Macquarie perch
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (May 2020) |
Macquarie perch | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Perciformes |
Family: | Percichthyidae |
Genus: | Macquaria |
Species: | M. australasica
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Binomial name | |
Macquaria australasica G. Cuvier, 1830
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Synonyms[2] | |
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The Macquarie perch (Macquaria australasica) is an Australian native freshwater
The Macquarie perch derives its scientific name from the Macquarie River where the first scientifically described specimen was collected (Macquaria) and a derivation of the Latin word for "southern" (australasica).
Description and diet
Macquarie perch are a medium-sized fish, commonly 30–40 cm and 1.0–1.5 kg. Maximum size is about 2.5 kg and 50 cm. Their body is elongated, deep, and laterally compressed. The
Macquarie perch are a relatively placid native fish species with the bulk of their diet consisting of aquatic
taken as well.Breeding and biology
The Macquarie perch is primarily an
Macquarie perch appear to have inherited the sexual dimorphism of other Macquaria species where females reach a larger maximum size than males. Females also reach sexual maturity at older, larger sizes than males.
Limited ageing work on Macquarie perch has recorded fish to 20 years of age. Maximum age for Macquarie perch is probably similar to the maximum age recorded for the closely related golden perch (26 years).
Range
Macquarie perch were originally found in the larger
Macquarie perch continue a pattern found in native freshwater fish of the Murray-Darling system of specialisation into
Macquarie perch are found in the eastern coastal Shoalhaven and Hawkesbury-Nepean river systems as well as the Murray-Darling Basin, indicating that, as with some other native fish genera in south-eastern Australia, Macquarie perch have managed to cross the Great Dividing Range through natural river capture/connection events. Genetic research now indicates the Shoalhaven River population was the ancestral Macquarie perch population and colonised the Hawkesbury-Nepean system ~2 million years ago, and the Hawkesbury-Nepean population then colonised the Murray-Darling Basin – possibly through a "wet divide" in the Breadalbane Plains region, ~657,000 years ago (Faulks et al., 2008).
Major differences between the eastern coastal populations and the Murray-Darling population are that the eastern coastal populations display a far smaller average and maximum size (15 and 20 cm respectively) and are reported to have one less vertebra than the Murray-Darling species. Recent evidence suggest the Shoalhaven population is now extinct after a rapid decline due to damming of their habitat and subsequent encroachment of legally and illegally stocked fish species. The Hawkesbury-Nepean population appears to be threatened by introduced trout and other exotic fish, river damming and regulation, siltation, and urban encroachment, but does not appear to be as threatened as the Murray-Darling species. Information on this page relates primarily to the Murray-Darling population.
There is a translocated population in the Mongarlowe River, a tributary of the Shoalhaven.[3][4][5] It is thought that this population descends from fish from the Murray-Darling Basin and not the eastern sub-species native to other parts of the Shoalhaven catchment. In recent years, this population seems to be in decline and may be doomed to local extinction.[5]
There is also a translocated self-sustaining breeding population of Macquarie Perch located in the middle and upper reaches of the Yarra River on the outskirts of Melbourne. They highest numbers are found lowest reaches, which also support a mix of translocated native and introduced fish including trout. In this stretch however no fish species is particularly dominant, and introduced trout are not numerous.
Conservation
Murray-Darling Macquarie perch are now listed as endangered on state and Commonwealth listings. Gross overfishing by anglers, habitat degradation through siltation, and regulation of flow and "thermal pollution" by dams have all been major causes of decline. A mysterious but endemic disease called Epizootic Haemotopoeitic Necrosis virus (EHN virus), now vectored by introduced
Over the last 20 or 30 years, the last few remaining Macquarie perch populations in
Macquarie perch have proved difficult but not impossible to breed. However, no Australian government agency is breeding Macquarie perch in significant numbers, and some government agencies are stocking
References
- .
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2019). "Macquaria australasica" in FishBase. December 2019 version.
- ^ Informative sign alongside Mongarlow River at Mongarlowe, N.S.W.
- ^ Tennant-wood, Robin (24 January 2019). "Downstream assessment for 'Maccas'". Braidwood Times. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- ^ a b Lintermans, Mark (August 2008). "The Status of Macquarie Perch Macquaria australasica in the Mongarlowe River in 2007 and 2008" (PDF).
- Lintermans, M.; Pearce, L.; Tonkin, Z.; Bruce, A.; Gilligan, D. (2019). "Macquaria australasica". .
- "Macquaria australasica". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 11 March 2006.
- Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2005). "Macquaria australasica" in FishBase. 10 2005 version.
- Butcher, A.D. 1945. The food of indigenous and non-indigenous freshwater fish in Victoria, with special reference to [introduced] trout. Fisheries Pamphlet 2. Fisheries and Wildlife Department, Victoria.
- Butcher, A.D. 1967. A changing aquatic fauna in a changing environment. IUCN Publications, New Series 9: 197–218.
- Cadwallader, P.L. (ed.) 1977. J.O. Langtry's 1949–50 Murray River Investigations. Fisheries and Wildlife Paper. Ministry for Conservation, Victoria.
- Cadwallader, P.L. 1981. Past and present distributions and translocations of the Macquarie perch Macquaria australasica (Pisces: Percichthyidae), with particular reference to Victoria. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 93: 23–30.
- Cadwallader, P.L. & Eden, A.K. 1979. Observations on the food of Macquarie Perch, Macquaria australasica (Pisces: Percicthyidae) in Victoria, Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 30: 401–409.
- Cadwallader, P.L. & Rogan, P.L. 1977. The Macquarie Perch, Macquaria australasica (Pisces: Percicthyidae), of Lake Eildon, Australian Journal of Ecology 2: 409–418
- McDowall, R.M. (ed.) 1996. Freshwater Fishes of south-eastern Australia. Reed Books, Sydney, Australia.
- Faulks L.K., Gilligan D.M. & Beheregaray L.B. (2008). Evolution and maintenance of divergent lineages in an endangered freshwater fish, Macquaria australasica. Conservation Genetics. DOI 10.1007/s10592-009-9936-7.
- Lintermans, M. (2006) The re-establishment of endangered Macquarie Perch Macquaria australasica in the Queanbeyan River, New South Wales, with an examination of dietary overlap with alien trout. Technical report, CRCFE, Canberra.
- McKeown, K.C. 1934. Notes on the food of trout and Macquarie Perch in Australia, Records of the Australian Museum 19: 141–152.
- Merrick, J.R. & Schmida, G.E. 1984. Australian freshwater fishes: biology and management. Griffin Press, Sydney, Australia.
- Rhodes, J.O. 1999. Heads and Tales: Recollections of a Fisheries and Wildlife Officer. The Australian Deer Research Foundation Ltd., Melbourne.
- Trueman WT (2007). Some recollections of native fish in the Murray-Darling system with special reference to the trout cod (Maccullochella macquariensis). Summary and source material for the draft publication 'True Tales of the Trout Cod'. Native Fish Australia (Victoria) Incorporated, Doncaster, Victoria. Available online at: https://web.archive.org/web/20080721002731/http://www.nativefish.asn.au/files/Recollections_compressed.pdf
- Trueman WT (2011). True Tales of the Trout Cod: River Histories of the Murray-Darling Basin. Publication No. 215/11. Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Canberra. Also available online at: https://web.archive.org/web/20130807212235/http://australianriverrestorationcentre.com.au/mdb/troutcod/
- Trueman, W. and Luker, C. 1992. Fishing Yesteryear. Freshwater Fishing Australia Magazine 17: 34–38.