Nile perch: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the Nile perch lives – recorded in 8 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Lates niloticus
Group	Bony fish
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	8 countries
Continents	Africa, Europe, North America
Class	Ray-finned fish
Order	Carangiformes
Family	Latidae

Where does the Nile perch live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the Nile perch in 8 countries and territories across Africa, Europe and North America. In Kenya it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the Nile perch endangered?

The Nile perch’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the Nile perch?

The Nile perch (Lates niloticus) is a ray-finned fish in the order Carangiformes and the family Latidae, genus Lates. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the Nile perch

The Nile perch (Lates niloticus), 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 (a misleading trade name, as the species is not native to Lake Victoria, though they have been introduced there), 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 in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Nile perch (revision 1355070952), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q654130 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).