The Life and Times of the Murray Cod
By: Paul Humphries
Draws on historical, anecdotal and scientific sources to reveal what makes this species so special.
The Murray cod is Australia’s largest and most iconic freshwater fish. Tales of the species have long been part of Australian folklore and this book describes its history, biology, cultural significance and conservation. + Full description
The Life and Times of the Murray Cod reveals the many roles the species has played throughout the history of the continent, from its place at the heart of the Aboriginal creation story of the Murray River, its role as a food source for explorers surveying inland Australia in the early 1800s, to it forming the basis of a commercial fishing industry up to the early 2000s.
Living for upwards of half a century and growing to astonishing sizes, today the Murray cod is a hugely popular target for recreational fishing, but its future is anything but assured. In the face of climate change, river management and fishing pressure, much needs to be done to ensure this extraordinary fish swims confidently into the future.
The Life and Times of the Murray Cod draws on historical, anecdotal and scientific sources to reveal what makes this remarkable species so special, and will appeal to fishers, natural resource managers, conservationists and any reader interested in natural history.
- Short descriptionReviews
"Paul Humphries is team leader of the river ecology group at Charles Sturt University; clearly he is highly qualified to write this book, but equally he is a beautiful writer."
Ian Fraser's Natural History Reviews #32, August 2023
"If you have ever wanted to know anything about Australia’s largest fish species, the Murray Cod,
this is the book for you. […] This study is natural history writing at its best. It is erudite and articulate, but never hard
to understand. "
Gary Presland, The Victorian Naturalist, Vol 140 (6), December 2023
Details
Paperback | May 2023 | $ 59.99ISBN: 9781486312320 | 256 pages | 245 x 170 mm
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
B&W photographs, Colour plates, Illustrations, Maps
ePDF | May 2023
ISBN: 9781486312337
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Available from eRetailers
ePUB | May 2023
ISBN: 9781486312344
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Available from eRetailers
Features
- Presents insights into the breeding, early life, growth, habitat, feeding and movement of the Murray cod.
- Explores the relationships between people and the Murray cod in inland rivers, from pre-European through to modern times.
- Describes the history of environmental change in the Murray–Darling Basin and the conservation principles to safeguard the Murray cod's future.
Contents
ForewordCultural sensitivity warning
Preface
Acknowledgements
About the contributors
An introduction to the life and times of the Murray cod
Part I: Origins
1. In the beginning: the origins of the Murray cod
Part II: Biology
2. Next generation: the spawning of Murray cod
3. The young and the restless: the early life of the Murray cod
4. ‘A lazy fish’: diet, habitat and movement of adult Murray cod
5. From little fish big fish grow: age, growth and the biggest Murray cod
Part III: People and Murray cod
6. Murray cod and First Nations people
7. European encounters: colonial explorers and early contact with the Murray cod
8. Fish in abundance: the Murray cod is introduced to Western science
Part IV: Fisheries
9. Land, sheep and fish: settlement and the origins of the Murray cod commercial fishery
Colour plates
10. Gold-fish: the gold rush and the commercial Murray cod fishery
11. ‘A trade of extermination’: overfishing and Aboriginal loss
12. Recreational fishing
Part V: Conservation and the future
13. A fish in troubled waters
14. Past and future conservation of the Murray cod
15. Epilogue
References
Index
View the full table of contents (PDF, 89 KB)
Authors
Paul Humphries is a river ecologist and academic with 40 years’ experience in research in many parts of Australia and overseas. Paul co-edited Ecology of Australian Freshwater Fishes with Keith Walker in 2013, which won the 2013 Royal Zoological Society of NSW Whitley Medal for outstanding zoological publication.
Contributors:
Paul Humphries, W. Howard Brandenburg, Katherine E. Doyle, Cameron G. McGregor, Minda W. Murray.
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