Siniperca chautsi has a body which is compressed with a protruding lower jaw and the maxilla reaching behind the eyes.

[1] Sinipercua cuatsi is found in lowland freshwater habitats throughout continental East Asia excluding the Korean Peninsula, from the drainage basin of the Amur River in Russian Far East/Northeast China to the Pearl River in South China.

[1][4][5] Siniperca chuatsi are found in rivers which have dense growths of aquatic vegetation and water which can be quite turbid in the rainy season.

They are demersal piscivores, stalking the fry of other fish species using their acute vision to track their prey before pouncing on them and enveloping them in their large mouth.

It first gained major popularity during the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), appearing in many Chinese books and poems.