General Description

Body olive-grey to greenish or pale yellowish-brown, with irregular darker spots or blotches on the back and sides. Body eleongate, tail slightly forked and the part of the body where the tail attaches is slender. Anal fin directly below dorsal fin, both positioned towards the rear of the body. Body up to 15 cm.

Biology

Adults migrate downstream to spawn in estuaries, laying their eggs amongst dense vegetation. On hatching, the larvae are washed out to sea and develop in the open ocean, before returning as whitebait to the same rivers and streams.

Distribution

Coastal flowing streams and rivers of eastern and southern Australia.

Habitat

Usually in still or slow-flowing streams, rivers and lakes within a short distance of the sea; sometimes in brackish streams.

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