Southern Black Bream - Taxonomy and Naming

Taxonomy and Naming

The southern black bream is one of eleven species in the genus Acanthopagrus, part of the porgy family Sparidae. The Sparidae are perciform fish in the suborder Percoidei. The southern black bream was at first confused with its nearly identical east coast relative, the yellowfin bream, with specimens initially grouped under the name Mylio australis by Rudall, Hale and Sheriden. In a 1949 review of the Australian "silver breams," Ian Munro found that M. australis was in fact two separate species, creating the new species name of Mylio butcheri to accommodate the southern black bream. Munro based this classification on a number of new specimens, one of which was from the Gippsland Lakes, Victoria, which he designated to be the holotype. Mylio butcheri was later changed to Acanthopagrus butcheri when the true genus of the species was identified.

A. butcheri has a number of common names, many of which are applied to a number of related fish species, both in Australia and worldwide. The species is commonly referred to in publications as the "southern black bream" to avoid confusion with the black sea bream and other closely related species loosely given the name "black bream." The species is known regionally by the names "black bream," "Perth bream," "Gippsland bream" and the "blue-nose bream." The latter name is given to mature fish over 1 kg in weight, as at this point their snouts begin to develop a bluish tinge.