Chanos chanos

Milkfish Temporal range: Early Cretaceous–present
Chanos chanos from French Polynesia
Chanos chanos (locally called bangús) in a Philippine fish market
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Gonorynchiformes
Family:	Chanidae
Genus:	Chanos Lacépède, 1803
Species:	C. chanos
Binomial name
Chanos chanos (Forsskål, 1775)
Synonyms
Butirinus argenteus Jerdon, 1849 Butirinus maderaspatensis Jerdon, 1849 Chanos arabicus Lacepède, 1803 Chanos chloropterus Valenciennes, 1847 Chanos cyprinella Valenciennes, 1847 Chanos gardineri Regan, 1902 Chanos indicus (van Hasselt, 1823) Chanos lubina Valenciennes, 1847 Chanos mento Valenciennes, 1847 Chanos mossambicus (Peters, 1852) Chanos nuchalis Valenciennes, 1847 Chanos orientalis Valenciennes, 1847 Chanos salmoneus (Forster, 1801) Chanos salmonoides Günther, 1879 Cyprinus pala Cuvier, 1829 Cyprinus palah (Cuvier, 1829) Cyprinus tolo Cuvier, 1829 Leuciscus palah Cuvier, 1829Small text Leuciscus salmoneus (Forster, 1801) Leuciscus zeylonicus Bennett, 1833 Lutodeira chanos'' (Forsskål, 1775) Lutodeira chloropterus (Valenciennes, 1847) Lutodeira indica van Hasselt, 1823 Lutodeira mossambica Peters, 1852 Lutodeira mossambicus Peters, 1852 Lutodeira salmonea (Forster, 1801) Mugil chanos Forsskål, 1775Small text Mugil salmoneus Forster, 1801

The milkfish (Chanos chanos) is the sole living species in the family Chanidae. However, there are at least five extinct genera from the Cretaceous.

The species has many common names. The Hawaiian name for the fish is awa, and in Tahitian it is ava. It is called bangús in the Philippines, where it is the national fish. In the Nauruan language, it is referred to as ibiya. Milkfish is also called "bandeng" or "bolu" in Indonesia.

Chanos chanos occurs in the Indian Ocean and across the Pacific Ocean, from South Africa to Hawaii and the Marquesas, from California to the Galapagos, north to Japan, south to Australia. Milkfishes commonly live in tropical offshore marine waters around islands and along continental shelves, at depths of 1 to 30 m. They also frequently enter estuaries and rivers.

The milkfish can grow to 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in), but are most often no more than 1 m (39 in) in length. They can reach a weight of about 14.0 kg. and an age of 15 years. They have an elongated and almost compressed body, with a generally symmetrical and streamlined appearance, one dorsal fin, falcate pectoral fins and a sizable forked caudal fin. Mouth is small and toothless. Body color is olive green, with silvery flanks and dark bordered fins. They have 13-17 dorsal soft rays, 8-10 anal soft rays and 31 caudal fin rays.

These fishes generally feed on cyanobacteria, algae and small invertebrates. They tend to school around coasts and islands with coral reefs. The young fry live at sea for two to three weeks and then migrate during the juvenile stage to mangrove swamps, estuaries, and sometimes lakes, and return to sea to mature sexually and reproduce. Females spawn at night up to 5 million eggs in saline shallow waters.

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Wikipedia