Maccullochella peelii, Murray cod : fisheries, aquaculture, gamefish

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Maccullochella peelii (Mitchell, 1838)

Murray cod
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Image of Maccullochella peelii (Murray cod)
Maccullochella peelii
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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:

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

Freshwater; demersal; potamodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range ? - 5 m (Ref. 6390). Temperate; 21°S - 37°S

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

Oceania: throughout most of the Murray-Darling River system of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland, except for the upper reaches of the southern tributaries (Ref. 6390). Introduced into many lakes and dams throughout Victoria and New South Wales. Their abundance has been drastically reduced across their natural range and they are now considered rare in many Victorian tributaries (Ref. 27498).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 55.0, range 48 - 62 cm
Max length : 180 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5259); common length : 60.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5259); max. published weight: 113.5 kg (Ref. 27446); max. reported age: 48 years (Ref. 6987)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

The Murray cod is one of the world's largest freshwater fish (Ref. 6390). They live in a wide range of habitats, from clear, rocky streams to slow flowing, turbid rivers and billabongs (Ref. 27498). They are generally found in waters to 5 m deep, in sheltered areas with cover from rocks, timber or overhanging banks. Adult fish are carnivorous, having a diet of invertebrates, fish, amphibians and occasionally reptiles, birds and aquatic mammals (Ref. 27498). The young feed on zooplankton. Spawning takes place from spring to early summer. Murray cod are territorial, their 'territory' associated with a specific hole, snag (large woody debris) or area of a river or lake (Ref. 27498). Juveniles may undertake migrations (Ref. 6390). Threatened due to over harvesting and habitat loss (Ref. 58490).

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

Cod form pairs & only one male spawn with each female (Ref. 27498). The spawning site can be in water as shallow as 30 cm (Ref. 27498). The male protect and probably fans the eggs during incubation (Ref. 27498). Egg masses are laid on the bottom and adhere to the substrate (Ref. 6390).

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

Allen, G.R., 1989. Freshwater fishes of Australia. T.F.H. Publications, Inc., Neptune City, New Jersey. (Ref. 5259)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 13 February 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Aquaculture: production; ; 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
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Diseases
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Mass conversion
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Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
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Gill area
Otoliths
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Vision

Tools

Special reports

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Aquaculture: production; ; 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 | 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=0.01072 (0.00408 - 0.02815), b=3.01 (2.79 - 3.23), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.2   ±0.62 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tm=3-6; tmax=48).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (70 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.