Perch

Perches Temporal range: Pliocene–recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ [1]
Yellow perch (Perca flavescens)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Percidae
Subfamily:	Percinae Rafinesque, 1815
Genus:	Perca Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Perca fluviatilis Linnaeus, 1758
Species
P. flavescens Mitchill, 1814 (yellow perch) P. fluviatilis Linnaeus, 1758 (European perch) P. schrenkii Kessler, 1874 (Balkhash perch)

Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus Perca, which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from Greek: πέρκη, romanized: perke, meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (P. fluviatilis).

Many species of freshwater game fish more or less resemble perch, but belong to different genera. In fact, the exclusively saltwater-dwelling red drum (which belong to a different order Acanthuriformes) is often referred to as a "red perch", though by definition perch are freshwater species. Though many fish are referred to as perch as a common name, to be considered a true perch, the fish must be of the family Percidae.