Milkfish
Chanos chanos
- Usual depth4–21 m
- Water temperature20–30 °C
- Best monthsApril
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
The milkfish is a widespread species of ray-finned fish found throughout the Indo-Pacific. It is the sole living species in the family Chanidae, and the only living member of the genus Chanos. The repeating scientific name (tautonym) is from Greek khanos. They are grouped in the order Gonorhynchiformes and are most closely related to the Ostariophysi—freshwater fishes such as carps, catfish, and loaches.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Milkfish”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 88 records
- February: 220 records
- March: 167 records
- April: 391 records
- May: 190 records
- June: 88 records
- July: 93 records
- August: 67 records
- September: 89 records
- October: 104 records
- November: 56 records
- December: 55 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 4–21 m · Deepest record: 287 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C
Photos
(c) Sockrosma, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Alberto Alcalá, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) keesgroenendijk, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) keesgroenendijk, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Tim, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Alberto Alcalá, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Milkfish, Bandang, Bangos, Bukkariba, Buruna, Giant Herring, milkfish, Milk-fish, Moreton Bay Salmon, Salmon Herring
Names in 8 more languages
- German
- Milchfisch
- Spanish
- pez-de-leche, sabalote
- Filipino
- Bangus
- French
- chano, Chano, Lubine, Poisson-lait, Thon
- Japanese
- Sabahi, サバヒー
- Korean
- 갯농어
- Thai
- ปลานวลจันทร์ทะเล
- Simplified Chinese
- 虱目魚, 馬友
Other scientific names: Butirinus argenteus, Butirinus maderaspatensis, Channo chanos, Chanos arabicus, Chanos chloropterus, Chanos cyprinella, Chanos gardineri, Chanos indicus, Chanos lubina, Chanos mento, Chanos mossambicus, Chanos nuchalis, Chanos orientalis, Chanos salmoneus, Chanos salmonoides, Cyprinus pala, Cyprinus palah, Cyprinus tolo, Leuciscus palah, Leuciscus salmoneus, Leuciscus zeylonicus, Lutodeira chanos, Lutodeira chloropterus, Lutodeira indica, Lutodeira mossambica, Lutodeira mossambicus, Lutodeira salmonea, Lutodira elongata, Mugil chanos, Mugil salmoneus
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 1,868 open-data records from 1894 to 2024.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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