The congoli (Pseudaphritis urvillii), also known as the freshwater flathead, marble fish, marbled flathead, sand trout, sanding, sandy, sandy whiting or tupong,[5] is a species of marine ray-finned fish and it is the only species of fish in the monotypicfamilyPseudaphritidae and the genusPseudaphritis. It was initially classified as a member of the family Bovichtidae.[6]
The genus name Pseudoaphritis is a compound of pseudo which means “false” and aphritis, a name which dates back to Aristotle, who used it for a type of anchovy or whitebait. Valenciennes originally used Aphritis as the name of the genus but this name was unavailable as Pierre Andre Latreille had used it for a fly genus Aphritis in 1804. Lev Berg proposed a replacement name, Phricus but this was a synonym of Castelnau's earlier Pseudaphritis. the specific name honours the explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville, leader of the Astrolabe expedition (1826- 1829), in the course of which type was collected. Gerorges Cuvier's Eleginus bursinus is a senior synonym of Pseudaphritis urvillii but has been disregarded due to the prevailing usage of P. urvillii.[9]
Distribution and habitat
The congolli is found in fresh, brackish and marine waters around south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania, and is endemic to Australia. It lives mostly in slow-moving waters of estuaries, rivers and streams.[5] Water temperatures in its habitat range from 5 to 20 °C (41 to 68 °F). This fish will inhabit areas with log snags, overhanging banks, and leaf litter.[10]
Between late April and August, it migrates south to estuaries and sea to breed.[11][12]
Tupongs have made a recovery in the Glenelg River in south-western Victoria, after years of absence.[14]
Description
The congolli is a slender, mottled fish, with a silvery-white underside. Its head is slightly flattened, with eyes positioned towards the top and the snout is pointed. It has two separate dorsal fins.[5] The colour varies according to where it lives: it may be bluish, purplish or reddish-brown, marbled with greenish-brown above, and a yellowish white to silvery colour below. Juvenile fish have black saddles on their dorsal surfaces.[10]
The largest adult measured is about 36 centimetres (14 in) long. Usually, adults grow up to 17 centimetres (6.7 in) long.[11]
The congolli is an ambush predator that usually buries itself in the substrate.[11]
Reproduction
Congolli are catadromous – they live in freshwater habitats as adults, and migrate downstream to estuaries to spawn.[10] Adults migrate south to estuaries reproduce between late April and August.[11][12] The larvae are carried out to sea, and slowly move upstream as they grow; the larger adults live furthest upstream.[10]
Importance to humans
Aboriginal peoples living in the area used to eat Congolli, and the flesh is today considered "excellent eating". However the fish are rarely large enough and no longer important in commercial fishing, although once a minor part of lower Murray fisheries.[10]
^Last, PR; et al. (2002). "Halaphritis platycephala (Notothenioidei: Bovichtidae): A New Genus and Species of Temperate Icefish from Southeastern Australia". Copeia. 2002 (2): 433–440. doi:10.1643/0045-8511(2002)002[0433:hpnban]2.0.co;2.
^Thomas J. Near; Ava Ghezelayagh; F. Patricio Ojeda; Alex Dornburg (2019). "Recent diversification in an ancient lineage of Notothenioid fishes (Bovichtus: Notothenioidei)". Polar Biology. 42 (5): 943–952. doi:10.1007/s00300-019-02489-1. S2CID85455434.
^Eastman, Joseph (1993). "Pseudaphritidae". Antarctic Fish Biology: Evolution in a Unique Environment. Academic Press Inc. San Diego, California. ISBN978-0122281402.