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BARRAMUNDI FACTS |
Description
A deep-bodied silver to bronze predatory fish with a very large mouth and scales. Tail rounded. A deeply-notched long single dorsal fin. Up to 1.8 m total length; more commonly 60 cm to 1.2 m.
A predatory species feeding on fish and crustaceans. It has a complex lifecycle: spawning occurs around the mouths of rivers in the build-up and early wet season; the larvae, which are all born as males, are then washed into freshwater habitats with floodplains providing important food and shelter for survival. The males live and grow in freshwater until mature (about 3-5 years); they then migrate downstream for spawning. Males then switch sex so that all large fish are females. Each female can produce millions of eggs each year. A much sought-after angling and table fish; fishing regulations apply.
Author credit: Michael Hammer / Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Habitat
Freshwater rivers, wetlands and billabongs, mangrove estuaries and coastal areas.
Food
Carnivore
Range
Northern Australia.
Species Description is from Museums Field Guide, Atlas of Living Australia at website at https://lists.ala.org.au Licensed under Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Classification
| Class: | Actinopterygii | | Order: | Perciformes | | Family: | Centropomidae | | Genus: | Lates | | Species: | calcarifer | | Common Name: | Barramundi |
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