Australasian snapper
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| iAustralasian snapper | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Australasian snapper, Chrysophrys auratus, at Melbourne Aquarium.
|
||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Chrysophrys auratus (Forster, 1801) |
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
Pagrus auratus (Forster, 1801) |
The Australasian snapper or squirefish, Chrysophrys auratus, the only member of the genus Chrysophrys, is a species of porgie found in coastal waters of New Zealand and southern Australia. Although it is almost universally known in these countries as snapper it does not belong to the Lutjanidae family. It is highly prized as an eating fish.
In Western Australia it is called pink snapper[1] to distinguish it from other unrelated species.[2] In New Zealand the name New Zealand snapper is used. Young fish in Australia are also referred to as cocknies while below legal size, then red bream or pinkies at legal size and squire or squirefish when bigger, before becoming snapper at full size. In Victoria they are also referred to as Schnapper (ref: Schnapper Pt, Mornington).
The Māori people of New Zealand call the fish tamure. The aboriginal people of the Port Jackson area called it wollamie[3] (also spelt wollamai, and other variations). European colonists there knew it as the "light horseman", for the resemblance of the fish's skull to the helmet of a light horseman.[4]
The fish is found on all coasts of New Zealand, especially in the north. In Australia it is found along the south coast and as far north as Coral Bay in the west, and Cape Manifold in Queensland in the east. It's also found on the coast of Tasmania but in lesser numbers. The fish spawn in inshore waters and live in rocky areas and reefs of up to 200 m deep. They school, and will migrate between reefs. Larger fish are known to enter estuaries and harbours, for example Port Phillip Bay has a renowned seasonal snapper run.
Growth rates are quite slow, a 10 kg adult is probably 20 years old, and a fish at the maximum size of 1.3 m long and 20 kg is probably 50 years old. Sexual maturity is reached at about 30 cm long and a small percentage of the males will actually turn into females at puberty. Anglers are advised not to take immature fish, so as not to reduce breeding stock. The legal size in Australia varies by state, from 25 cm in Queensland to 41 cm in Western Australia.
Contents |
[edit] Naming
Although the genus is feminine, so C. aurata is thought to be correct, Wikipedia follows Fishbase with the name C auratus.
[edit] References
- Allan, Richard (1990). Australian Fish and How to Catch Them. Landsdowne Publishing. ISBN 1-86302-674-6.
- Snapper entry SNAPPER - 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Retrieved on 2006-07-22.
- Species Summary for Chrysophrys auratus. Retrieved on 2006-07-22.
- ^ Relationships among partial and whole lengths and weights for Western Australian Pink Snapper Chrysophrys auratus (Sparidae) - Department of Fisheries, Western Australia, Fish for the Future. Retrieved on 2006-07-22.
- ^ Fishing Australia with the Definitive Aussie Interactive Sports Fishing Website! - Sportsfish Australia. Retrieved on 2006-07-22.
- ^ Australian Aboriginal words in English, R. M. W. Dixon, Oxford University Press, 1990, ISBN 0-19-553099-3
- ^ A Voyage to Terra Australis, volume 1, by Matthew Flinders, available freely at Project Gutenberg, entry for 3 May 1802
[edit] See also
- Cape Woolamai, named after the fish
[edit] External links
- Snapper, Fisheries Research and Development Corporation.
