Achoerodus viridis

Achoerodus viridis
Male (top) and female (bottom)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Labriformes
Family: Labridae
Genus: Achoerodus
Species:
A. viridis
Binomial name
Achoerodus viridis
(Steindachner, 1866)
Red = Eastern blue groper
Synonyms[2]
  • Heterochoerops viridis Steindachner, 1866
  • Trochocopus unicolor Günther, 1876
  • Platychoerops badius Ogilby, 1893

The eastern blue groper (Achoerodus viridis) is a species of wrasse native to southeastern Australia from Hervey Bay in southern Queensland to Wilsons Promontory in Victoria.[3] They occur in coastal waters, preferring rocky areas at a depth of about 40 m (130 ft).[2] Juveniles inhabit beds of seagrass in estuaries. The diet of this species consists of invertebrates such as various molluscs, crabs, sea urchins, and cunjevoi.[3] This species grows to a length of 100 centimetres (39 inches) as adult males, while females are less than 70 cm (28 in) long. In 1998, the eastern blue groper was made the state fish emblem of New South Wales.[4]

Distribution and habitat

The eastern blue groper is native to the southeastern coast of Australia. Its range extends from Mooloolaba in southern Queensland southwards to Wilsons Promontory in the south of Victoria, including the eastern end of the Bass Strait.[1] Its habitat is rocky areas down to a depth of about 40 m (131 ft).[2]

Behaviour

Male being followed by Australian mado.

The eastern blue groper feeds mainly on crabs, shrimps, molluscs and echinoderms. Juvenile fish live in seagrass beds, where their diet is primarily small crustaceans. This fish is a monandric sequential hermaphrodite, always starting life as a female and becoming a male when it has reached a length of at least 60 cm (24 in).[1][5] Most females are brown, and most males are blue (the sexes may occasionally exhibit the opposite colour).[5] The fish become sexually mature at age two to three, and breeding takes place between July and September. The larvae are planktonic at first and settle in seagrass beds.[1] Females may live for 8–19+ years before they become males.[5]

Conservation

The total range of this fish extends to less than 64,000 km2 (25,000 sq mi). It is a slow-growing, long-lived fish, and the generation turnover time is approximately twelve to fifteen years. At one time the population was dwindling because of excessive spearfishing, but in 1972, the New South Wales authorities put a ban in place, preventing all spearfishing and commercial fishing for this species. Its population size since then seems to have stabilised and the IUCN has listed it as being "Near Threatened".[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Choat, J.H.; Pollard, D. (2010). "Achoerodus viridis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T187572A8572139. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T187572A8572139.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Achoerodus viridis". FishBase. August 2013 version.
  3. ^ a b "Eastern Blue Groper". Fish'n'kids. New South Wales Department of Primary Industries. Archived from the original on 17 October 2006. Retrieved 11 November 2006.
  4. ^ "Symbols & Emblems of NSW". Archived from the original on 2010-03-27. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  5. ^ a b c Gillanders, B. M. (1995). "Reproductive biology of the protogynous hermaphrodite Achoerodus viridis (Labridae) from south-eastern Australia". Marine and Freshwater Research. 46 (7): 999–1008. doi:10.1071/mf9950999. ISSN 1448-6059.