The usual characterization of exact solutions of Einstein field equations, including cosmological solutions, is based on the symmetry properties of their corresponding metrics which is obviously mathematically involved. Here we present a physical characterization of the static and stationary perfect fluid solutions of the Einstein field equations by employing the $$1+3$$ 1 + 3 formulation of spacetime decomposition which introduces the so-called quasi-Maxwell form of the Einstein field equations in the broader context of gravitoelectromagnetism. These solutions have a single or 2-component perfect fluid sources, and are characterized according to their gravitoelectric and gravitomagnetic fields which are the gravitational analogs of the electromagnetic fields. It is shown that the absence or presence of either or both of these fields could restrict the equations of state of the contributing perfect fluid sources. As the representative of each family of solutions, we consider those spaces that include the cosmological term as a dark fluid source with the equation of state $$p=-\rho = constant$$ p = - ρ = c o n s t a n t .