Goldsilk seabream (Acanthopagrus berda) is a saltwater, freshwater, brackish species recorded in Hong Kong, Taiwan. It is mainly found over estuary, at depths of ≤ 50 m. The main season in Hong Kong, Taiwan runs all year.
Scientific name: Acanthopagrus berda · Water: Saltwater, Freshwater, Brackish · Season: All year
Size: up to 90 cm
The Goldsilk seabream is a sparid and one of Hong Kong's seven bream species. Its range is the Indian Ocean: South Africa, Mozambique, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, India, Phuket on the Andaman Sea, and Malaysia around Penang, Langkawi and near Singapore; western Pacific fish once recorded as this species are Acanthopagrus pacificus. Taiwan calls it the black bream, and it has a laterally compressed body with dusky fins. Tolerant of low salinity, it lives in estuaries, lagoons and mangroves and is present year-round, with May to December the easier period. In Taiwan it is mainly a western-coast fish, popular with raft and rock anglers and named in the OCA angling report. Wary and careful in taking a bait, it is a challenging target that feeds on worms, molluscs, crustaceans, echinoderms and small fish, breeds at sea in winter, and is a protandrous hermaphrodite, male first and female later. Listed as Least Concern and living up to 14 years, its flesh is excellent.
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