The Japanese lates (''Lates japonicus''), also known as the ''akame'' (from the Japanese , literally "red eye") or Japanese barramundi, is a species of

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

found in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. A bottom-dweller restricted to

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

habitats and large rivers in the Pacific coastal western parts of the country, it is

threatened A threatened species is any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensatio ...

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

. As it is similar to the related

barramundi The barramundi (''Lates calcarifer''), Asian sea bass, or giant sea perch (also known as dangri, apahap or siakap) is a species of catadromous fish in the family Latidae of the order Carangiformes. The species is widely distributed in the I ...

, it was classified as the same species until 1984.

Description

The Japanese lates has a comparatively long and compressed body with a large mouth. It is a metallic grey in overall colour, with a bluish tint, darker upperparts, and lighter underparts. Its fins are greyish black with white tips, and its pupils are red. While similar to the

, it differs in several features. It has a taller and deeper body (averaging a much greater size), longer third dorsal and second anal spines, fewer

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

rays, more scales, and fewer gill rakers. It reaches an officially recorded maximum length of and a maximum weight of .

Taxonomy

Having previously been considered to be the same as the barramundi (''Lates calcifer''), ''Lates japonicus'' was first scientifically described in 1984. Even when it was realised as a separate species, publication of a formal description was delayed since the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

of the barramundi was alleged to originate in Japan, and because of confusion caused by the deformities of the barramundi's type specimen. Both the barramundi and the Japanese lates are classified with about 10 other species in the genus ''

Lates ''Lates'' is a genus of freshwater and euryhaline lates perches belonging to the family Latidae. The genus, generic name is also used as a common name, lates, for many of the species. All species are predatory, and the Nile perch (''L. niloticus ...

'', which in turn is in the family

Latidae The Latidae, known as the lates perches, are a family of perch-like fish found in Africa, Asia, and the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. Including about 13 species, the family, previously classified subfamily Latinae in family Centropomidae, w ...

(or in older classifications,

Centropomidae ''Centropomus'' is a genus of predominantly marine fish comprising the family Centropomidae. The type species is '' Centropomus undecimalis'', the common snook. Commonly known as snooks or ''róbalos'', the ''Centropomus'' species are native to ...

Ecology

The Japanese lates is a bottom dweller in the freshwater shallows,

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

, and the ocean. It is known in the south-western part of the Japanese main islands, where it is found in the seas around

Tosa Bay Tosa Bay () is a bay north of the line connecting Cape Muroto and Cape Ashizuri in Kochi Prefecture, Japan. Tosa Bay is one of the better fishing grounds in Japan, and strongly affected by the Kuroshio Current The , also known as the Black ...

, in

Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 669,516 (1 April 2023) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and Tok ...

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

, and near

Miyazaki City is the capital city of Miyazaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 397,381 in 187,859 households, and a population density of 620 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Miy ...

Miyazaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Miyazaki Prefecture has a population of 1,028,215 as of 1 January 2025 and has a geographic area of 7,735 Square kilometre, km2 (2,986 sq mi). Miyazaki Prefectur ...

, Kyushu. It is believed to spawn there, and younger fish are found up the Ōyodo and

Shimanto River The is a river in western Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. 196 km in length, it has a watershed of 2,270 km2. Fisheries Since the river is remote from major cities and does not have any dams, it is sometimes referred to as "the last clear ...

s. The barramundi is believed to replace it in the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands (Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara and A ...

. The Japanese lates has long been known to fishermen, but because of its relative rarity and shyness, it achieved "almost legendary" status. For some time, scientists were uncertain which fish was the "''akame''" of legend, and some suspected ''

Psammoperca waigiensis The Waigieu seaperch (''Psammoperca waigiensis''), or Waigeo barramundi, is a species of marine fish in family Latidae of order Carangiformes. The only species of genus ''Psammoperca'', it is native to tropical coastal waters from the Bay of Be ...

''. It is kept in aquaria and cultured for food, but is poorly known in the wild. In February 2010, the first video of the'' akame ''living in its natural surroundings was broadcast on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, in a report on the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

's research project where Japanese lates were fitted with

ultrasound Ultrasound is sound with frequency, frequencies greater than 20 Hertz, kilohertz. This frequency is the approximate upper audible hearing range, limit of human hearing in healthy young adults. The physical principles of acoustic waves apply ...

tracking devices.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4386821 Latidae Fish described in 1984 Endemic fish of Japan