Barramundi

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

barramundi a name of Australian Aboriginal origin used both for a fine sea fish, Lates calcarifer (also known as giant sea perch), and for fish of the family Osteoglossidae (bony-tongued fish).

The former is considered to be less deserving of the name barramundi, but this is so familiar in northern Queensland that it seems likely to stay. It is a prized game fish, attaining a very large size (maximum length 1.5 m/5'), golden-brown or greenish above and silvery below, with small red eyes. Throughout its range, from the Persian Gulf to the Philippines, it is prized for its excellent flesh, and it is of major commercial importance in India. Although a marine species, it does enter fresh waters. How it came by its Anglo-Indian name ‘cock-up’ seems to be a mystery.