Golden perch
Macquaria ambigua
Also known asYellowbelly · Callop
Water parameters
Minimum tank: 500 L per individual at harvest size.
Feed and growth
- Feed protein
- 42% target
- Daily feed (warm)
- 1.20% of body weight
- Daily feed (cool)
- 0.50% of body weight
- Max density
- 35 g per litre
A 1500 g adult eats about 18.0 g of feed per day at optimum. 10 fish at adult size: ~180 g daily.
Legality
Rules vary by jurisdiction and change over time. Verify with your local fisheries or wildlife authority before stocking.
| Jurisdiction | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | legal | Native species; aquaculture from licensed hatchery fingerlings does not require special permit verified 2026-05-13 |
| Victoria | permit required | Permit required outside native range verified 2026-05-13 |
| Western Australia | prohibited | verified 2026-05-13 |
Unlisted jurisdictions default to "check local regulations".
Origin and habitat
Macquaria ambigua, the golden perch, is a medium-sized native Australian fish of the Murray-Darling system, with separate subspecies in the Lake Eyre-Cooper Creek and Fitzroy drainages. It goes by yellowbelly across much of its range and callop in South Australia. It favors turbid, slow rivers, billabongs, and lakes. Most fish run 40 to 50 cm and up to about 5 kg, though the largest reach 76 cm and over 20 kg, and the species is long-lived, to around 26 to 27 years in the wild. It is a carnivore, taking yabbies, shrimp, small fish, and insect larvae. The white, firm flesh is well regarded in the Australian market. Golden perch handle an unusually wide temperature span for a native, from about 4 to 37 C, riding out both summer heat and winter cold that would kill barramundi, and they tolerate surprisingly high salinity, up to around 33 parts per thousand.
Climate and outdoor ponds
- Climate
- subtropical (tolerates mild cooling)
- USDA zones
- 8–13 (winter low around -12°C or warmer)
- Heating needed
- no
- Cooling needed
- no
Care notes
A warm-to-temperate native that fits Australian aquaponics well, especially across the Murray-Darling and inland regions with big seasonal swings. It grows best around 23–28°C but tolerates roughly 4–35°C and gets through mainland winters without added heat in most places, a clear edge over barramundi, which needs 26–30°C year-round and dies below 15°C; note that feeding slows sharply below about 18 C, so winter growth is limited. Growth reaches 400–800 g in twelve to eighteen months on a commercial pellet of 40 to 45 percent protein, with feed conversion reported around 1.2 to 1.8 on dry feed. Golden perch take pellets readily when trained young, under about 5 cm, but resist converting if first raised on live food, so buy pellet-weaned fingerlings and confirm it before purchase. Water needs are forgiving: dissolved oxygen above 4 mg/L, ammonia low, pH 6.5 to 8.5, and the fish is at home in turbid water that would stress trout or perch. Fingerlings are widely available from government and private hatcheries across eastern Australia, peaking in spring and summer. It is legal to farm without special permits within its native range, and it fills the same practical niche in Australian systems that bluegill fills in American ones: a legal, native, good-eating fish with broad temperature tolerance and easy supply.