🐟 Fish-related 🐟 A perch-like fish

perciform

9.9

A fish of the group that includes perch, bass and mackerel

noun
/ˈpɜrsɪˌfɔrm/

Specialized

: pez perciforme

The scientist studied various species of perciform fish to understand their behavior and habitat.

Examples

Many popular tropical fish kept in home aquariums are classified as perciform due to their diverse characteristics.
In the aquarium, we admired the vibrant colors of the perciform fish swimming among the rocks.
Asterisks indicate taxonomic groups that appear to be polyphyletic. Open and closed circles represent perciform and gasterosteiform taxa, respectively.

Academic text (2010)

Synonyms

percoid

vsperciform

Specialized

9.9

A fish with spiny fins that lives in fresh or sea water

is the formal scientific term for the same fish

percoid fish

vsperciform

Specialized

9.5

A fish like a perch or bass that has spines in its fins

is the general scientific classification name for those species

percoidean

vsperciform

Specialized

9.9

A fish with spines in its fins, like perch or bass

is the same taxonomic designation used for those fishes

Surface Forms

perciform singular

perciforms plural

Morphology

perciform = perch (opaque) = perch + iform

Although the word is historically built from a perch-like base plus a form-related suffix, the specialized zoological sense is not readily predictable for an average learner.

Etymology

A perciform is a fish named from the Latin parts perca 'perch' and -form 'shape'. It means a 'perch-shaped' fish, which is why the word is used for fish in the large group Perciformes such as perches and their relatives.