|
Deepseawaters
Home Deepsea
Animals
Murray Cod
Murray Cod
Common Name: Murray Cod
Scientific Name: Aphyonus gelatinosus
Description
The Murray Cod
is a moderately elongate, deep-bodied fish. It has a concave
snout profile, a large mouth and small eyes.
This species is olive to cream
or yellowish with a reticulated pattern of
green markings on the back and sides. It is white to cream
below. The median fins are dusky with white margins. The pelvic
fins are white.
The Murray Cod
has also been referred to as Cod, Goodoo,
Ponde and Pondi. The last
three names are examples of the many Aboriginal names for
this species.
Size
The
Murray Cod is Australia's largest freshwater
fish. It is a prized angling species that can grows
to a length of 1.8 m and weight of 113.5 kg. It is more commonly
seen up to 70 cm in length and under 10 kg.
Diet
On
hatching the fry feed on zooplankton (most
easily obtained in billabongs and backwaters) with the diet
gradually changing to include yabbies, shrimp, molluscs and
fishes.
Characteristics
The
adults (usually about 60 cm but can be up to 180 cm) breed
when the water temperature reaches about 20ºC with the female
producing up to 60,000 eggs 2-3 mm in diameter.
Location or Region Found
This
fish is endemic to Australia, occurring in
freshwaters of the Murray-Darling River drainage in Queensland,
New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. There are also
erroneous reports from the Dawson-Fitzroy drainage.
Murray
Cod populations have declined dramatically since
white settlement of Australia. A commercial fishery between
the 1880s and 1930s caused an initial decline. More recently,
overfishing, river degradation and human modification of the
environment have caused major population declines. Murray
Cod are now relatively uncommon in most areas.
 Email
To Friend
|
