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Re: Are there Dusky Flathead in PPB?
Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2018 1:39 pm
by bilby
Interesting - thanks for the replies, everyone. On another note, if they ever were indigenous to the bay, it would be interesting to know why they aren't common now, and secondly, even more interesting to stock them back in.
Re: Are there Dusky Flathead in PPB?
Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2018 2:33 pm
by Broomstick
Apparently they have been caught in the bay, but very rarely. Check this map:
https://biocache.ala.org.au/occurrences ... ab_mapView
It says there have been 3 confirmed captures in the bay, but I'm still a little sceptical. The local systems don't suit them - they live exclusively in estuarine rivers and lakes (as opposed to coastal bays). Although we do have estuarine rivers, they have been modified so much that even if duskies were indigenous, they wouldn't survive here any more. Duskies like clean water, sand or mud flats, and sea grass beds, which are hard to find around Melbourne. I think the supposed duskies caught in the bay were either lost or misidentified. Duskies and blue spots are pretty easy to confuse (as they both have black spots on the tail):