
Also known as:
Black bream
Common Group Name:
Grunters
Family Name:
Terapontidae
Genus Name:
Scortum
Species Name:
Scortum barcoo
Dispatch Method:
The eating qualities of Barcoo grunters and other closely related species (e.g. sooty grunters) can be improved if they are killed humanely by iki jime, or a firm knock to the head then placed in an ice slurry after bleeding. Smaller specimens may also be killed in an ice slurry.
Fish Description:
- Medium to large size grunter species characterized by a heavily built body and a small head.
- Colour usually brownish-black and fins usually darker than the body.
- Body usually with black irregular blotches.
Fish Distribution:
- Ranges from the Gilbert River and its tributaries in northern Queensland, to the Cooper Creek and Lake Eyre drainage of central Australia, and through the Barkley Basin, Limmen Bight, Roper and Macarthur regions of the Northern Territory.
- Hatchery-reared fingerlings have been stocked at Jericho Waterholes, Jericho.
- Usually turbid waters of large rivers and waterholes.
Fish Size Common Length:
25 cm, max around 35 cm.