Who ever looked for a really extraordinary fish as a pet will find it in this species. M. peelii is the largest freshwater fish of Australia. The popular name of Maccullochella peelii is “Murray Cod”, after the Murray River. The average length of adults is about 60 cm and 2-3 kg weight; but the largest specimen recorded scientifically was 183 cm long and had a weight of 113 kg! There are rumors of even larger specimens….
Sadly the Murray Cod – which is, by the way, not a relative of the Cod (Gadus morhua) at all – is endangered in the wild. Our specimens are bred ones and originate from Taiwan. The Murray Cod is bred in large numbers, also in Australia, for stocking purposes, but of course this does not help the natural populations. Many of the latter are already extinct.
This large fish is a generalist in the wild and occurs in any thinkable waterbodies – even in very small ones. The species is extremely territorial, so only a single specimen per tank can be kept. The advantage is that these animals become very tame and even interact with the keeper and other persons on the wrong side of the tank. And the larger a Murray Cod becomes the tamer it will be. Murray Cods are obligate predators. In the aquarium they can be fed easily with fish and crayfish. In the wild they also prey on young waterfowl, small mammals, frogs, water turtles and other reptiles.
We were able to import four juvenile fish which are currently 18-22 cm long.
For our customers: the fish have code 426095 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
| Angaben zum Tier | |
|---|---|
| Herkunft | Nachzucht / bred |
| Verfügbare Größe in cm | 18-22 |
