Australian herring

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Australian herring
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Arripidae
Genus: Arripis
Species:
A. georgianus
Binomial name
Arripis georgianus
(Valenciennes, 1831)
Synonyms[1]

Centropristes georgianus Valenciennes, 1831

The Australian herring (Arripis georgianus), also known as the ruff, tommy ruff, or Australian ruff, is one of four Australasian fish species within the genus

Australian salmon, although it grows to a smaller size.[2] Like the other members of its genus, it is found in cooler waters around the southern coast of Australia.[3] It is not biologically related to the herring family Clupeidae
.

In Australia, additional vernacular names used for this fish include bull herring, herring, rough, ruffies, sea herring, tommy, tommy rough and South Australian roughy. Ruff is the global fisheries name used by the Food and Agriculture Organization.

Description

The Australian herring has a streamlined, moderately deep and slightly elongate body which is somewhat compressed and has a relatively thin caudal peduncle. It has a quite small head with rather large eyes and a moderately large oblique mouth with the

Australian salmon and differ from that species by their comparatively larger yellow and black eye and rounder head. This species is silver in colour with black tips on tail and gold spots along the upper body.[5] The juveniles have dark golden bars on their flanks. The dorsal fin contains 9 spines and 16 soft rays and the anal fin has 3 spines and 10 soft rays. The maximum fork length recorded is 41 centimetres (16 in)[1] but they are commonly 25–30 centimetres (9.8–11.8 in).[5]

Distribution

The Australian herring is endemic to the temperate seas of southern Australia from the Swan River in Western Australia along the south coast and along the east coast as far north as Forster, New South Wales. It is also found around Tasmania.[4]

Habitat and biology

Australian herring form large schools in sea-grass meadows, off beaches, over reefs, in coastal bays and in estuaries. They are normally found near the surface, going no deeper than a few metres. They are predators feeding on smaller fishes and some invertebrates which live among the weed beds and sea grass meadows.

planktonic and drift southwards along the western coast of Australia and eastward along its south coast by the prevailing winds and currents, the Leeuwin Current being particularly important in this. At 30–60 millimetres (1.2–2.4 in) length the juveniles settle in the winter and spring using nursery sites along the south coast. Some remain close to where the spawning grounds are along the southern part of the western coast of Western Australia. Geographe Bay appears to be a very important source of recruitment for the west coast population. Once they have spawned, the adult fish remain off the west coast of Western Australia and do not return to the south coast. They disperse along the coast, they move into estuaries and go as far north as Shark Bay.[6]

Fisheries

In most of Australia this is a species which is considered to be a desirable recreational fish.

seine nets. They were fished for using 'G' trap nets but following scientific advice on the health of the stock this was banned in 2015.[6] It has a soft, slightly oily flesh and is thought of as a high quality food fish.[4]

Taxonomy and species description

The Australian herring was first formally

monospecific genus and Arripis georgianus was therefore the type species.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2019). "Arripis georgianus" in FishBase. December 2019 version.
  2. ^ * Juvenile Eastern Australian Salmon video on Youtube
  3. ^ * Dianne J. Bray, 2011, Australian Herring, Arripis georgianus, in Fishes of Australia, accessed 10 Sep 2014, http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/405
  4. ^ a b c d e Bray, D.J. (2018). "Arripis georgianus". Fishes of Australia. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "Australian Herring (Arripis georgianus)". getfishing.co.au. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  6. ^ a b c "Australian Herring" (PDF). Fisheries Factsheets. Government of Western Australia Department of Fisheries. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  7. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Centropristes georgianus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  8. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Arripis". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 20 April 2020.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Australian_herring&oldid=1142150822"