:: Barramundi Cod : The Transexual Fish ::

The barramundi (Lates calcarifer), also known as Asian Seabass is a catadromous fish species in Latidae family of order Perciformes. Native species is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific from the Persian Gulf, through Southeast Asia to Papua New Guinea and northern Australia. Known as Pla Krapong Thai language, it is very popular in Thai cuisine. He is known as pandugappa in Telugu language in India and in Bengali language and bhetki in eastern India.

Barramundi is a borrowing of Australian Aboriginal language of the area of ​​Rockhampton in Queensland, which means "river fish scale." Initially, the barramundi name referred to the Gulf of Saratoga and Saratoga.

Barramundi cod (Cromileptes altivelis) is an attractive Speice tropical fish is a member of the cod family Serranidae Groper. It is known to occur in the warm waters of the western Pacific and Australia, it can be found along the entire section of the Great Barrier Reef in Torres Strait. This fish can be easily recognized by its color and distinctive profile. The body is creamy gray color and is covered with small brown with black dots. The small head and neck are a significant increase of similar charactersitic freshwater barramundi. This fish can be found on coral reefs and often hides in caves or overhand. It is considered a kind of shy and hide divers approach. Barramundi cod (Cromileptes altivelis) grows approximately 70cm in length.

However, the name has been allocated for marketing reasons in the 1980s, a decision that helped raise the profile of the fish significantly. L. calcarifer is commonly referred to as the bar in Asia by the international scientific community, but is also known as giant perch, giant snapper, Australian bar, and a variety of names in other languages, such as Ikan Ikan Siakap or Kakap Putih in Indonesian, Apahap in Tagalog (Philippines), and Pla Krapong Thailand.

This species has an elongated body with a big mouth slightly oblique and upper jaw extends behind the eye. the lower edge of the preopercle is serrated with a strong spine at its angle, the cover has a small spine and a serrated flap above the origin of the lateral line. His scales are ctenoid. In cross section, the fish is compressed and the dorsal profile of head concave clear. Dorsal and ventral fins have spines and soft rays, pectoral and pelvic paired fins have soft rays and only the caudal fin has soft rays and is truncated and rounded. Barramundi is a salt and freshwater fishing, targeted by many. They have large silvery scales, which may become darker or lighter, depending on their environment. Their bodies can reach up to 1.8 meters (5.91 feet) long, although evidence of them being taken at this size are rare.

Barramundi are living demersal in coastal waters, estuaries, lagoons and rivers and are found in clear water to turbid, usually in a temperature range of 26-30oC. This species does not undertake extensive migrations within and between river systems, which probably influenced formation of genetically distinct stocks in northern Australia.

Barramundi are primarily a summer fish, but can be taken throughout the year, and can be found frolicking in the mud. They are usually targeted using both hard and soft body lures.
The barramundi feeds on crustaceans, mollusks and small fish (including its own species), food for juveniles on zooplankton. Barramundi are euryhaline, but stenothermal. He lives in rivers and estuaries and down to the foreshore to spawn. In remote areas of pure populations of freshwater sailors can be established.

At the beginning of the monsoon, men migrate downstream to meet the female, who was a very large number of eggs (several million each). Adults do not guard the eggs or fry, which require brackish water to develop.

The species is hermaphroditic sequentially, most individuals maturing as males and females become after at least one spawning season, most of the larger specimens are women. Fish kept in captivity often show atypical features of fish in the wild, they change sex at a smaller size, have a higher proportion of protogyny and some males do not undergo sexual inversion