What is a Murray Cod in Australia?
The Murray Cod in Australia is an apex predator in the waterways of the Murray-Darling Basin. It is one of the largest freshwater fish on earth.
The Murray Cod is a fish native to Australia. It’s one of the largest freshwater fish in the world, but the name is misleading.
What is a Murray Cod?
For a start, the Murray Cod isn’t a codfish. It is not at all related to the cod caught and eaten in the Northern Hemisphere. For those who care, it belongs to the Maccullochella genus and the Percichthyidae family.
The Percichthyidae family is also known as the temperate perch family, and is almost exclusively found in Australia. The closest relations to the Murray Cod found elsewhere in the world are the sea bass and the grouper.
The ‘Murray’ part of the name is misleading, too. The Murray Cod isn’t exclusively from the Murray River. Its natural range encompasses virtually the entire Murray-Darling basin of eastern Australia.
Aboriginal stories about the Murray Cod
However, the Murray Cod is inextricably tied to the Murray River. Most Aboriginal groups traditionally living along the river’s path have a Dreaming story about the river being created by a giant Murray Cod, escaping from a hunter.
It is also the apex predator of the river system. The Murray Cod is carnivorous and eats pretty much any other fish it encounters, as well as river crustaceans.
Adult Murray Cod regularly reach more than a metre in length, which makes the species popular for sports fishing. A big one becomes a prize catch.
The fish is also fairly good for eating, although not spectacular. Anyone who tells you the Murray Cod is as tasty as a North Atlantic cod is frankly lying to you. That said, it does appear on several restaurant menus across Australia, and is farmed for eating.
Fans of Australia’s Big Things should note that there’s a Giant Murray Cod in Swan Hill, Victoria, and a somewhat smaller statue in Tocumwal, New South Wales.
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