There are about species in the Family with a further four species encountered in Queensland being the snapper, fryingpan snapper, tarwhine and the pikey bream of more northern waters. Most coastal areas of the world have at least one species of sparid fish present. Globally, important recreational species in the family include the white steenbra of southern Africa, the common dentex of the Mediterranean and surrounding waters, and the sheepshead which is found in the western Atlantic from Nova Scotia to Brazil and is most abundant in Florida.
The yellowfin bream is endemic to the Australian east coast — meaning that is the only coastal region in the world where the species occurs. They are found in a variety of coastal habitats including throughout river systems, along all the coastal foreshores of Moreton Bay, the surf zone and around rocky headlands. While they can be found anywhere, from October to April they tend to be in the rivers and creeks or at least adjacent to them feeding in these diverse and highly productive habitats.
If there is substantial rain over the summer period they do end up highly dispersed, but they still tend to be more abundant in around the rivers and creeks. The spawning period for yellowfin bream in Moreton Bay is centred around the winter months with a peak in July to August , with spawning occurring at, or adjacent to, surf bars.
They do not leave the rivers and creeks en-masse and not all fish participate in the migration so there are some fish available in the rivers and creeks all year round. It is likely that some fish go back and forth to the principal spawning locations during the winter from adjacent areas.
Whether the proportion of adult fish participating in the annual spawning migration varies between years is unknown. Yellowfin bream do not readily utilise the more open expanses of Moreton Bay and tend to hug the shoreline and this is where they can be targeted. When fishing the shorelines you are fishing along their migratory path.
Unlike sea mullet, yellowfin bream feed along the way and their energetic needs are likely to be higher, hence they are hungry and will readily take a bait. Why do they migrate to the surf bars? By spawning on the flood tide, they maximise the dispersal of larvae throughout the system. It is a good breeding strategy. Most post larvae enter the estuary at night during the full moon on the flood tide, and the transition from planktonic animal to a juvenile fish which occurs from August to November when the fish are mm total length.
From September onwards, most of the spawning bream are heading back to the river and creeks. Much of the early work on the reproductive biology of yellowfin bream in Moreton Bay was undertaken by Dr Barry Pollock who grew up on Redcliffe Peninsula. The reproductive biology of yellowfin bream is complex, involving a form of sequential hermaphroditism called protandrous male first sex inversion. This is not uncommon among fish species, and it is an approach which can maximise the reproductive output of a population.
Yellowfin bream possess an ovotestes in which the testis and ovary occur in separate zones within the same individual. Most juveniles become functional males, but a small proportion of juveniles develop directly into functional females primary females.
Protandrous sex inversion commences after the fish mature when male fish change into female fish; however, some fish remain as males primary males throughout their life.
The upshot of all this is that most small adult fish are males and most large adult fish are females. Yellowfin bream are thought to become mature as males between The age of most species of fish, including yellowfin bream, can be estimated by examining otoliths ear bones. Yellowfin bream are relatively slow growing, but not as slow growing as their cousin the black bream which is found in southern NSW and Victoria.
There is substantial variation in how old a yellowfin bream is for a given size. For example, age estimates by the Queensland Department of Primary Industries identify that a 30 cm yellowfin bream would likely be seven years of age, but it could quite likely be as young as four or as old as twelve. Six year old yellowfin bream comprise the most common age group harvested by recreational fishers. It is fair to say that yellowfin bream are highly opportunistic in what they eat and this is well known to anglers who can use a myriad of baits or lures to catch them.
Their natural diet though is highly dependent on their habitat at the time. For example, the diet of fish in mangrove and saltmarshes is dominated by shore crabs while terrestrial animals such as insects, spiders and lizards are also consumed. You can post now and register later.
If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Paste as plain text instead. Only 75 emoji are allowed. Display as a link instead. Clear editor. Black bream become sexually mature at years of age. Available data indicates that it takes approximately 9 years for bream to reach the legal minimum length of 28 cm. Spawning season is between August and January, occurring first in eastern Victoria then progressively to the west.
Salinities of 11, to 18, p. Mature females can produce between million eggs which are very small and hatch in about 2 days. Omnivorous, feeding on shellfish, worms, crustaceans, small fish and plant material including algae. Rarely found at sea, although some limited movement between estuaries appears to occur.
An important recreational and commercial species and a tasty food fish. Skip to content Skip to navigation. Classifieds Canon Printer Ink.
Results 1 to 13 of Thread: Bream Growth Rate. Thread Tools Show Printable Version. Bream Growth Rate. With the few recent posts regarding the numbers of Bream caught and the moral Police flashing there badges and the public muckraking session from both sides. I thought it was interesting when there was a segment on Bream Growth rates on a fishing show over the weekend cant remember the shows name From memory it was regarding the Southern States and Black Bream.
Long and short of it was that the DPI had devised a measuring sticker that gave an average weight and age for a Bream that was measured. Bit of and eye opener, it can take up to 5 years for a Bream to reach legal size, a Bream of 30 odd cm could be as old as 30 years and Bream can live to over 60 years. There was also a measuring sticker made up for Snapper. Dont quote me on the figures but it was an eye opener regarding the age of Bream.
Re: Bream Growth Rate They are extremely slow growing fish and thats why i hate it when people take so many of them. Hope people think twice about killing a bream that can be over 30 - 40 years old.
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