| Estuary perch | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Centrarchiformes |
| Genus: | Percalates |
| Species: | P. colonorum |
| Binomial name | |
| Percalates colonorum (Günther, 1863) | |
| Synonyms [2] | |
| |
The estuary perch (Percalates colonorum) [2] is a species of ray-finned fish endemic to south-eastern Australia, where it prefers brackish waters such as the tidal reaches of coastal lakes, rivers, and streams. [3]
It is very similar to and very closely related to its sister species, the Australian bass, Percalates novemaculeata, differing in having a slightly more "scooped" forehead and reaching a larger length of 75 cm (30 in). The species also differ in that Australian bass generally inhabit freshwater reaches during the non-spawning months, while estuary perch generally inhabit reaches subject to some tidal movement. Most individuals only reach around 40 cm (16 in). The greatest recorded weight for a specimen of this species is 10 kg (22 lb), there is very little evidence for this, most people assume it was a typo i.e. it was 10 lb and not 10 kg.
Estuary perch breed in winter at the same time as Australian bass, and are similarly sexually dimorphic, with females larger than males. Females reach sexual maturity at older ages and larger sizes than males. In Victoria, estuary perch/Australian bass hybrids are regularly recorded; most hybrids appear to be reproductively viable.
Spawning occurs at the mouths of estuaries, rivers, and streams during winter and spring when water temperatures are 14–19 °C. [3] In New South Wales, this occurs from July to August, while in the western regions of Victorian waters this happens from November to December. [4]
Eggs are semi-buoyant, non-adhesive, and 1.3–2.4 mm (0.051–0.094 in) in diameter. They hatch into larvae after 2–3 days. [3]
Estuary perch, as with many other native fish of south-eastern Australia, are very long-lived. Longevity is a survival strategy to ensure that most adults participate in at least one exceptional spawning and recruitment event, which are often linked to unusually wet La Niña years and may only occur every one or two decades. Maximum age so far recorded is 41 years. [5]
Historical fishing accounts, primarily in newspapers, show the species was once known as "Gippsland Perch" and was a renowned and highly praised angling fish in Victoria in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It was frequently targeted with flies and fly-fishing tackle. Such accounts and articles document a very wide range and immmense abundance, and also demonstrate the species has undergone an immense historical decline in range and abundance. Nevertheless, the estuary perch remains a popular albeit somewhat specialist angling or game fish in its surviving range in the states of Victoria (particularly) and New South Wales. [3] The fish was once caught commercially with various types of netting during their winter spawning migrations. Recent declining numbers mean the species is now theoretically protected from commercial fishing, while bag limits and closed seasons apply with recreational fishing. [3] However, an absence of larger, older (>10 years) individuals in the populations from the two rivers with a history of commercial fishing shows high commercial fishing by-catch of the species is still happening. [5]
Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater and fresh water together, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers. The word comes from the Middle Dutch root brak. Certain human activities can produce brackish water, in particular civil engineering projects such as dikes and the flooding of coastal marshland to produce brackish water pools for freshwater prawn farming. Brackish water is also the primary waste product of the salinity gradient power process. Because brackish water is hostile to the growth of most terrestrial plant species, without appropriate management it can be damaging to the environment.
The white bass, silver bass, or sand bass is a freshwater fish of the temperate bass family Moronidae. commonly around 12–15 inches long. The species' main color is silver-white to pale green. Its back is dark, with white sides and belly, and with narrow dark stripes running lengthwise on its sides. It has large, rough scales and two dorsal fins. They are widely distributed across North America, inhabiting large reservoirs and rivers. When mating in the spring, they are more often found in shallow rivers, creeks, and streams. They have been introduced in some places as sport fish and also to predate on nuisance fish, such as gizzard shad. It is the state fish of Oklahoma.
The largemouth bass is a carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico. It is known by a variety of regional names, such as the widemouth bass, bigmouth bass, black bass, bucketmouth, largie, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, bucketmouth bass, green trout, Gilsdorf bass, Oswego bass, LMB, and southern largemouth and northern largemouth.
Crappies are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus Pomoxis in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers.
The Murray cod is a large Australian predatory freshwater fish of the genus Maccullochella in the family Percichthyidae. Although the species is called a cod in the vernacular, it is not related to the Northern Hemisphere marine cod (Gadus) species. The Murray cod is an important part of Australia's vertebrate wildlife—as an apex predator in the Murray-Darling River system—and also significant in Australia's human culture. The Murray cod is the largest exclusively freshwater fish in Australia, and one of the largest in the world. Other common names for Murray cod include cod, greenfish, goodoo, Mary River cod, Murray perch, ponde, pondi and Queensland freshwater cod.
The trout cod or bluenose cod, is a large predatory freshwater fish of the genus Maccullochella and the family Percichthyidae, closely related to the Murray cod. It was originally widespread in the south-east corner of the Murray-Darling river system in Australia, but is now an endangered species.
The members of the family Percichthyidae are known as the temperate perches. They belong to the order Perciformes, the perch-like fishes.
The barramundi, Asian sea bass, or giant sea perch is a species of catadromous fish in the family Latidae of the order Perciformes. The species is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, spanning the waters of the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania.
The rock bass, also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, red eye, and black perch, is a freshwater fish native to east-central North America. This red-eyed fish is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of order Perciformes and can be distinguished from other similar species by the six spines in the anal fin.
The yellow perch, commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samuel Latham Mitchill from New York. It is closely related, and morphologically similar to the European perch ; and is sometimes considered a subspecies of its European counterpart.
The American shad is a species of anadromous clupeid fish naturally distributed on the North American coast of the North Atlantic, from Newfoundland to Florida, and as an introduced species on the North Pacific coast. The American shad is not closely related to the other North American shads. Rather, it seems to form a lineage that diverged from a common ancestor of the European taxa before these diversified.
Sea trout is the common name usually applied to anadromous (sea-run) forms of brown trout, and is often referred to as Salmo trutta morpha trutta. Other names for anadromous brown trout are bull trout, sewin (Wales), peel or peal, mort, finnock (Scotland), white trout (Ireland), Dollaghan and salmon trout (culinary).
The Macquarie perch is an Australian native freshwater fish of the Murray-Darling river system. It is a member of the family Percichthyidae and is closely related to the golden perch.
The golden perch is a medium-sized, yellow or gold-coloured species of Australian freshwater fish found primarily in the Murray-Darling River system, though a subspecies is found in the Lake Eyre-Cooper Creek system, and another subspecies, suspected to be ancestral to all other populations, is found in the Fitzroy River system in Queensland. Other common names for golden perch are "goldens", “yellowbelly” and "callop", the last generally used only in South Australia.
The Australian bass is a small-to-medium-sized species of primarily freshwater ray-finned fish found in coastal rivers and streams along the east coast of Australia. A member of the genus Percalates from the order Centrarchiformes, the Australian bass is an important member of the native fish assemblages found in east coast river systems. It is a native predatory fish and an extremely popular game fish species among anglers. The species was simply called perch in most coastal rivers where it was caught until the 1960s, when the name "Australian bass" started to gain popularity.
The freshwater drum, Aplodinotus grunniens, is a fish endemic to North and Central America. It is the only species in the genus Aplodinotus, and is a member of the family Sciaenidae. It is the only North American member of the group that inhabits freshwater for its entire life. Its generic name, Aplodinotus, comes from Greek meaning "single back", and the specific epithet, grunniens, comes from a Latin word meaning "grunting". It is given to it because of the grunting noise that mature males make. This noise comes from a special set of muscles within the body cavity that vibrate against the swim bladder. The purpose of the grunting is unknown, but due to it being present in only mature males and during the spawning season, it is assumed to be linked to spawning.
Galaxias olidus, the mountain galaxias, is a species of freshwater galaxiid fish widely found in southeastern Australia.
Great Bay is located in southern New Jersey's Atlantic Coastal Plain in Ocean and Atlantic Counties, about ten miles (16 km) north of Atlantic City and is about 5.5 miles northwest of Brigantine, and 5.5 miles southwest of Beach Haven. The Mullica River flows into the bay, and together they form the Mullica River - Great Bay estuary habitat. The bay is connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Little Egg Inlet. Great Bay is considered one of the least-disturbed marine wetlands habitats in the northeastern United States.
Macquaria is a genus of medium-sized, predatory temperate perches endemic to Australia. They are found in rivers and estuaries of the eastern part of the continent.
The black bream, also commonly known as the southern black bream, southern bream and blue-nosed bream, is a species of anadromous ray-finned fish of the porgy family Sparidae. A deep-bodied fish, it is occasionally confused with other similar species that occur within its range, but is generally distinguished from these species by a lack of yellow ventral and anal fins. Southern black bream are endemic to the southern coasts of Australia from Shark Bay in Western Australia to Ulladulla, New South Wales, as well as Tasmania.
