Description
Western carp gudgeon are small fish, with a maximum size of approximately 6 cm. Usually their body is a yellowy-gold colour overlaid with subtle dark grey blotches, with semi-translucent fins. Males develop spectacular spawning colours in summer, namely a more metallic-bronze body colour with a red stripe through the caudal (tail), anal and spiny and soft dorsal fins. The red stripe through the anal and spiny and soft dorsal fins are topped with a tiny iridescent blue-white stripe. These red and iridescent blue-white stripes are somewhat subtle on most of the fins but are prominent and eye-catching on the spiny dorsal fin.
Western carp gudgeons spawn in summer, attaching eggs to aquatic weed in the shallows. There is some suggestion that they have suffered from small variations in river level caused by river regulation, which expose and destroy eggs laid in shallows. There is also some suggestion that they are/were a critical food item for juvenile Murray cod. It is likely they are an important forage fish for larger fish species in many waterways. Western carp gudgeons have taken to lower altitude man-made lakes and impoundments in the Murray-Darling system well, and are very common in some.
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