Barramundi

SPECIES INFORMATION

  • The Barramundi species are distributed widely in the Indo West Pacific region. It can be found from Papua New Guinea and northern Australia to South Asia. The fish species can be found in the clear and turbid waters and usually stay where the temperature ranges from 26 to 30-degree centigrade. The Barramundi fish species does not migrate a lot and limit themselves to the river systems. It is native to the northern tropical waters of Australia and the parts of South East Asia.
  • The Barramundi or Asian sea bass is a member of the sea perch family. This is a species of the catadromous fish in the Latidae family or the Perciferomes order. These can be distinguished by their distinct pointed head, a large jaw, and concave forehead. They also have a rounded tail in. These fishes also have a dorsal fin that has seven or eight strong spines. There is a second dorsal fin too that has 10 to 11 rays. The freshwater barramundi is greenish blue on the upper body and its tail fins are dark brown or black. The saltwater species has a silver body and yellow fins. The species are also sequentially hermaphroditic. Most of the individuals mature as males and then become females after at one spawning season. Thus, most of the large species are females.
  • The Barramundi fish is prized using anglers and these are fished because of the good fight that these fishes put up. The fishes avoid the fixed nets and they are thus caught on lines and using the fishing lures. The fish also has a lot of commercial importance.

SIZE

The species reaches a length of 5.9 ft or 1.8 m but this is scarce. The maximum weight of the fish reaches 130lb or 60 kg. The fish can grow to a size of around 2 pounds in a year, which makes it highly suitable for aquaculture.

RANGE

Barramundi is also known as giant sea perch and giant perch. These are distributed through the coastal areas from the Persian Gulf to China. They are also found in the south of Papua New Guinea, southern Japan, and northern Australian. The fish species is found in Western Australia, north of Exmouth Gulf. These are abundant in Kimberley.

HABITAT

The Barramundi can live in freshwater or in saltwater. Their habitats are the rivers, streams, lakes, estuaries, billabongs, and coastal waters. They spend the maximum of their life in the rivers, migrating to the estuaries to breed. They then return back to the original river system. The barramundi is demersal and they are found in the turbid waters. The species will inhabit the rivers and descend to the estuaries to spawn.

When the monsoon season starts, the male Barramundi will migrate down the river to meet the females. The females lay a large number of eggs. Each female barracuda may lay several millions of eggs each. The adults do not protect the eggs and these require brackish water in order to develop.

DIET

The Barramundi will mostly feed on the molluscs, crustaceans and the small fishes. They may also feed on their own species. The juveniles feed on small fishes, zooplankton, aquatic fishes and prawns.

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