Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; brackish; benthopelagic; depth range 0 - 20 m (Ref. 9002). Temperate; 25°S - 43°S, 135°E - 180°E
Western Pacific: southeastern Australia (southern Queensland to South Australia) and New Zealand.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 29.5, range 22 - ? cm
Max length : 71.0 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 6390); common length : 35.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2158); max. published weight: 4.0 kg (Ref. 6390); max. reported age: 24 years (Ref. 95598)
Adults favor estuarine (including mangroves), rocky reef and inshore, coastal water habitats (Ref. 5962, 27248). They flourish in seagrass areas (Ref. 6390). Ludericks are moderately sedentary, schooling fish. They are herbivorous and feed primarily on seagrasses (Ref. 6390). Filamentous algae (Ref. 26966) and cabbage weed also form part of their diet (Ref. 28607). Marketed as fresh fish (Ref. 10384).
Maturing luderick form large aggregations. Mature fish undertake 'runs' from inside the rivers and coastal lakes to the sea. The fish spawn in the surf zone and estuary mouths (Ref. 6390).
Kailola, P.J., M.J. Williams, P.C. Stewart, R.E. Reichelt, A. McNee and C. Grieve, 1993. Australian fisheries resources. Bureau of Resource Sciences, Canberra, Australia. 422 p. (Ref. 6390)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes
Tools
Special reports
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 14.6 - 23.6, mean 16.6 °C (based on 229 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01047 (0.00629 - 0.01744), b=3.03 (2.88 - 3.18), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 2.1 ±0.1 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.2; Fec=300,000; tmax=24).
Prior r = 0.25, 95% CL = 0.17 - 0.38, Based on 1 data-limited stock assessment.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Moderate vulnerability (36 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref.
125649): Very high vulnerability (81 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 26.6 [13.6, 47.1] mg/100g; Iron = 0.295 [0.151, 0.530] mg/100g; Protein = 17.6 [16.4, 18.8] %; Omega3 = 0.334 [0.164, 0.724] g/100g; Selenium = 13.4 [5.4, 31.7] μg/100g; VitaminA = 6.94 [1.71, 26.86] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.729 [0.487, 1.182] mg/100g (wet weight);
