Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Murray Cod Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Perciformes Family: Percichthyidae Genus: Maccullochella Species: peelii Binomial name Maccullochella peelii The Murray Cod (Maccullochella peelii) is the largest freshwater fish in Australia. Despite its name, it is not a member of the cod family, but belongs to one of the families of Perciformes. There are a number of subspecies of M. peelii; strictly speaking the Murray Cod is M. peelii peelii, other subspecies having other common names. The Murray Cod is named after the river in which it is found. Murray Cod are widespread throughout the Murray-Darling Rivers system in Eastern Australia, becoming scarcer towards the East. They have declined in abundance over the past 50 years because of overfishing and environmental factors. Murray cod possess a cream to olive green colour with dark grey to greenish blotches over the head and body. Adult fish are commonly 60cm in length, but can grow up to 180cm may weigh up to 118kg. They have a preference for slow moving, murky water and are very territorial. They are prized as a game fish. The Murray Cod is a predator that eats almost anything smaller than itself including crustaceans such as yabbies, shrimp and crayfish, and fishes such as carp, goldfish, redfin, bream, catfish, Golden Perch, Western Carp, gudgeon and even other cod. It has also been known to eat ducks, cormorants, grebes, tortoises, water dragons, snakes, mice, frogs and mussels. Murray Cod spawn in shallow waters, reaching sexual maturity at 4 or 5 years of age. They may live for 50-60 years. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.