Australian Bass - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

Australian bass (Macquaria novemaculeata) are closely related and very similar in appearance to estuary perch (Macquaria colonorum). Estuary perch however tend to remain in the estuarine reaches or (occasionally) the extreme lower freshwater reaches.

As their scientific names indicate, Australian bass and estuary perch are currently placed in the Macquaria genus — one of a number of Australian genera in the Percichthyidae family — along with two species of native perch from the Murray-Darling Basin, golden perch (Macquaria ambigua) and Macquarie perch (Macquaria australasica). This revision to their taxonomy occurred in the late 1970s. Prior to that, Australian bass and estuary perch were placed in a separate genus, Percalates. Results from recent research using genetic MtDNA analysis indicate Australian bass and estuary perch do belong in a separate genus to golden perch and Macquarie perch, and this may result in them being put back into a resurrected Percalates genus. A rather surprising and unexpected finding of this research is that the putative Percalates genus (i.e. Australian bass and estuary perch) appears to be genetically closer to the Maccullochella genus (i.e. Murray cod and other cod species) than the remnant Macquaria genus is (i.e. golden perch and Macquarie perch).

The specific name for Australian bass — novemaculeata — coined by Steindachner when he scientifically described and named the species, translates literally from the Latin as "new" (novem) and "spotted" (maculeata), and refers to the distinct black blotches juvenile bass are marked with when very small (i.e. <6–7 cm).