To explore the role of the 5-HT1A receptor in feeding and food consolidation during domestication of Chinese perch, Siniperca chuatsi, we obtained the htr1a gene sequence of the Chinese perch genome using homologous sequence alignment and evolutionary tree analysis. Htr1a has two isoforms, htr1aa and htr1ab, which encode amino acid sequences that have high homology with those of zebrafish (Danio rerio) and medaka (Oryzias latipes), with a similarity of more than 70%. The evolutionary relationship is closest between Chinese perch and wolf perch (Dicentrar chuslabrax). The results indicated that the htr1a gene of Chinese perch is highly conserved in evolution. The expression and methylation of the htr1a gene in mandarin fish were also analyzed. Compared with the first domestication group, the expression of the htr1aa gene and DNA methylation were significantly decreased in the second domestication group (P＜0.05), while htr1ab gene expression was not significantly different between the two groups (P＞0.05). The expression of pomc was related to food intake, which was obviously lower than that of a domesticated animal (P＜0.05). The above results indicated that methylation of the promoter region of the htr1aa gene may change its transcription level during food domestication of Chinese perch, thus affecting the expression of key factors in the learning and memory pathways, inhibiting appetite factor pomc. Therefore, DNA methylation of htr1aa may play an important role in regulating the expression level of feeding related genes in Chinese perch. The results of this study further elucidate the mechanism of learning and memory in the transformation of feeding habits in fish and provide a theoretical solution to the difficult and unstable domestication of Chinese perch.