Silver Perch ( (Bidyanus bidyanus)
Photo: Gunther Schmida
Description
- Silver Perch are 30-40 cm in length and weigh from 0.5-1.5 kg.
- They can live over 15 years.
- They're omnivores, eating aquatic plants, algae, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic insect larvae.
- Juveniles and adult Silver Perch can migrate more than 200 km.
- They've been observed migrating upstream in large schools for spawning in spring and summer.
Find out more about the Silver Perch on NatureMapr.
Where to find them
- The Silver Perch used to be widespread in the Murray–Darling Basin, including the Murrumbidgee and Molonglo rivers.
- The species hasn't been recorded in the ACT since 1988.
- They're artificially bred in commercial hatcheries.
- These artificially bred fish are stocked in NSW and can be found near the ACT in the Googong Reservoir.
Conservation threats
Changes to fish habitat are one of the most significant causes of native fish decline. Threats to this species include:
- sedimentation
- cold water pollution from dams
- riparian degradation
- barriers across rivers
- limited water flow
- overfishing
- alien species
- disease
- climate change.
Conservation status
- National – Critically endangered (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999).
- Australian Capital Territory – vulnerable (Nature Conservation Act 2014).
Conservation actions
Conservation actions aim to:
- replant along the Murrumbidgee River as part of the Million Trees program
- improve the fishways on the Murrumbidgee River
- improve fish habitat through the Upper Murrumbidgee Demonstration Reach
- improve fish passage in the Murrumbidgee River past the Tharwa sand affected area through installation of rock groynes and engineered log jams
- monitor fish and their movements to better understand how to manage them.