Fish

Fish are vertebrate animals that live in the water. Vertebrate means they have a spinal cord surrounded by bone or cartilage. Fish have gills that extract oxygen from the water around them. Relative to their body size, fish have small brains compared to most other animals.

Learn more about the fish in our wildlife family.


 

Barramundi

cairns wildlife

Lates Calcarifer

  • Barramundi is an Australian Aboriginal word meaning “large-scaled river fish”.
  • These fish start their lives as males and change gender to become females at around 5 years of age.
  • They can reach sizes of up to 1.8 metres long and weigh 60 kilograms.
  • They have large silver scales which may become darker or lighter depending on their environments.
  • They are found in coastal waters, estuaries, lagoons and rivers within a temperature range of 26−30°celcius and feed on crustaceans, molluscs, and smaller fish (including their own species).