Growth and Age
For reasons that are not clear, Australian bass are extremely slow growing. Australian bass continue the trend present in the larger native fish species of SE Australia of being very long-lived. Longevity is a survival strategy to ensure that most adults participate in at least one exceptional spawning and recruitment event, which are often linked to unusually wet 'La Niña' years and may only occur every one or two decades. Maximum age recorded so far is 22 years.
As with other Macquaria species, there is sexual dimorphism in Australian bass. Males tend to have an absolute maximum size of 1.0 kg or less, while females regularly exceed 1.0 kg and sometimes reach the maximum size of 2.5–3.0 kg. Males reach sexual maturity at around 3–4 years of age, females at 5–6 years of age.
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