Nile perch

Nile perch
Lates niloticus
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Latidae
Genus:	Lates
Species:	L. niloticus
Binomial name
Lates niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Labrus niloticus Linnaeus, 1758 Centropomus niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758) Lates niloticus macrolepidota Pellegrin, 1922 Lates albertianus Worthington, 1929 Lates niloticus albertianus Worthington, 1929 Lates nilotus rudolfianus Worthington, 1929

The Nile perch (Lates niloticus), also known as the African snook, Goliath perch, African barramundi, Goliath barramundi, Giant lates or the Victoria perch, is a species of freshwater fish in family Latidae of order Perciformes. 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.^[2] 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".