Mandarin fish generally like to live in a clean, transparent and slightly mobile environment. They often make holes in caves or grass, like to come out for food at night and dive into deep water in winter. Siniperca chuatsi is a typical carnivorous fish and likes to eat live bait. It often swallows live fry that are longer than its own length, such as silver carp, herring, bream, fine-scaled fish and so on. At different growth stages, its feeding objects are different. Siniperca chuatsi with a total length of less than 1.5 cm likes to eat shrimp and small fish, while Siniperca chuatsi with a total length of more than 25 cm likes to eat larger fish such as Siniperca chuatsi and carp.
Mandarin fish generally inhabit still water or slow flowing water, especially in lakes with lush aquatic plants. Inactive in winter, often overwintering in deep water, generally do not stop eating completely. When the weather gets warmer in spring, they will swim to the shallow coastal areas for food; At this time, male and female fish have the habit of lying on their sides in caves or potholes at the bottom of the lake every day and moving in the grass for food at night. They mainly feed on other fish, with poor feeding in June+0-February and a slight decrease in feeding intensity in June-July. Siniperca chuatsi generally grows to 2 winter age, and reaches sexual maturity at 3 winter age in Northeast China. Parent fish gather in May-July and lay eggs at night in a mild flowing water environment. June-July is the peak of spawning, and the number of pregnant eggs is 300,000-200,000.
Mandarin fish usually live alone, which is the nature of almost all carnivorous fish. Siniperca chuatsi has strong adaptability to water temperature, and it is distributed in the water systems in the north and south of China. Mandarin fish live near the bottom of clear rivers and lakes, and especially like to hide behind underwater rocks or lush grass. In autumn and winter, when the water temperature is low, they dive in deep water for winter. When the water temperature rises in spring, they gradually swim to the grass on the shore with rich food to find food. Siniperca chuatsi mainly moves at night, and generally lies in crevices, roots and pits during the day, with little activity. Mandarin fish eat very carefully. After swallowing fish and shrimp, it will spit out fishbones and shrimp shells, leaving only the meat in its belly. This unique feature is rare in other carnivorous fish.