Lates niloticus

Capture (blue) and aquaculture (green) production of Nile perch (Lates niloticus) in thousand tonnes from 1950 to 2022, as reported by the FAO

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".