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).