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SpeciesPerciformesLatidae
Fish

🐟Nile perch

Lates niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Nile perch, also known as the African snook, Goliath perch, Nile lates, African lates, Goliath lates, Victoria lates, African barramundi, Goliath barramundi, Giant lates or the Victoria perch, is a species of freshwater fish in the family Latidae of the order Carangiformes. It is widespread throughout much of the Afrotropical realm, being native to the Congo, Nile, Senegal, Niger and Lake Chad, Volta, Lake Turkana, and other river basins. It also occurs in the brackish waters of Lake Maryut in Egypt. The Nile perch is a fish of substantial economic and food-security importance in East Africa. Originally described as Labrus niloticus, among the marine wrasses, the species has also been referred to as Centropomus niloticus. Common names include African snook, Victoria perch, and many local names in various African languages, such as the Luo name mbuta or mputa. In Tanzania, it is called sangara, sankara, or chenku. In Francophone African countries, it is known as capitaine. Its name in the Hausa language is giwan ruwa, meaning "water elephant".

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Measurements
7
vs you
≈ 1.8× your weight
Also called
Lates niloticus, African Snook, Victoria Perch
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2020.

Population trendUnknown
Key measurements
Body mass
110 kg
Body length
1 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
7.8 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Nile perch

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
110 kgrecord 200 kg · FishBase
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Record: largest individual on record

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Body length
1 mrecord 2 m · FishBasetypical adult
FishBase
Details ↓

Record: largest individual on record

Source: FishBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

Maximum lifespan
7.8 years
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Trophic level
4.48
FishBase
Details ↓

Source: FishBase · v25.04, estimate table · CC BY-NC 4.0

Diet
carnivoreaverage
Details ↓

From trophic level 4.48 (FishBase): <2.2 herbivore, 2.2–2.8 omnivore, >2.8 carnivore.

Danger to humans
potential pest
FishBase
Details ↓

Source: FishBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

Volume l
110 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Nile perch yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›orderPerciformes
  4. ›familyLatidae
  5. ›genusLates
  6. ›speciesLates niloticus
Full lineage
  1. superclassRay-finned fish · Actinopterygii
  2. orderAcanthomorphata
  3. familyCentropomidae
  4. genusLates
All 11 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassRay-finned fish · Actinopterygii
  7. classActinopteri
  8. subclassNeopterygii
  9. orderAcanthomorphata
  10. familyCentropomidae
  11. genusLates
More

More about the Nile perch

In other languages
Perca del nilo (es), Perche du Nil (fr), Lates nilowy (pl), נסיכת הנילוס (he), nílusi sügér (hu), Persico del Nilo (it) … and 24 more languages
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