Southern Pygmy Perch

The southern pygmy perch has an oblong and moderately compressed body with a convex dorsal profile and a straight ventral profile. It has a large head the top of which bulges slightly and a blunt snout. It has a slightly oblique, terminal mouth which is protractile with the maxilla reaching to a level near the centre of the eye. There are thin bands of villiform teeth on the jaws and the roof of the mouth. There is a lateral line made up of an irregular series of pored scales. The dorsal fin has 7-9 spines in its front part, separated from the rear part by a deep notch, the rear part contains 7-10 soft rays. The anal fin is similar in shape to the soft part of the dorsal fin and has 3 spines and 7-8 soft rays. The large caudal fin is rounded. They are variable in colour, the colour apparently being determined by their environment and can be pale cream through to greenish-brown, with paler underparts. They can also show irregular markings on the flanks such as dark spotting or horizontal stripes. In the breeding season the males are brighter as their dorsal, anal and caudal fins develop a red colour and have black margins and the pelvic fins and the area around the anus become black. These fish attain a maximum total length of 8 centimetres (3.1 in) but are more commonly recorded at standard lengths of around 6 centimetres (2.4 in).

Southern pygmy perch are endemic to temperate rivers systems in southeastern Australia, especially the Murray-Murrumbidgee river system from Brinagagee near Darlington Point in New South Wales, in Victoria, west to Ewens Ponds in South Australia. They also occur on Flinders Island and on King Island in the Bass Strait and in the northward draining rivers in Tasmania.