Bidyanus bidyanus
Silver Perch
Species Summary
A popular species for stocking impoundments for recreational angling, Bidyanus bidyanus has been translocated from its native Murray-Darling system into numerous other waterways over the years, sometimes even by government departments — a practice that has done little for the genetic integrity of native fish communities elsewhere. It tends not to settle well into aquarium life for the long term, and is better known as an angling and aquaculture species than a display fish.
Aquaculture & Breeding
Bidyanus bidyanus has long been a mainstay of commercial hatchery production for stocking programs, bred at scale using hormone induction. At the Lake MacDonald Fish Hatchery in Queensland, hobbyist-turned-hatchery-pioneer Gerry Cook began hormone-inducing Silver Perch to spawn before the hatchery’s ponds were even finished being built in 1981, and was rewarded with around 4,000 fry for release into Lake MacDonald before that first summer was out — alongside Golden Perch, Southern Saratoga and Welch’s Grunter, it was one of several sub-tropical natives Cook helped pioneer commercial-scale breeding techniques for, decades before most of Australia’s native fish culture industry existed.
Compiled for Home of the Rainbowfish from ANGFA sources: B. Hansen, “Tune in and Turn on to Grunters”, Fishes of Sahul 14, 2000, pp. 663–666; and D. Roberts, “Conserving the Endangered Mary River Cod (Maccullochella mariensis): the difference one person can make”, Fishes of Sahul 34, December 2020, pp. 1658–1675.