Ian Potter

A checklist is provided for the fish that have been caught in the Swan estuary. These species each fall into one of the following categories: 1. marine stragglers, 2. Marine species which use estuaries extensively at some stage of their life cycle but spawn at sea, 3. estuarine species, i.e. those species which can pass through the whole of their life cycle in the estuary, 4. anadromous species, i.e. those species which migrate from the sea through the estuary to breeding grounds in reduced salinities or fresh water. Examples of different life cycles are provided by reference to mullets (Mugil cephatus and Aldrichetta forsteri), gobbleguts (Apogon ruepellii), five species of hardyhead (Atherinidae), Perth herring (Nematalosa vlaminghi) and cobbler (Cnidoglanis macrocephalus). Details are provided (or the commercial fish catches in the Swan estuary and for the recreational fishery for teleosts and prawns.

The initial work on the fish fauna and the blue manna crab in the Peel-Harvey estuarine system, which commenced in April 1979, was aimed at elucidating the patterns of distribution, abundance and growth of the different species. At the same time, the data on the commercial fish catches for the last 40 years were subjected to detailed analysis to ascertain whether any changes in catch during the 1970s could be related to the increased growth of macroalgae. More recent work has focussed on determining whether Nodularia has an effect on the fish fauna either through inducing changes in behaviour or by causing mortality.