Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2019L00106:body:0:p15
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2019L00106
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 40036–43019

Dartmouth in Victoria, found that as water temperatures rose in spring months towards 16°C, fish began migrating to upstream regions of the lake ready to move into inflowing streams once the surface water temperature rose above this level (Cadwallader & Rogan 1977; Tonkin et al., 2010). Oral history recordings about the species, including those gathered from Indigenous groups such as the Yorta Yorta people, noted schooling and migration as a general trait of the species (Trueman 2011). Many of the oral histories  described a strong, but not unpleasant, odour produced by the species that signified to some fisherman the presence of these large aggregations of the species in waterways (Trueman 2011). Research in the upper Murrumbidgee River has found the species moving both up and downstream to spawn (McGuffie unpub. data, cited in Lintermans pers. comm., 2017). However, unlike the large migrations observed for impoundment populations in Eildon and Dartmouth lakes, recent studies of Macquarie perch movement and spawning in riverine habitats in Victoria have reported only localised movement and spatial spawning patterns, with restricted home ranges, in King Parrot Creek and the Yarra River (Koster et al., 2014; Kearns et al., 2015; Tonkin et al., 2016a).

    4.5 Diet

Macquarie perch and trout cod (Maccullochella macquariensis) are the only two Australian species of the Family Percichthyidae, which exhibit a relatively sub terminal mouth. A sub terminal mouth typically indicates benthic feeding habits in fish species. Laboratory observations have shown that Macquarie perch feed using a sucking action; evidenced by the frequent occurrence of sand grains, gravel and detritus in stomach analyses of the species (Cadwallader & Eden 1979). Macquarie perch predominantly feed upon benthic aquatic insects and insect larvae, particularly beetles, mayflies, caddis flies and midges. Decapod crustaceans (shrimp and crayfish) are also an important food source with other known prey including dragonfly larvae, molluscs and small fish (McKeown 1934; Butcher 1945; Cadwallader & Eden 1979; Battaglene 1988; Lintermans 2006a; Norris et al., 2012). Indeed, the high high abundance of Decapoda may be a significant factor in maintaining the Macquarie perch population in Cotter Reservoir (Norris et al., 2012). In lakes and impoundments cladocerans (water flea crustaceans) can also be a significant dietary item (Cadwallader & Douglas 1986; Lintermans 2007; Norris et al., 2012) and in Cataract Reservoir small Dipterans (true fly larvae) were found to be the most important prey for the species (Norris et al., 2012). The cladoceran, Moina spp., followed by calanoids, chironomids and cyclopoids were the most abundant prey in the stomachs of juvenile Macquarie perch reared in fertilised earthen aquaculture ponds (Ingram & De Silva 2007).
The composition of diet for Macquarie perch in impoundments fluctuates depending on water level, and feeding activity is known