsi'', the mandarin fish (,), is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish from the family Sinipercidae, the Oriental perches. It is the type species of the genus '' Siniperca'' (Chinese perches). Description ''Siniperca chautsi'' ...

'').

Danyang County Danyang County () is in North Chungcheong Province, South Korea. Symbols *County tree: Yew tree *County bird: Magpie *County flower: Royal Azalea Geography The geographical terrain is 83.7% mountainous and 11.2% cultivable. It is very rugged, ...

, North Chungcheong Province organizes a fishing festival for golden mandarin fish every April.

References

Siniperca Fish of Asia Fish of China Fish of Korea Taxa named by Franz Steindachner Fish described in 1892 {{Centrarchiformes-stub