Home / Fishes / Archerfish and barracudas / Barramundi
No federal permit to keepBarramundi
Lates calcarifer
Fishes › Archerfish and barracudas (Carangaria) › Latidae (Barramundi)
The barramundi (Lates calcarifer), Asian sea bass, Asian sea lates, giant sea lates, or giant sea perch (also known as dangri, kalanji, apahap, siakap, or chonok) is a species of catadromous fish in the family Latidae of the order Carangiformes.
Care at a glance
Species-specific aquarium care
- Tank: An adult reaches about 59.1 in (150 cm). That needs a pond or public-aquarium-scale system, far beyond a home aquarium.
- Water: Freshwater (tolerates brackish).
- Temperature: 59–82°F (range recorded for this species).
- Layout: Lives on or near the bottom: floor space and hiding places matter more than height.
- Habitat: Associated with coral reefs: needs stable marine water quality; check reef safety before mixing with corals and invertebrates.
- Diet: A predator: feed meaty foods sized to its mouth (frozen fish, shrimp, worms); it will eat tankmates that fit in its mouth. FishBase classes it as a carnivore.
- Availability: Mostly kept by public aquariums; private keeping is uncommon.
Calculated from this species' own FishBase record: tank size from its typical adult length and swimming zone, water values from its recorded ranges. The group guide below fills in general care.
Care guide
Species care notes
- Water: a fairly wide range, from slightly acidic to slightly alkaline, 59–82 °F, pH 7–8.5, 10–30 dGH.
- Behaviour: temperament predatory.
- Difficulty: Moderate (Seriously Fish rating).
Short excerpts from the species profile:
- Setup: “Speaking hypothetically, decor would not be critical.”
- Diet: “Highly piscivorous in nature, juvenile captive specimens have been known to accept prawns, lancefish etc.”
- Tankmates: “Peaceful with anything it can't fit into its mouth.”
- Breeding: “Surely impossible in aquaria, even more so when you consider the fish are diadromous in nature; migrating from fresh to brackish or marine water to spawn.”
From the Seriously Fish profile for this species, which has the full habitat, maintenance, diet, behaviour and breeding write-up 167
Fishes
Applies to most species in this group. Habitat: Varies. Individual species can differ, so compare with the species numbers above and the linked sources.
Housing & setup
- Cycle the aquarium before adding fish so beneficial bacteria can handle ammonia and nitrite.
- Size filtration and partial water changes to stocking and measured water quality. Topping up evaporated water does not replace a water change; treat incoming tap water appropriately.
- Test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH regularly.
Diet
- A varied diet of quality prepared foods plus frozen or live foods suited to the species; feed only what's eaten in a few minutes.
Health watch
- Quarantine new fish for at least 30 days; longer may be needed. Use a separate system and dedicated nets, buckets and siphons.
- Never release aquarium fish or plants into the wild.
Understanding the animal
About this animal
About this animal
The species is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, spanning the waters of the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania.
Quoted from the Wikipedia article “Barramundi” (CC BY-SA 4.0) 174
In the wild
In the wild
From this species’ own FishBase record (habitat, bottom type, water and breeding data), not its family. Good care copies these conditions.1
| Where it lives | Lives in freshwater and brackish water and the sea, in rivers and streams, lakes, rice paddies, estuaries. Stays near the bottom. Found in coastal waters, estuaries and lagoons, in clear to turbid water. |
| Ground it lives on | Over rock. |
| Water it lives in | Freshwater / brackish water / marine, 59–82 °F (15–28 °C), depth 10–40 m. |
| Climate | Tropical climate. |
| Wild diet | Hunting macrofauna (predator). |
| Behavior to plan for | Breeding: open water/substratum egg scatterers. |
What this means for care
- Keep water within its wild range, 59–82 °F.
- Provide rockwork with crevices to hide in.
- It tolerates or needs brackish water; check salinity needs before setup.
Native climate (measured)
Native climate (measured)
| Warm-season highs | about 93°F (up to 101°F in the hottest sampled areas) |
| Cool-season lows | about 61°F (down to 54°F in the coldest sampled areas) |
| Average temperature | 73–82°F across sampled records |
| Relative humidity | 59–74% on average (driest month about 61%) |
| Rainfall | about 1302 mm a year, with strong wet and dry seasons |
Measured at 224 wild occurrence records sampled against WorldClim 2.1 climate data (1970–2000 averages). Air conditions in the range are ecological context, not enclosure settings: microhabitats such as burrows, leaf litter or basking rocks can be cooler, warmer or more humid.
From the sources
From the sources
Quoted from the matching sections of reputable sources for this exact species. Specialist databases are used first; Wikipedia (community-edited, CC BY-SA 4.0) only fills gaps. Other sources are short credited quotes.
| Overview | The barramundi (Lates calcarifer), Asian sea bass, Asian sea lates, giant sea lates, or giant sea perch (also known as dangri, kalanji, apahap, siakap, or chonok) is a species of catadromous fish in the family Latidae of the order Carangiformes. The species is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, spanning the waters of the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania. — Wikipedia (community-edited) |
| Where it lives | Home ranges Population dynamics Growth parameters Max. ages / sizes Length-weight rel. Length-frequencies Mass conversion Recruitment Abundance Life cycle Reproduction Maturity Maturity/Gills rel. — FishBase |
| Social life and communication | All bony fishes have lateral lines which can be used to sense pressure and to judge underwater currents and localized movements in the water. — Animal Diversity Web |
| Behavior | Catadromous barramundi populations move seasonally between breeding and feeding grounds. — Animal Diversity Web |
| Reproduction | Breed in estuaries throughout the Indo-Pacific. Maturing male barramundi migrate downstream from freshwater habitats at the start of the wet (monsoon) season to spawn with resident females in estuaries and on tidal flats outside the mouths of rivers. Barramundi spawn on the full moon and new moon, primarily at the beginning of an incoming tide which carries the eggs into the estuary. — FishBase |
| Lifespan | Little is known about longevity of barramundi. — Animal Diversity Web |
| Appearance and size | Maximum length 200 cm tl male/unsexed; maximum published weight 60.0 kg; maximum reported age 35 years. — FishBase |
| Biology | Found in coastal waters, estuaries and lagoons, in clear to turbid water (, 44894 ). A diadromous fish, inhabiting rivers before returning to the estuaries to spawn. A protandrous hermaphrodite. — FishBase |
| History and naming | Barramundi is a loanword from an Australian Aboriginal language of the Rockhampton area in Queensland meaning "large-scaled river fish". Originally, the name barramundi referred to Scleropages leichardti and Scleropages jardinii. However, the name was appropriated for marketing reasons during the 1980s, a decision that significantly raised the profile of this fish. — Wikipedia (community-edited) |
Data and studies
The numbers
The numbers
Each bar is what one source reports. Where several sources weigh in, the dashed gold band marks their average.
Maximum recorded lifespan
Longest recorded lifespan reported by each database; typical lifespans are usually shorter.
Typical adult weight
Average adult body mass in each database (FishBase gives the maximum recorded weight).
Adult length
Common length to maximum recorded length. Measured as total length. Fish in home aquariums often stay smaller than wild records.
Water temperature
Range the species tolerates in nature; aim for the middle.
pH
Water hardness
Veterinary & husbandry research
Veterinary & husbandry research
- Bacterial vaccines for fish--an update of the current situation worldwide Håstein T et al., Developments in biologicals 2005
- The HIF1αn gene and its association with hypoxia tolerance in the Asian seabass Yang Z et al., Gene 2020
- Identification of Barramundi (Lates calcarifer) DC-SCRIPT, a Specific Molecular Marker for Dendritic Cells in Fish Zoccola E et al., PloS one 2015
Peer-reviewed papers that mention this species alongside captivity, zoos, veterinary care or aquaculture. Some cover several species or mention it only in passing, so check the abstract. See all 180 on PubMed → 170
Sources for this sheet
- FishBase (Froese & Pauly, eds.), version 24.07 Peer-reviewed researchThe global scientific database on fishes, maintained by a consortium of research institutions; every value is referenced.
- Seriously Fish species profiles Experienced keeper or breederLong-running aquarium reference written and peer-checked by experienced fishkeepers and ichthyologists; each profile covers habitat, tank size, water, diet, behaviour and breeding.
- Merck Veterinary Manual: Management of aquarium fish Zoo, university or veterinaryThe Merck Veterinary Manual: a standard veterinary reference written and reviewed by veterinary specialists.
- Merck Veterinary Manual: Types and features of aquatic systems Zoo, university or veterinaryThe Merck Veterinary Manual: a standard veterinary reference written and reviewed by veterinary specialists.
- Merck Veterinary Manual: Nutritional diseases of fish Zoo, university or veterinaryThe Merck Veterinary Manual: a standard veterinary reference written and reviewed by veterinary specialists.
- Wikipedia (species article) Community referenceFree encyclopedia; useful overviews with their own citations. Intro text is quoted under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- PubMed (U.S. National Library of Medicine) Peer-reviewed researchIndex of peer-reviewed veterinary, zoo and husbandry research.
- iNaturalist (captive observations) Community referenceCommunity observation platform run by the California Academy of Sciences and National Geographic; observations marked captive show animals living in homes, zoos and aquariums.