Milkfish (Chanos chanos) is a saltwater, freshwater, brackish species recorded in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, United States. It is mainly found over reef, estuary, mangrove, at depths of 1–30 m. The main season in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, United States runs summer, autumn.
Scientific name: Chanos chanos · Water: Saltwater, Freshwater, Brackish · Season: Summer, Autumn
Size: up to 180 cm
The milkfish is a chanid and a good opponent when fishing around fish rafts; it is also eaten.
Adults live offshore and in shallow coastal embayments, often entering estuaries and occasionally pushing up freshwater streams, wherever shelf and island waters run warmer than 20°C, and they travel in shoals that range from a handful of fish to large schools. Eggs and larvae drift for two to three weeks before the older larvae move inshore and settle as juveniles in mangroves and estuaries; juveniles and sub-adults then return to sea to mature. Spawning happens only in fully saline water - in clear shallows over sand or coral within about 30 km of shore, at night. A female can release up to 5 million eggs, which hatch in roughly 24 hours, and the larvae need water above 23°C, a salinity of 10 to 32 and plentiful phytoplankton.
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