The golden mandarin fish (Siniperca scherzeri), also known as the leopard mandarin fish, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, an Asian perch of the family Sinipercidae, which is native to eastern Asia (Korea, China, and Vietnam). This species can reach at least in standard length and in weight.Shao, Li, Zhang, Lin, Xie, Wu and Wei (2016). Length–weight and length–length relationships of four endemic fish species from the middle reaches of the Yangtze River basin, China. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 32: 1329–1330. It is typically yellowish-brown with blackish-brown speckles ("leopard"), but there are also bright yellow ("golden") individuals, which are particularly prized in KoreaFishillust: Leopard mandarin fish; Siniperca scherzeri. Retrieved 13 February 2017. and selectively bred in captivity.Luo, Yang, Liang, Jin, Lv, Tian, Yuan and Sun (2015). Genetic diversity and genetic structure of consecutive breeding generations of golden mandarin fish (Siniperca scherzeri Steindachner) using microsatellite markers. Genetics and molecular research 14(3):11348-11355.
It is a commercially important fish, but has declined due to overfishing and habitat loss.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,Yang, Guo, Liang, Tian, Lv, Zhu and Wang (2015). Parentage determination in golden mandarin fish (Siniperca scherzeri) based on microsatellite DNA markers. Aquacult. Int. 23: 499–507. but sometimes involving hybrids with the faster-growing mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi). Danyang County, North Chungcheong Province organizes a fishing festival for golden mandarin fish every April.
Genomics A chromosome-level genome assembly of the golden mandarin fish (Siniperca scherzeri) was published in 2026. The genome size is approximately 758 Mb, with the assembly anchored to 24 chromosomes. The assembly has a BUSCO completeness of 97.8%, and 24,615 protein-coding genes were predicted.
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