Mandarin fish

Mandarin fish

　　The mandarin fish, also known as the Chinese perch, has smooth skin and few bones, with tender and delicious meat. It is abundantly found in the Xinfengjiang Reservoir.

Morphological characteristics: The body is high and laterally compressed, with a raised back. It has a large head and pointed snout. The mouth is large, with slightly oblique jaws, an underslung lower jaw, and an upper jaw extending back to the posterior edge of the eye. The posterior margin of the preoperculum is serrated, with 4–5 large spines. The body is covered with small, round scales, and the cheek, operculum, and gill cover are also scaled. The lateral line curves upward along the dorsal arc. The dorsal fin is long, with hard spines in the front portion. The pelvic fin is rounded, the caudal peduncle is short and broad, and the caudal fin is fan-shaped. The body is yellowish-green with a grayish-white belly, and the sides feature irregular brown spots and patches. A black stripe runs from the snout through the eye orbit to just below the front part of the dorsal fin. Below the 6th–7th dorsal spines, there is a broader dark brown vertical band. The dorsal, anal, and caudal fins are marked with interconnected brown spots forming bands.