Eastern Australian salmon

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The eastern Australian salmon (Arripis trutta) is one of four species within the Arripis genus, found in cooler waters around the south eastern coast of Australia, and New Zealand. It is not related to the herring family (Clupeidae).

It is known by a number of other names:

Australian salmon
Bay trout
Black-backed salmon
Cocky salmon
Colonial salmon
Kahawai
Native salmon
Salmon trout

The eastern Australian salmon grows to about 90 cm, although exceptional specimens have been known to exceed one metre, and be confused with kingfish. They inhabit continental shelf waters including estuaries, bays, inlets and also rivers. Juveniles form schools in shallow coastal bays and estuaries; adults move in large schools along shores, and can move over reefs in depths just sufficient to cover their bodies. They form large surface aggregations in deep water, feeding mainly on fishes but also on pelagic crustaceans, especially krill (Nyctiphanes australis). They also take food from the seabed.

Adults are dark blue-green above and silvery below, with irregularly defined spots arranged laterally in indistinct rows. The lobes of the caudal fin are long and powerful.

They fight vigorously when hooked, and sometimes leap out of the water. When gorging on schools of baitfish they will take any lure including a bare hook.

References

"[Arripis trutta]." FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. March 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8

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