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​东海大黄鱼

Large yellow croaker

A golden marine fish farmed in East Asia.

Photo: Walter Grassroot, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The large yellow croaker is a marine fish native to the Western Pacific. Once abundant, its wild numbers crashed from overfishing in the 1970s. It is now heavily farmed in China, with production exceeding wild catches. The species remains critically endangered in the wild despite aquaculture growth.

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  • Wild population collapsed in the 1970s due to overfishing
  • Chinese aquaculture production reached 105,000 tonnes by 2013
  • Genome was mapped in 2014 and annotated in 2015
  • Listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN
  • Reaches a maximum length of 80 cm

What it is

This ray-finned fish belongs to the drum and croaker family. It has a dorsal fin with nine or ten spines and thirty to thirty-five soft rays. The anal fin carries two spines and usually eight soft rays. Scales cover the soft parts of these fins. Fresh specimens display a distinct gold colour. The specific name refers to this saffron hue. Adults reach a maximum length of eighty centimetres.

Where it lives

The species inhabits marginal seas in East Asia. Its range extends from western Japan and Korea southwards. It lives in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea. Populations also occur in the Taiwan Strait and northern South China Sea. These fish prefer temperate coastal zones. They often enter brackish estuaries. The seabed in these areas is typically muddy or sandy.

Large yellow croaker
A drawing made by EveryFish from what this page says. It is a diagram, not a picture of the real fish.

Fish and people

Commercial fishing for this fish was once massive in East and South China. Catches also occurred in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. Overfishing caused a population collapse during the 1970s. Landings reached 56,000 tonnes in 2008 and 91,000 tonnes in 2013. Aquaculture in China has grown to meet demand. Farm production hit 105,000 tonnes by 2013. Farms have faced infections from Nocardia seriolae bacteria.

Status and threats

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists this species as Critically Endangered. Wild populations have not recovered from historical overfishing. There is no evidence that current wild fisheries are sustainable. The genome was mapped in 2014 due to its commercial importance. It became the 200th organism annotated by the NCBI pipeline in 2015. Parasites such as Trypanosoma larimichthysi affect farmed stocks in Fujian Province.

Questions people ask about Large yellow croaker

Why is the large yellow croaker critically endangered?

The wild population collapsed in the 1970s because of intense overfishing. The IUCN states there has been no recovery since then. Current wild fisheries are not considered sustainable, leading to its Critically Endangered status despite high farming output.

Is this fish still caught in the wild?

Yes, fishing boats landed 91,000 tonnes in 2013. However, aquaculture production in China has surpassed wild catches, reaching 105,000 tonnes in the same year. The wild stock remains depleted and unsustainable.

Where does the large yellow croaker live?

It is found in the Western Pacific Ocean, specifically in East Asian marginal seas. Its habitat includes the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and waters off Japan and Korea. It prefers temperate coastal areas and brackish estuaries with muddy bottoms.

Good reading and sources

Where this page comes from

The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Larimichthys crocea", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). EveryFish rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.

It may contain mistakes, and figures change over time. Nothing here is investment or buying advice. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-11-15.

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Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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