The fish and fishery of the Swan Estuary

A checklist is provided for the fish that have been caught in the Swan estuary. These species each fall into one of the following categories: 1. marine stragglers, 2. Marine species which use estuaries extensively at some stage of their life cycle but spawn at sea, 3. estuarine species, i.e. those species which can pass through the whole of their life cycle in the estuary, 4. anadromous species, i.e. those species which migrate from the sea through the estuary to breeding grounds in reduced salinities or fresh water. Examples of different life cycles are provided by reference to mullets (Mugil cephatus and Aldrichetta forsteri), gobbleguts (Apogon ruepellii), five species of hardyhead (Atherinidae), Perth herring (Nematalosa vlaminghi) and cobbler (Cnidoglanis macrocephalus). Details are provided (or the commercial fish catches in the Swan estuary and for the recreational fishery for teleosts and prawns.