Xiangshui Four-Gill Perch 响水四鳃鲈鱼
Xiangshui Four-Gill Perch is featured among the local specialties of Jiangsu.
Xiangshui Four-Gill Perch (响水四鳃鲈鱼) is a large fish taken mainly in the middle and lower Guan River (灌河) in Xiangshui County (响水县), Yancheng (盐城), Jiangsu. Braised in soy sauce, its flesh is white, fat and tender. It is registered as "Guan River four-gill perch" (灌河四鳃鲈鱼), a geographical-indication certification mark. The fish actually has only two gills; each gill cover carries an extra deep fold that makes it look as if it has four, which gives it the local name.
Ingredients
The Yancheng Association for Science and Technology describes the fish as a species particular to the Guan River, taken mainly in its middle and lower reaches. Most weigh three to five jin (1.5 to 2.5 kilograms), and large ones reach several tens of jin. The body is blue-grey, with black spots on the sides and the dorsal fin.
Writing in China Science Daily in 2017, Jiang Gongcheng (蒋功成) distinguishes it from the four-gill perch of Songjiang (松江鲈鱼), a small, scaleless bottom fish only five or six cun (about 17 to 20 centimetres) long. Judging from its outward features, he identifies the Xiangshui fish as the spotted sea bass (花鲈), a much bigger fish with fine scales. Local fishermen joke that it once lived in Songjiang and crossed the sea to the Guan River because it could not stand the noise of steamships.
Where it comes from
According to Jiang, the sea bass gather at the river mouth from late autumn and early winter and enter the Guan River around the start of summer the following year to spawn near Chengang (陈港), Shuanggang (双港) and Xiangshuikou (响水口); he notes that the Guan River has no sluice gate and plenty of food. On 14 August 2013 the State Administration for Industry and Commerce approved the Guan River four-gill perch certification mark, filed by a Xiangshui association for specialty farm products; it was the county's first geographical-indication mark. Because the fish needs demanding conditions its supply is limited, and in 2013 the association reported working with experts on farming it.
Flavour and texture
Jiang describes the fish braised in soy sauce (红烧) as white, fat and tender, clean-tasting and smooth, with an aroma that fills the room. Local fishermen hold that Songjiang perch is neither as large nor as tasty as the Guan River fish.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-24. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.