Australia has over 5000 described species of fish, a quarter of which are endemic. Seafood and aquaculture are major and highly regulated industries, and fishing for marine and freshwater native fish is popular.
Species of freshwater fish
For its land-size, Australia has a low diversity of native freshwater fish with only 281 described species. This is largely because Australia is a very dry continent with sporadic rainfall and large areas of desert. There is a higher diversity of salt water fish.
The most common freshwater fish are: Murray cod Australian bass
Other species include: Australian grayling Australian smelt Climbing galaxias Common galaxias Eastern freshwater cod Eel-tailed catfish Estuary perch Flathead galaxias Golden perch Halfbeak/Garfish Jardini Inanga Macquarie perch Mary River cod Mountain galaxias Queensland lungfish Rainbowfish Retropinnidae River blackfish Saratoga Salamanderfish Short-finned eel Sleepy cod Trout cod Two-spined blackfish Western carp gudgeon