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[[File:Perca fluviatilis 1879.jpg|thumb|European perch (''Perca fluviatilis''), exhibiting its green coloration and red tipped fins, as well as the vertical bars on its sides.<ref>{{Citation |last=Lydon |first=Alexander Francis |title=Perca fluviatilis |date=1879 |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Perca_fluviatilis_1879.jpg |access-date=2022-05-10}}</ref>]]
Most authorities recognize three species within the perch genus:
* The [[European perch]] (''P. fluviatilis'') is found in [[Europe]] and [[North America]], but a few can also be found in [[South Africa]], and even as far east on the [[Southern Hemisphere|Southern hemisphere]] as [[Australia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Orban |first=Elena |last2=Nevigato |first2=Teresina |last3=Masci |first3=Maurizio |last4=Di Lena |first4=Gabriella |last5=Casini |first5=Irene |last6=Caproni |first6=Roberto |last7=Gambelli |first7=Loretta |last8=De Angelis |first8=Paola |last9=Rampacci |first9=Massimo |date=2007-01 |orig-date=27 June 2005 |title=Nutritional quality and safety of European perch (Perca fluviatilis) from three lakes of Central Italy |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0308814605008903 |journal=Food Chemistry |language=en |volume=100 |issue=2 |pages=482–490 |doi=10.1016/j.foodchem.2005.09.069}}</ref> This species is typically greenish in color with dark vertical bars on its sides with a red or orange coloring in the tips of its fins. The European perch has been successfully introduced in [[New Zealand]] and [[Australia]], where it is known as the redfin perch or English perch. In Australia, larger specimens have been bred, but the species rarely grows heavier than {{convert|6|lb|kg|order=flip|abbr=on}}.
* The [[Balkhash perch]] (''P. schrenkii'') is found in [[Kazakhstan]], (in [[Lake Balkhash]] and [[Lake Alakol]]), [[Uzbekistan]], and [[China]]. It is a dark gray/black color on its dorsal side, but the ventral areas of the fish are a lighter silver or even sometimes green color. The Balkhash perch also displays the vertical bars on its sides, similar to the European and yellow perches. In the latter half of the 20<sup>th</sup> century, the Balkhash perch was introduced into the basins of the [[Nuru River|Nuru]] and [[Chu (river)|Chu]] rivers. The introduction of these fishes to the Nuru and Chu rivers was successful. Because of this success, the population of Balkhash perch in the Balkhash Lake is rarer now. They are similar in size to the yellow and European perches, weighing around 1.5 kg.<ref>{{Citation |title=Biology of Balkhash Perch (Perca schrenkii Kessler, 1874) |date=2015-08-05 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1201/b18806-6 |work=Biology of Perch |pages=57–82 |publisher=CRC Press |access-date=2022-05-10}}</ref>
* The [[yellow perch]] (''P. flavescens''), smaller and paler than the [[European perch]], is found in North America. In northern areas, it is sometimes referred to as the lake perch. This species is prized for its food quality and has often been raised in hatcheries and introduced into areas in which it is not native. Yellow perch are almost identical in appearance to European perch, but have a more yellow coloring. These fish typically only reach a size of about {{convert|15|in|cm|order=flip|abbr=on}} and {{convert|1|kg|lboz|abbr=on}}.
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