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Freshwater Fish of Victoria: Black Bream | FN0058 |
Fisheries Victoria, Melbourne
Updated: March 2007
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With some comparative notes on Yellowfin Bream.
Common Name:
Black Bream
Other Names:
Southern Black Bream, Southern Bream
Family:
Sparidae
Scientific Name:
Acanthopagrus butcheri (Munro, 1949)
Status:
Native | |
Description
Robust, deep body. Single dorsal fin. Sharply rounded snout, moderate sized mouth which reaches back to level with the rear of the eye. Moderate sized eye situated high on the side of the head. Upper jaw is longer than the lower jaw, both jaws have well developed teeth. Large scales on the body. Prominent lateral line. Gold-brown to bronze, with greenish iridescence on the back and sides. Head is darker, often brown-blue to brown-purple. Underside, including chin, is usually creamy white. Fins are dusky brown.
Distribution
Common in all coastal drainages.
Habitat
Strictly an estuarine and freshwater fish, rarely found in the sea. Occurs in a variety of habitats: in estuaries over sand-gravel bottoms, soft mud flats and in weedy areas, the lower reaches of large rivers, and in coastal lakes.
Brief Biology
Can reach 60 cm and 4 kg, although commonly smaller. Black bream become sexually mature at 3-4 years of age. Available data indicates that it takes approximately 9 years for bream to reach the legal minimum length of 26 cm. Spawning season is between August and January, occurring first in eastern Victoria then progressively to the west. Salinities of 11,000 to 18,000 p.p.m. required for spawning to occur. Mature females can produce between 1-3 million eggs which are very small and hatch in about 2 days. Omnivorous, feeding on shellfish, worms, crustaceans, small fish and plant material including algae.
Other Notes
Rarely found at sea, although some limited movement between estuaries appears to occur. An important recreational and commercial species and a tasty food fish.
Common Name:
Yellowfin bream
Family:
Sparidae
Scientific Name:
Acanthopagrus australis (Gunther, 1859)
Status:
Native | |
Description
Pectoral fins are yellow, and there are less than 50 scales from the base of the pectoral fin to the tail. Black bream has dusky fins and more than 50 scales in the pectoral-anal fin line.
Distribution
Found in estuaries east of Lakes Entrance. Not common as the Victorian populations are the southern limit of wider and more abundant distributions occurring in New South Wales and southern Queensland.
Habitat
Primarily a marine and estuarine species, not commonly occurring in streams.
Regulations
The Fishing Regulations specify Recreational Fishing Licence requirements and the means by which the angler may take eels. Details of licensing requirements and fishing regulations are provided in the Victorian Recreational Fishing Guide available free of charge from DPI Offices and RFL sales agents.
A size limit and catch limit apply to all species.
Further Information
Freshwater Fish of Victoria is a series of brief information material on the native and introduced freshwater fish of Victoria's inland waters. Further, detailed reading on Bream is contained in:
- A Guide to the Freshwater Fish of Victoria, Phillip Cadwallader & Gary Backhouse,
- Department of Conservation and Environment Australian Freshwater Fishes, John R. Merrick & Gunther E. Schmida
- Biological Information for Management of Native Freshwater Fish in Victoria, J D Koehn, W G O'Connor
Acknowledgements
This Information Note was prepared by Charles Barnham PSM with the assistance of Gary Backhouse, Phillip Cadwallader and Tarmo Raadik. The previous version was published in April 1998.
The advice provided in this publication is intended as a source of information only. Always read the label before using any of the products mentioned. The State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication.
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