Yellowfin Bream, Acanthopagrus australis (Günther 1859)


Other Names: Australian Seabream, Black Bream, Blackbream, Bream, Common Bream, Eastern Black Bream, Sea Bream, Seabream, Silver Bream, Surf Bream, Yellow-fin Bream, Yellow-finned Bream

A Yellowfin Bream, Acanthopagrus australis, at Shiprock, Port Hacking, New South Wales, September 2015. Source: John Turnbull / Flickr. License: CC BY Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike

Summary:
A silvery to olive-green bream with yellowish pelvic and anal fins, a black spot at the upper part of the pectoral-fin base, and dark margins on the dorsal and caudal fins. Individuals in coastal waters are silvery, while those in estuaries are usually darker.

The Yellowfin Bream is an eastern Australian endemic that inhabits estuaries, inshore coastal and mangrove habitats.  This popular angling fish forms a major component of recreational and commercial fisheries throughout its range.

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2022, Acanthopagrus australis in Fishes of Australia, accessed 24 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/672

Yellowfin Bream, Acanthopagrus australis (Günther 1859)

More Info


Distribution

Endemic to eastern Australia from Townsville, Queensland, to the Gippsland Lakes area, Victoria; also Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea (Francis 2019). Inhabits estuaries, mangroves and inshore coastal waters, including bays, coastal rivers, creeks, lakes, and the lower freshwater reaches of rivers, preferring seagrass, mangrove and sandy areas. Postlarvae and juveniles prefer shallow estuarine seagrass beds.

Features


Feeding

Carnivore - feeds on small fishes and benthic invertebrates including crabs, gastropod and bivalve molluscs, polychaete worms and ascidians.

Biology

Yellowfin Bream spawn around river mouths, and females produce planktonic eggs. The eggs hatch after a few days and the larvae and juveniles develop in estuaries. Following spawning, part of the population changes sex from male to female.

Similar Species

Often difficult to distinguish from the Black Bream, Acanthopagrus butcheri. Black Bream are usually darker and have dusky to brownish anal and pelvic fins. The two species are known to hybridise in some landlocked, coastal lakes in southern New South Wales.

Etymology

The specific name is from the Latin australis (= southern), in reference to its occurrence in “Australian Seas, entering rivers”.

Species Citation

Chrysophrys australis Günther,1859, Cat. fish. Brit. Mus. 1: 494. Type locality: Australia.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2022

Resources

Atlas of Living Australia

Yellowfin Bream, Acanthopagrus australis (Günther 1859)

References


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Allen, G.R., Midgley, S.H. & Allen, M. 2002. Field Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 394 pp.

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Cadwallader, P.L. & Backhouse, G.N. 1983. A Guide to the Freshwater Fish of Victoria. Melbourne : F.D. Atkinson Government Printer 249 pp. figs.

Carpenter, K.E. 2001. Sparidae, Lethrinidae. pp. 2990-3050 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 5 2791-3379 pp.

Coleman, N. 1980. Australian Sea Fishes South of 30ºS. Lane Cove, NSW : Doubleday Australia Pty Ltd 309 pp.

Diggles, B.K. 2013. Saddleback deformities in yellowfin bream, Acanthopagrus australis (Gunther), from South East Queensland. Journal of Fish Disease 36(2013): 521-527.

Dredge, M.C.L. 1976. Aspects of the ecology of three estuarine dwelling fish in south east Queensland. Unpub. MSc thesis, University of Queensland.

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Malcolm, F. 2019. Checklist of the coastal fishes of Lord Howe, Norfolk and Kermadec Islands, southwest Pacific Ocean. figshare. Collection. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4428305.v2 
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Günther, A. 1859. Catalogue of the Fishes in the British Museum. Catalogue of the acanthopterygian fishes in the collection of the British Museum. Gasterosteidae, Berycidae, Percidae, Aphredoderidae, Pristipomatidae, Mullidae, Sparidae. London : British Museum Vol. 1 524 pp.

Henry, G.W. 1983. Biology and fisheries of yellowfin bream Acanthopagrus australis (Teleostei: Sparidae) in Tuggerah Lakes, New South Wales. University of New South Wales. 130 pp. M.Sc. thesis.

Hsu, T.-H., Guillén Madrid, A.G., Burridge, C.P., Cheng, H.-Y. & Gwo, J.-C. 2011. Resolution of the Acanthopagrus black seabream complex based on mitochondrial and amplified fragment-length polymorphism analyses. Journal of Fish Biology 79: 1182–1192.

Hutchins, J.B. & Swainston, R. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete field guide for anglers and divers. Perth : Swainston Publishing 180 pp.

Iwatsuki, Y. & Carpenter, K.E. 2006. Acanthopagrus taiwanensis, a new sparid fish (Perciformes), with comparisons to Acanthopagrus berda (Forsskål, 1775) and other nominal species of Acanthopagrus. Zootaxa 1202: 1-19.

Iwatsuki, Y., Russell, B., Pollard, D. & Carpenter, K.E. 2014. Acanthopagrus australis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014: e.T170257A1303135. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T170257A1303135.en. Accessed on 12 December 2022.

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Mazumder, D., N. Saintilan, D. & Williams, R.J. 2006. Trophic relationships between itinerant fish and crab larvae in a temperate Australian saltmarsh. Mar. and Fresh. Res. 57: 193-199.

Munro, I.S.R. 1949. Revision of Australian silver breams, Mylio and Rhabdosargus. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 12(4): 182-223 figs 1-5 pls 16-23 (as Mylio australis)

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Ogilby, J.D. 1893. Edible Fishes and Crustaceans of New South Wales. Sydney : Government Printer 212 pp. 51 pls. (as Pagrus australis)

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Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37353004

Biology:Hermaphrodite

Conservation:IUCN Least Concern

Depth:0-50 m

Fishing:Commercial, recreational fish

Habitat:Estuaries, coastal waters

Max Size:66 cm TL; 4.5 kg

Native:Endemic

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CAAB distribution map