Editing Nile perch

{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2017}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Speciesbox
 | image               = Lates niloticus by DaijuAzuma.jpg
 | image_caption       = ''Lates niloticus''
 | status              = LC
 | status_system       = IUCN3.1
 | status_ref          = <ref>{{cite iucn | author1 = Lalèyè, P.|author2= Azeroual, A.|author3= Entsua-Mensah, M.|author4= Getahun, A.|author5= Moelants, T. |author6= Ntakimazi, G. |name-list-style=amp |year=2020 |title= ''Lates niloticus'' |page= e.T181839A84244538 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T181839A84244538.en |access-date=8 April 2024}}</ref>
 | taxon = Lates niloticus
 | authority  = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[Systema Naturae|1758]])
 | synonyms            = {{species list
|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}}
}}
[[File:Nile perch total production thousand tonnes 1950-2022.svg|thumb|Capture (blue) and aquaculture (green) production of Nile perch (''Lates niloticus'') in thousand tonnes from 1950 to 2022, as reported by the [[Food and Agriculture Organization|FAO]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fisheries and Aquaculture - Global Production |url=https://www.fao.org/fishery/en/collection/global_production?lang=en |access-date=2024-05-06 |website=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)}}</ref>]]
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 River|Congo]], [[Nile River|Nile]], [[Senegal River|Senegal]], [[Niger River|Niger]] and [[Lake Chad]], [[Lake Volta|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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chrétien|first1=Emmanuelle|last2=Chapman|first2=Lauren J.|date=2016|title=Tropical fish in a warming world: thermal tolerance of Nile perchLates niloticus(L.) in Lake Nabugabo, Uganda|journal=Conservation Physiology|volume=4|issue=1|pages=cow062|doi=10.1093/conphys/cow062|issn=2051-1434|pmc=5156894|pmid=27990290}}</ref> Originally described as ''Labrus niloticus,'' among the marine [[wrasse]]s, 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 languages|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".

==Description==
''L. niloticus'' is silver in color with a blue tinge. It has distinctive dark-black eyes, with a bright-yellow outer ring. One of the largest [[freshwater fish]]es, it reaches a maximum length of nearly {{convert|2|m|abbr=on}}, weighing up to {{convert|200|kg|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kaufman|first=Les|author-link=Les Kaufman|title=Catastrophic Change in Species-Rich Freshwater Ecosystems: The lessons of Lake Victoria|journal=[[BioScience]]|volume=42|issue=11|pages=846–858|doi=10.2307/1312084 |jstor=1312084|year=1992}}</ref> Mature fish typically range from {{convert|1.21|–|1.37|m|abbr=on}}, although many fish are caught before they can grow this large.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wood|title=The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats|publisher=Sterling Pub Co Inc.|year=1983|isbn=978-0-85112-235-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessbookofan00wood}}</ref>

[[File:Capitaine Nile Perch.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A juvenile Nile perch (''Lates niloticus''), postcard drawing by Mrs. Hopson, 1966, Lake Chad Research Station, Malamfatori, Nigeria]]

Adult Nile perch occupy all habitats of a lake with sufficient [[oxygen]] concentrations, while juveniles are restricted to shallow or nearshore environments. A fierce [[predator]] that dominates its surroundings, the Nile perch feeds on fish (including its own species), [[crustaceans]], [[mollusc]]s, and [[insect]]s; the juveniles also feed on [[zooplankton]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Lates_niloticus/ | title=Lates niloticus (Victoria perch) | website=[[Animal Diversity Web]] }}</ref> Nile perch use [[Shoaling and schooling|schooling]] as a mechanism to protect themselves from other predators.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Lates niloticus (Nile perch)|url=https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/77994|access-date=2021-06-02|journal=Cabi Compendium|date=2022 |doi=10.1079/cabicompendium.77994 |last1=Witte |first1=Frans |volume=CABI Compendium |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Nile perch (Lates niloticus) - Species Profile|url=https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.aspx?speciesID=412|access-date=2021-06-02|website=nas.er.usgs.gov}}</ref>

==Invasive species==
Nile perch have been introduced to many other lakes in Africa, including Lake Victoria  <!-- (see [[#Lake Victoria introduction|below]]) --> and the artificial [[Lake Nasser]]. The [[IUCN|World Conservation Union]]'s Invasive Species Specialist Group considers ''L. niloticus'' one of the world's 100 worst invasive species.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|last=PRINGLE|first=ROBERT M.|date=2011|title=NILE PERCH|url=https://pringle.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/798/2020/10/2011_Pringle-Encyclopedia-Invasive-Spp.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://pringle.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/798/2020/10/2011_Pringle-Encyclopedia-Invasive-Spp.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Biological Invasions|pages=1–5}}</ref>

The state of [[Queensland]] in Australia levies heavy fines on anyone found in possession of a living Nile perch, since it competes directly with the native [[barramundi]], which is similar and grows to {{convert|1.5|m|abbr=on}} long, while the Nile perch grows to {{convert|2.0|m|abbr=on}} long.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Society|first1=National Geographic|title=Invasive Species|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.org/topics/resource-library-invasive-species/|access-date=2021-06-02|website=www.nationalgeographic.org|language=en}}</ref>

The species is of great commercial importance as a food fish. The Nile perch is also popular with sport [[fishing|anglers]], as it attacks artificial [[fishing lure]]s, and it is also raised in [[aquaculture]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Invasion Biology Introduced Species Summary Project - Columbia University|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/cerc/danoff-burg/invasion_bio/inv_spp_summ/Lates_niloticus.htm|access-date=2021-06-02|website=www.columbia.edu}}</ref>

===Lake Victoria introduction===
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2021}}
{{See also|Fishing on Lake Victoria}}
[[File:Lates niloticus 2.jpg|thumb|Nile perch can grow to {{convert|2|m|abbr=on}} and {{convert|200|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/415342/Nile-perch|title=Nile perch|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=2011-06-27}}</ref>]]
The introduction of this species to Lake Victoria is one of the most cited examples of the negative effects alien species can have on ecosystems.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Impact of an Invasive Species |url=https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/impact-invasive-species |access-date=2023-06-07 |website=education.nationalgeographic.org |language=en}}</ref>

The Nile perch was [[introduced species|introduced]] to Lake Victoria in East Africa in the 1950s,<ref name=Pringle1>{{cite journal|last1=Pringle|first1=Robert M. |title=The origins of the Nile Perch in Lake Victoria |journal=BioScience |volume=55 |issue=9 |pages=780–787 |year=2005 |doi=10.1641/0006-3568(2005)055[0780:TOOTNP]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=13720490 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=Pringle2>{{Cite journal| issn = 0001-9720| volume = 75| issue = 4| pages = 510–538| last = Pringle| first = Robert M.| s2cid = 7566999| title = The Nile Perch in Lake Victoria: local responses and adaptations| journal = Africa: Journal of the International African Institute| date = 2005| doi=10.3366/afr.2005.75.4.510| jstor=3556959}}</ref> and has since been fished commercially. In 2003, Nile perch sales to the EU reached 169 million euros. Sport-fishing in the region of Uganda and Tanzania provided additional income from tourism.

Its introduction was ecologically disruptive and is attributed with causing the extinction or near-[[extinction]] of several hundred native species, with some populations fluctuating with [[commercial fishing]] and the actual Nile perch stocks. The Nile perch initially fed on native cichlids, but with decreasing availability of this prey, it now consumes mainly small [[shrimp]] and [[minnow]]s.

The alteration of the native ecosystem had disruptive socioeconomic effects on local communities bordering the lake. Many local people have been displaced from their traditional occupations in the fishing trade and brought them into the cash economy, or before the establishment of export-oriented fisheries, turned them into [[economic refugee]]s<!-- (see for a critique on this view: Ben-Yami 1996, Beuving 2010)-->. At least initially, nets strong enough to hold adult Nile perch could not be manufactured locally and had to be imported for a high price.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/3/t0037e/T0037E04.htm |title= RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN LAKE VICTORIA FISHERIES: THE NILE PERCH |website=fao.org |access-date=August 17, 2019}}</ref>

The introduction of Nile perch has also had additional ecological effects on shore. Native cichlids were traditionally sun-dried, but because Nile perch have a high fat content (higher than cichlids), they need to be smoked to avoid spoiling. This has led to an increased demand for firewood in a region already hard-hit by [[deforestation]], [[soil erosion]], and [[desertification]].

The [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]]-nominated documentary ''[[Darwin's Nightmare]]'' by [[Hubert Sauper]] (a French-Austrian-Belgian production, 2004) deals with the damage that has been caused by Nile perch introduction, including the import of weapons and ammunition in cargo planes from Europe, which are then used to export Nile perch, further exacerbating conflict and misery in the surrounding regions.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Socio-economic effects of the evolution of Nile perch fisheries in Lake Victoria: a review|url=http://www.fao.org/3/T0037E/T0037E09.htm|access-date=2021-06-02|website=www.fao.org}}</ref>

Regardless of whether it is considered positive or negative,<ref>{{cite book |last=Ben-Yami |first=M. |year=1996 |chapter=Ecological and socioeconomic aspects of the expansion of Nile Perch in Lake Victoria |pages=95–110 |editor-last=Meyer |editor-first=R. M. |title=Fisheries Resource Utilization and Policy. Proc. World Fisheries Congress. Theme 2 |publisher=Oxford & IBH Publ.Co. |location=New Delhi |isbn=1-886106-28-2 |display-editors=etal}}</ref> the [[trophic web]] of Lake Victoria appears to have been drastically impoverished by the introduction of this novel near-[[top-level predator]]. While the ecosystem seems to be moving towards a new equilibrium, neither its former state nor the state of fisheries on Lake Victoria can ever easily be brought back.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pringle|first=M. Robert|date=2005|title=The Origins of the Nile Perch in Lake Victoria|journal=BioScience|volume=55|issue=9|pages=780–787|doi=10.1641/0006-3568(2005)055[0780:TOOTNP]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=13720490 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kitchell|first=F.James|date=1997|title=The Nile Perch in Lake Victoria: Interactions Between Predation and Fisheries|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2269528|journal= Ecological Applications|volume=7|issue=2|pages=653–664|doi=10.1890/1051-0761(1997)007[0653:TNPILV]2.0.CO;2|jstor=2269528|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pringle|first=M.Robert|date=2005|title=The Nile Perch in Lake Victoria: Local Responses and Adaptations|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3556959|journal= Africa: Journal of the International African Institute|volume=75|issue=4|pages=510–538|doi=10.3366/afr.2005.75.4.510|jstor=3556959|s2cid=7566999|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
<!-- uncited Nile Perch have created dead zones of algae and have affected the living creatures in Lake Victoria.-->

==Threats==
Despite being a successful invasive species, the fish faces threats. Being a species of [[megafauna]], the most obvious threats to the species are overfishing and the use of [[illegal fishing]] gear, as well as invasive [[water hyacinths]]. Prey depletion is also a factor, as it decreases the size of the fish and makes it vulnerable to larger predators, such as crocodiles.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

==Export==
In 2021, The Uganda Fish Processors and Exporters Association called on the parliament to ban the local consumption of the species so as to protect its export.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-22 |title=Fish exporters seek ban on local consumption of Nile Perch |url=https://www.independent.co.ug/fish-exporters-seek-ban-on-local-consumption-of-nile-perch/ |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=The Independent Uganda |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Religion==
Nile perch were involved with the worship of [[Neith]].<ref name=Gautier>{{cite journal |last1=Gautier |first1=Achilles |date=2005 |title=Animal Mummies and Remains from the Necropolis of Elkab (Upper Egypt) |url=https://revistas.uam.es/archaeofauna/article/view/7441 |journal=archaeofauna |volume=14 |pages=139-170 |access-date=25 December 2023}}</ref> As a result nile perch were sometimes mummified.<ref name=Gautier /> A deposit of several thousand mummified perch was excavated in an area to the west of [[Esna]] where there was a temple to  Neith.<ref name=Baetens /> Mummified perch have also been found at [[Gurob]]  near a temple to  Neith while perch statuettes have been found at [[Sais]] again in the context of a temple to Neith.<ref name=Baetens>{{cite journal |last1=Baetens |first1=Gert |date=2013 |title=The mummified fish of Esna: a case study in animal worship |url=https://lirias.kuleuven.be/retrieve/290822 |journal=Goettinger Miszellen: Beitraege zur aegyptologischen Diskussion |pages=17-23 |access-date=25 December 2023}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Nile tilapia]] — a similar-named but different fish that is much smaller and mostly feeds on plant matter

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=Note}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* Beuving, J. J. 2010. "[http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/africa_the_journal_of_the_international_african_institute/v080/80.2.beuving.html Playing pool along the shores of Lake Victoria. Fishermen, careers and capital accumulation in the Ugandan Nile perch business]" Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 80 (2): 224–248.
* Beuving, J. J. 2013. "Chequered Fortunes in Global Exports: The Sociogenesis of African Entrepreneurship in the Nile Perch Business at Lake Victoria, Uganda" {{doi|10.1057/ejdr.2013.28}}
* Pringle, R.M. 2005. "The origins of the Nile perch in Lake Victoria." BioScience 55:780-787. {{doi|10.1641/0006-3568(2005)055[0780:TOOTNP]2.0.CO;2}}
* Pringle, R.M. 2005. "The Nile Perch in Lake Victoria: local responses and adaptations." Africa 75:510-538. {{doi|10.3366/afr.2005.75.4.510}}
*Masciarelli, Alex. "The rise and fall of the Nile Perch." March 15, 2007. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4348289.stm]
* Socio-economic effects of the evolution of Nile perch fisheries in Lake Victoria: a review. J. Eric Reynolds and D.F. Greboval, CIFA Technical paper 17, FAO 1988, {{ISBN|92-5-102742-0}} ([http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/T0037E/T0037E00.htm online version])
* M.L. Bianchini (1995). Species introductions in the aquatic environment: changes in biodiversity and economics of exploitation. Proc. World Fish. Congress (Athens, 1992), 3: 213–222.
*

==External links==
{{Commons category|Lates niloticus}}
* {{FishBase|genus=Lates|species=niloticus|year=2004|month=October}}
* {{ITIS |id=167670 |taxon=''Lates niloticus'' |access-date=20 December 2004}}
* Lipton, David. "[https://animaldiversity.org/site/accounts/information/Lates_niloticus.html ''Lates niloticus:'' Information]". ''Animal Diversity Web.'' Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, 2003.
* Snoeks, Jos. "[http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/species.php?sc=89 Ecology of ''Lates niloticus'']". ''Global Invasive Species Database.'' Updated 22 September 2004.
* [[IUCN]]. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20041211060628/http://www.iucn.org/info_and_news/press/alien2001.html Alien Species Invade the Planet]". Press release, 11 May 2001.
* [https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/profile/nile-perch Species Profile - Nile Perch (''Lates niloticus'')], National Invasive Species Information Center, [[United States National Agricultural Library]].

{{Taxonbar|from=Q654130}}

[[Category:Lates|Nile perch]]
[[Category:Fauna of the Afrotropical realm]]
[[Category:Freshwater fish of West Africa]]
[[Category:Fish of Chad]]
[[Category:Fish of Egypt]]
[[Category:Freshwater fish of Kenya]]
[[Category:Fish of Sudan]]
[[Category:Fish of the Democratic Republic of the Congo]]
[[Category:Fish of the Republic of the Congo]]
[[Category:Freshwater fish of Tanzania]]
[[Category:Freshwater fish of Uganda]]
[[Category:Fish of Lake Turkana]]
[[Category:Congo River]]
[[Category:Nile]]
[[Category:Nile basin]]
[[Category:Fish described in 1758|Nile perch]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]