Barramundi

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Barramundi

Barramundi (in foreground)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Latidae
Genus:	Lates
Species:	L. calcarifer

Binomial name

Lates calcarifer
(Bloch, 1790)

The barramundi (Lates calcarifer) is a species of diadromous fish in family Latidae of order Perciformes. It ranges from Torres Strait to New Guinea and northern and eastern Australia.

Baramundi is a loanword from a Queensland Aboriginal language of the Rockhampton area^[1] meaning "large scales" or "large, scaly river" fish.^[2]

Barramundi are usually a pale grey-green with a coppery shimmer, and can grow to a maximum length of 2 m (6 ft 7 in), weighing up to 60 kg (130 lb); specimens weighing 5–6 kg (11–13 lb) are more commonly seen, however. Of typical centropomid shape, it can be distinguished from the Waigeo seaperch (Psammoperca waigiensis) of the same waters by its closely-set nostrils and maxilla which extends back past the eye.

The barramundi feeds on crustaceans, molluscs, and smaller fishes (including its own species); juveniles feed on zooplankton. This catadromous species inhabits rivers and descends to estuaries and tidal flats to spawn. At the start of the monsoon, males migrate downriver to meet females, who lay very large numbers of eggs (multiple millions each). The adults do not guard the eggs or the fry, which require brackish water to develop. The species is sequentially hermaphroditic, most individuals maturing as males and becoming female after at least one spawning season; most of the larger specimens are therefore female.

Highly prized by anglers for their good fighting ability, barramundi are reputed to be good at avoiding fixed nets and best caught on lines. The fish is also of large commercial importance; it is fished internationally and raised in aquaculture in Australia, India, Indonesia, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Netherlands. In Australia, the barramundi is used to stock freshwater reservoirs for recreational fishing. The fish's white flesh is delicate, mild-flavoured, and relatively boneless, making it a popular (and sometimes expensive) food which can be prepared in many ways. Barramundi was the theme ingredient in a Season 3 episode of Iron Chef America.

Farmed in the UK, by the Aquabella Group in the facility producing up to 8 tonnes a year for distribution throughout the UK and Northern Europe.

L. calcarifer is also known as the giant perch, giant seaperch, Asian seabass, white seabass, and by a variety of names in other local languages. The species was originally assigned to genus Holocentrus, in the beryciform family Holocentridae.