To explain the origin of the Korean mandarin fish (Siniperca scherzeri), phylogenetic relationships and DNA polymorphism among Siniperca fishes have been investigated based on mitochondrial cytochrome b DNA sequences. As a result, S. roulei were firstly differentiated early in the evolution of Siniperca fishes and the other six species (S. schezeri, S. undulata, S. fortis, S. obscura, S. knerii and S. chuatsi) were evolved slightly later. However, the order of species differentiation among six species was not clear because the nodes of their phylogeny were poorly resolved. The constructed molecular phylogeny revealed three genetically distinct groups of local populations of S. scherzeri. The first group (group 1) is the local populations of Korean peninsula and northern China including Lioaning and Henan. The second one (group 2) is the local populations of Anhui, Fujian and Guangxi. The third one (group 3) is the local population of Zhejiang. The number of nucleotide differences in base pairs were 31~43 between group 1 and 2; 37~44 between group 2 and 3; 27~29 between group 1 and 3; and 1~5 within group 1. Thus, the Korean mandarin fish was likely to be originated from the northern China local population which was isolated from the middle or southern China local populations during the Cenozoic Pliocene. Low level of sequence divergence between Korean mandarin fish populations and northern China population indicated a recent expansion of distribution ranges from northern China to Korean peninsula.