Golden perch

Macquaria ambigua

Percichthyid Fish beneath Australian Waters

Yellow
Temperate
Coastal
Transcontinental
Freshwater fish
Oceania
Deep-bodied
Large
Temperate fish

The golden perch (Macquaria ambigua) is a medium-sized, yellow or gold-coloured species of Australian freshwater fish found primarily in the Murray-Darling River system. A subspecies is found in the Lake Eyre-Cooper Creek system, and another subspecies, suspected to be ancestral to all other populations, is found in the Fitzroy River system in Queensland. Other common names for golden perch are "goldens", "yellowbelly" and "callop", the last generally used only in South Australia.

Class: Teleosts
Order: Freshwater Sunfishes and Allies
Family: Percichthyidae
Genus: Macquaria
Maximum length: 76 cm
Water: Freshwater
Body shape: deep_bodied
Distribution: Oceania: Australia, Murray-Darling system (except in higher tributaries), Dawson-Fitzroy system of southeastern Queensland. Also in Lake Eyre and Bulloo River drainages and floodplain lakes of Western Victoria and New South Wales. Widely introduced to other coastal systems of Queensland and New South Wales.
Conservation status: LCLeast Concern

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