Barramundi (Lates calcarifer) is a saltwater, freshwater, brackish species recorded in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia. It is mainly found over estuary, at depths of 10–40 m. The main season in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia runs all year.
Scientific name: Lates calcarifer · Water: Saltwater, Freshwater, Brackish · Season: All year · Also known as: Barramundi (Siakap)
Size: 50–90 cm
The Barramundi is a euryhaline latid that enters fresh water and can be caught all year. Its range runs across the Indo-West Pacific, from the eastern edge of the Persian Gulf through China, Taiwan and southern Japan, south to southern Papua New Guinea and northern Australia. Hong Kong knows it by a Cantonese name, Singapore as the kim bak lor or siakap, and Malaysia as siakap. It is catadromous: adults spawn at river mouths and juveniles run upstream, so the brackish zone is the prime mark, and monsoon floods that flush the estuaries bring it on. Explosive, a strong jumper and sharp-toothed, it jumps repeatedly once hooked and ambushes around bridge pilings, jetty posts and river-mouth structure. It eats fish and crustaceans and is a protandrous hermaphrodite. Hong Kong sees 50 to 90 cm, Singapore and Malaysia reach 120 cm with the literature claiming up to 200 cm, it lives about 35 years, and IUCN lists it as Least Concern. A major aquaculture food fish and, in Singapore, a premium table fish.
Back to home · Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia · Species library