Milkfish

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Milkfish
Milkfish.jpg

Milkfish ( Chanos chanos )

Systematics
Cohort : Otomorpha
Sub-cohort : Ostariophysi
Order : Sandfish (Gonorynchiformes)
Family : Chanidae
Genre : Chanos
Type : Milkfish
Scientific name of the  family
Chanidae
Günther , 1868
Scientific name of the  genus
Chanos
Lacépède , 1803
Scientific name of the  species
Chanos chanos
( Forsskål , 1775)

The milkfish ( Chanos chanos ) is a marine fish found in the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific and the eastern Pacific. It is the only recent species in the Chanidae family . Seven extinct species in five genera are known. Dairy fish are sometimes mistaken for sharks by tourists when they swim just below the surface of the water and their dorsal fin protrudes, which is why they are also known as tourist sharks . The milk fish is an edible fish that is also reared in aquaculture , particularly in Southeast Asia.

features

Milk fish are herring-like, streamlined, with a large, forked caudal fin, silvery to milky white in color. In the wild, they are usually a meter long. The maximum length is 1.8 meters with a maximum age of 15 years. They are toothless, feed mainly on algae and plant plankton , but also on animal plankton and invertebrates , especially jellyfish . Milk fish have an epibranchial organ that sits in pairs at the beginning of the long esophagus and produces mucus in which the plankton sticks and can thus be swallowed easily.

Way of life

They live in schools near the coast, especially older milk fish also alone. Usually they can be found directly under the water surface, but sometimes also at depths of up to 30 meters. Their distribution area is extensive along the coasts of the Red Sea , the Indian Ocean and the Pacific , often in brackish water or in river mouths (milk fish can tolerate both salt and fresh water). Milk fish spawn near the shore at the time of the moon change. The ribbon-shaped larvae live in the sea for two to three weeks, then migrate to the mangrove zone, estuaries and sometimes lakes. The milk fish swim back into the sea to reproduce.

Tribal history

Fossil of the extinct Chaniden Dastilbe

Fossil is the family Chanidae occupied by the five genera Dastilbe , Parachanos , Tharrhias , Gordichthys and Rubiesichthys from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil, Africa and Spain. The last two genera are placed in their own subfamily, the Rubiesichthyinae, all others including the recent Chanos in the Chaninae.

use

Grilled milk fish (ikan bandeng) in Jakarta, Indonesia

For use as food fish , the larvae are caught in the shallow water of rivers and estuaries , reared in heavily over-fertilized ponds with the algae growing in them, until they are usually caught again at a length of 15 to 20 cm and sold as fresh fish, smoked or frozen.

The milkfish is one of the 15 most important fish species that are produced in aquaculture worldwide . In 2006 the world production of Chanos chanos amounted to 585,375 tons, thus making up around 8% of world aquaculture production. In particular, the rapid growth and the relative insensitivity of the milk fish come into play here.

In the Philippines , the milk fish under the name Bangus (also Bangrus in the Visayas ) is one of the most eaten food fish and also the "national fish".

literature

Web links

Commons : Milkfish  album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: milk fish  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Philippine National Symbols or Mga Pambansang Sagisag Ng Pilipinas . philippinecountry.com, accessed April 2, 2014.