Japanese lates

Amazing fact

A Japanese lates changes from a striped youngster to a silvery-white fish as it grows.

公益財団法人四万十川財団

Japanese lates in its habitat (illustration)

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An illustration based on the real animal.

A little discovery to share.

A Japanese lates changes from a striped youngster to a silvery-white fish as it grows.

Source公益財団法人四万十川財団 — 四万十川の魚７アカメ

THE REAL WORLD

The real Japanese lates

Scientific name: Lates japonicus
Japanese name: アカメ
Group: Ocean animals

Order: Perciformes
Family: Latidae
Genus: Lates

Facts about the real animal.

A fish endemic to Japan, found along the Pacific coast from Shizuoka to Kagoshima, among other places.

鳥羽水族館 — アカメ

True to its name, which means "red eye", its eyes look red.

鳥羽水族館 — アカメ

Young fish swim into the Shimanto River in Kochi and the Oyodo River in Miyazaki.

鳥羽水族館 — アカメ

How the Japanese lates lives

This fish is active at night. It eats fish such as carp, crucian carp and mullet. During the day, it stays in a regular hiding place. Adults gather in groups in deep river pools.

公益財団法人四万十川財団

Basic data

Range: Pacific coast from Lake Hamana to Shibushi Bay and Uchinoura Bay, Osaka Bay, and Kagawa

鳥羽水族館

Conservation status in Japan: Endangered (EN)Ministry of the Environment of Japan, Red List 2020

Where the Japanese lates has been recorded

Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF

Where it livesJapan Coasts Rivers and wetlands

Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.

Names around the world

日本語: アカメ
简体中文: 日本尖吻鲈
繁體中文: 日本尖吻鱸
Português (Brasil): Barramundi-japonês
العربية: برمون ياباني
ไทย: ปลากะพงญี่ปุ่น

Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.

Sources and how we check

鳥羽水族館 — アカメChecked: 2026-11-04
公益財団法人四万十川財団 — 四万十川の魚７アカメChecked: 2026-11-07
Ministry of the Environment of Japan, Red List 2020Checked: 2026-11-07

We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.

The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.

The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.

The conservation status in Japan is the category in the Red Lists of the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, which assess the risk of extinction for wild animals in Japan.

This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.

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