What is the name of the fish news reporter in Bikini Bottom?

The fish news reporter in Bikini Bottom is Perch Perkins. He is a well-known field reporter who appears in person to cover events happening around the underwater city.

Perch is usually depicted as a purple fish wearing a dark coat, black hair, and headphones. His reporting role makes him a recurring witness to Bikini Bottom’s disasters, competitions, celebrations, and other unusual happenings. He often arrives where the action is taking place rather than simply presenting reports from a studio.

Perch is commonly confused with the Realistic Fish Head, another news-related character. The distinction is useful: Realistic Fish Head primarily presents television news programs, while Perch Perkins acts as a field reporter and physically interviews or reports from locations around town. Both characters contribute to the series’ parody of broadcast journalism.

The name Perch Perkins also fits the show’s marine-life wordplay. “Perch” is the name of a real group of fish, while “Perkins” gives the character a conventional human-style surname, matching the series’ habit of giving sea creatures playful identities.