Macquaria australasica, Macquarie perch : fisheries, aquaculture, gamefish, aquarium

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Macquaria australasica Cuvier, 1830

Macquarie perch
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Image of Macquaria australasica (Macquarie perch)
Macquaria australasica
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Centrarchiformes (Basses) > Percichthyidae (Temperate perches)
Etymology: More on author: Cuvier.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; benthopelagic; potamodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 4 m. Temperate; 4°C - 25°C (Ref. 2060); 34°S - 37°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Oceania: Once widely distributed in the Murray-Darling basin and southeastern coastal drainages. Now reduced to cooler upper reaches of Murray-Darling basin, New South Wales, Australia. Introduced in the Wannon, Barwon, Yarra Rivers (Victoria) and the Nepean and Shoalhaven Rivers (New South Wales), Australia.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - 30 cm
Max length : 46.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 44894); common length : 23.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5259); max. published weight: 3.5 kg (Ref. 2906)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 8 - 12; Dorsal soft rays (total): 12-15; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8 - 11; Vertebrae: 28 - 31

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs in lakes and flowing streams usually in deep holes with rock or gravel substrates (Ref. 5259). Inhabits cool, clear water of rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Prefers slow-flowing, deep rocky pools. Solitary, swimming near the bottom or in mid-water, but form small shoals during the spawning season (October to December) (Ref. 44894). Forms large shoals near shore. Fry feeds on zooplankton; adult on aquatic insects, crustaceans and mollusks. Male matures at 20 cm (2 y), female at 30 cm (3 y). Spawns upstream in spring or early summer; eggs hatch in 13-18 days; larvae of 7 cm TL (Ref. 5259). Moves into areas just upstream of shallow riffles over gravel or rocky bottoms to spawn. The female releases demersal eggs which sink into cracks in the substrate. Fish in reservoirs move into flowing feeder streams to spawn. Sexual maturity is reached after 2 years (20 centimeters) for males, 3 years (30 centimeters) for females (Ref. 44894). Tolerates temp. down to 9°C (Ref. 7276). Infected by nematodes and copepod Lernaea cyprinacea (Ref. 7315).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Return to same river or lake site to spawn each year. Sexually segregated schools (uniform size & age-bet. 4-10 y) migrate upstream: female groups some days or weeks in advance. Most abundant in lakes fed by suitable shallow streams with rock or gravel substrates. Male nudges female vent region; eggs released, fertilized. Eggs turn transparent, increase to 4.0 mm diameter, are spherical, adhesive and demersal and are swept downstream lodging in boulders and pebbles. Hatching in 10-18 days (11-18°C). Larvae shelter in boulders.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Arratia, Gloria | Collaborators

Paxton, J.R., D.F. Hoese, G.R. Allen and J.E. Hanley, 1989. Pisces. Petromyzontidae to Carangidae. Zoological Catalogue of Australia, Vol. 7. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 665 p. (Ref. 7300)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Endangered (EN) (A2ce; B2ab(ii,iii,iv)); Date assessed: 11 February 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless (Ref. 2906)





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
BRUVS
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Nutrients
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5625   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01738 (0.00674 - 0.04483), b=3.06 (2.83 - 3.29), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.3   ±0.01 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tm=2-3).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (42 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.