72 Handbook on Open Sea Cage Culture NURSERY REARING OF ASIAN SEABASS S.R.Krupesha Sharma, Praveen Dube and K.K.Philipose Overview S eabass, Lates calcarifer, is an economically important food fish in many countries. This species is widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical areas of the western Pacific and Indian ocean including Australia, Southeast Asia, the Philippines and countries bordering the Arabian sea. Seabass spend most of their life in a lagoon which connects to the sea. They spend two to three more years in estuarine areas until they mature, then migrate to the sea water around the mouth of a river or lagoon for spawning. Larvae and juveniles live in the sea grass bed in coastal areas for about six months, attaining a size of about 2 to 5 inches. The fish migrate to freshwater when they grow bigger. VIII