Macquaria novemaculeata

The Australian Bass can be recognised by a combination of characters including an evenly arched dorsal profile, a snout that is straight or slightly concave and a forked caudal fin. It has a protruding lower jaw, moderately large eyes and a notch between the spiny first dorsal fin and the soft-rayed second dorsal fin.

This species is dark olive-green or greyish on the back and sides with darker scale margins. The belly is silvery or whitish, and the fins are mostly dusky brown to black. The tips of the anal and pelvic fins are white. Juvenile fish under 12cm long are banded and have a dark blotch on the gill cover.

The Australian Bass eats fishes, crustaceans and other invertebrates such as insects. It grows to 60cm (3.8kg) in length, but fishes of 35cm (1kg) are more commonly seen.

It can migrate considerable distances upstream and has been historically recorded up to an altitude of 600m in the Hawkesbury River drainage, New South Wales.

In recent years, population sizes have declined as building of dams and weirs has made potential habitats inaccessible. River regulation is reported to interfere with spawning cues. In winter, adults migrate downstream to estuaries to breed.

It is recorded in coastal rivers, lakes and estuaries of eastern Australia from Fraser Island, Queensland to Wilson's Promontory, Victoria.

View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.

The Australian Bass is a very popular recreational angling species.

Four species of Macquaria are recorded from Australia. The Estuary Perch Macquaria colonorum looks similar to the Australian Bass, but has a longer snout which is concave in profile. The Macquarie Perch Macquaria australasica has a rounded to truncate (glossary) caudal fin and jaws of equal length in larger specimens. The Golden Perch Macquaria ambigua is recognised by its protruding lower jaw and the strongly concave head profile of larger specimens.