Milkfish: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the milkfish lives – recorded in 23 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Chanos chanos
Group	Bony fish
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	23 countries
Continents	Africa, Asia, North America, Oceania, South America
Class	Ray-finned fish
Order	Gonorynchiformes
Family	Chanidae

Where does the milkfish live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the milkfish in 23 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, North America, Oceania and South America. In China, Philippines, United States it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the milkfish endangered?

The milkfish’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the milkfish?

The milkfish (Chanos chanos) is a ray-finned fish in the order Gonorynchiformes and the family Chanidae, genus Chanos. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the milkfish

The milkfish (Chanos chanos) 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 (χάνος 'mouth'). They are grouped in the order Gonorhynchiformes and are most closely related to the Ostariophysi—freshwater fishes such as carps, catfish, and loaches.

The species has many common names. The Hawaiian name for the fish is awa, and in Tahitian it is ava. It is called bangús (Tagalog: [bɐˈŋus]) in the Philippines, where it is popularly known as the national fish, although the National Commission for Culture and the Arts has stated that this is not the case as it has no basis in Philippine law. In the Nauruan language, it is referred to as ibiya. Milkfish is also called bandeng or bolu in Indonesia.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Milkfish (revision 1373645921), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q465261 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).