---
title: "What the sources say about the Barramundi | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "46 claims from the Barramundi profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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---

# What the sources say about the Barramundi (*Lates calcarifer*)

> 46 claims from the Barramundi profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Barramundi](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/barramundi/)

## Lates calcarifer (Bloch, 1790): Barramundi. FishBase.

https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Lates-calcarifer.html

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A fish that mostly matures as a male and switches to female as it grows | Most barramundi mature first as males and function as males for one or more spawning seasons before undergoing sex inversion. |
| a maximum length of 200 cm | Max length : 200 cm TL male/unsexed |
| Coastal waters, estuaries and rivers of the Indo-West Pacific, from the Persian Gulf to China and northern Australia | Found in coastal waters, estuaries and lagoons, in clear to turbid water |
| from the Persian Gulf to China and northern Australia | Indo-West Pacific: eastern edge of the Persian Gulf to China, Taiwan and southern Japan, southward to southern Papua New Guinea and northern Australia. |
| rivers | A diadromous fish, inhabiting rivers before returning to the estuaries to spawn. |
| Fishes and crustaceans; juveniles also eat insects | Feed on fishes and crustaceans. |
| juveniles also eat insects | Juveniles also eat insects |
| Sex change: most mature as males, then switch to female as they grow | Most barramundi mature first as males and function as males for one or more spawning seasons before undergoing sex inversion. |
| Most barramundi mature as males. They spawn as males for one or more seasons, then go through "sex inversion" and become female. | Most barramundi mature first as males and function as males for one or more spawning seasons before undergoing sex inversion. |
| Fish that work this way are called protandrous hermaphrodites. | Barramundi are protandrous hermaphrodites, i.e., they undergo sex reversion during their life cycle. |
| The longest barramundi reach 200 cm, though 150 cm is more common | Max length : 200 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 7050 ); common length : 150 cm NG male/unsexed |
| the heaviest published weight is 60 kg | max. published weight: 60.0 kg |
| The oldest age reported is 35 years. | max. reported age: 35 years |
| The body is long and slim, with a large mouth whose upper jaw reaches behind the eye. | Body elongate; mouth large, slightly oblique, upper jaw extending behind the eye. |
| Their range spans the Indo-West Pacific, from the eastern Persian Gulf to southern Japan and south to northern Australia. | Indo-West Pacific: eastern edge of the Persian Gulf to China, Taiwan and southern Japan, southward to southern Papua New Guinea and northern Australia. |
| They are demersal, living near the bottom, with a depth range of 10 to 40 m. | Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; catadromous (Ref. 138269 ); depth range 10 - 40 m |
| Maturing males leave fresh water at the start of the wet (monsoon) season and head downstream to spawn with females already living in the estuaries. | Maturing male barramundi migrate downstream from freshwater habitats at the start of the wet (monsoon) season to spawn with resident females in estuaries |
| They spawn at full and new moon, mostly as a rising tide begins, and the incoming water carries the eggs into the estuary. | Barramundi spawn on the full moon and new moon, primarily at the beginning of an incoming tide which carries the eggs into the estuary |
| Estimates of a female's output run as high as 2.3 million eggs per kg of body weight. | Female barramundi are capable of producing large numbers of eggs, with estimates as high as 2.3 million eggs per kg of body weight |
| Adults and juveniles can live in fresh water, but the embryos need brackish water to develop. | While adults and juveniles are capable of living in fresh water, brackish waters are required for embryonic development |
| Most barramundi mature as males, spend one or more spawning seasons as males, and then switch to female. Biologists call this protandry. | Most barramundi mature first as males and function as males for one or more spawning seasons before undergoing sex inversion. |
| A few females develop directly from immature fish | A few females will develop directly from immature fish |
| some males may never switch | Similarly, some males may never undergo sex inversion |
| FishBase lists a maximum total length of 200 cm and a maximum published weight of 60 kg, but 150 cm is a more typical size. | Max length : 200 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 7050 ); common length : 150 cm NG male/unsexed; (Ref. 9799 ); max. published weight: 60.0 kg |
| Larvae and young juveniles live in brackish swamps, older juveniles in the upper reaches of rivers, and adults breed in estuaries. | Larvae and young juveniles live in brackish temporary swamps associated with estuaries, and older juveniles inhabit the upper reaches of rivers |
| adults breed in estuaries | Breed in estuaries throughout the Indo-Pacific. |
| Its record age is 35 years. | max. reported age: 35 years |
| Spawning crowds gather in or around river mouths. | Spawning aggregations occur in or around the mouths of rivers |
| Fresh water suits adults and juveniles, but the developing embryos need brackish water. | While adults and juveniles are capable of living in fresh water, brackish waters are required for embryonic development |
| Barramundi spawn at full and new moon, mostly as a rising tide begins | Barramundi spawn on the full moon and new moon, primarily at the beginning of an incoming tide (note: vibe.reason) |

## Lates calcarifer (Asian seabass). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Lates_calcarifer/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Larger fish get around 80% of their diet from bony fish. | Larger fish have diets of around 80% bony fish. |
| They swallow prey whole, sucking it into that big mouth. | Barramundi swallow their food whole, sucking their prey into their fairly large mouths. |
| Moderate cannibalism is fairly common. | Moderate cannibalism is fairly common in barramundi |
| Reflective eyes help them see better in the dark. | Barramundi have reflective eyes which allow them to see better in dark conditions. |
| Young barramundi are brown with three white stripes on the head, and they can dim or hide those markings at will. | Juveniles are brown (sometimes grayish-brown) with three white stripes on the head and scattered white spots elsewhere. The markings can be dimmed or may disappear at will. |
| Both young and adult barramundi fall prey to Australian pelicans and file snakes. | Australian pelicans ( Pelecanus conspicillatus ) (Hitchcock, 2007) and file snakes ( Acrochordus arafurae ) (Shine, 1986) feed on both juvenile and adult barramundi. |

## Moore (1979). Natural Sex Inversion in the Giant Perch ( Lates calcarifer ). Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research.

https://doi.org/10.1071/mf9790803

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| One study dissected 5,202 mature fish. | Length frequencies, calculated from the dissection of 5202 mature specimens |
| The small ones were almost all male, and the share of females rose with length. | The smaller length classes are almost exclusively male, the percentage of females increasing with increased total length. |
| Males bunched around 89.5 cm, females around 101.5 cm. | give a male mode at 89.5 cm and a much smaller female one at 101.5 cm |
| Changing sex requires a complete rebuild of the gonad, the organ that makes eggs or sperm, in both structure and function. | inversion of sex requires a complete reorganization of gonad structure as well as function |
| Few fish were caught mid-change, which the researchers put down to a rapid transition and to not sampling when changes are most likely. | Few hermaphrodite gonads were detected, this being attributed to a rapid transition phase from male to female and the lack of sampling during the period when transitions are most likely to occur |
| Some males may never switch. | also the possibility that some males do not undergo the change to female |
| Overall, males outnumbered females 3.8 to 1 in that study. | The overall sex ratio is 3.8:1 in favour of males. |

## Norin, Malte & Clark (2013). Aerobic scope does not predict the performance of a tropical eurythermal fish at elevated temperatures. Journal of Experimental Biology.

https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.089755

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Juvenile barramundi have an upper lethal limit of 40 to 41 degrees C | a temperature approaching the upper lethal limit (40-41°C) |
| in a lab study, given a choice, they settled at a median of 31.7 degrees C | the fish selected a median temperature of 31.7 ± 0.5°C |

## Pal & Morgan (2019). Lates calcarifer. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T166627A1139469.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2019-3.rlts.t166627a1139469.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). |