Australian herring are named because they look similar to herring found in the northern hemisphere. Australian herring are actually perch and are native to Australian waters.

Adult herring eat small fish such as garfish, pilchards, anchovies and prawns. Australian herring are known as pelagic fish because they swim in the middle depths of the water.

During late summer and autumn, these fish move in large numbers to waters off the Western Australian coast to spawn. Spawning occurs mainly between Cape Leeuwin and Rottnest Island. During the five week spawning season, each female releases about 100,000 eggs. Once spawning has finished, adult herring mainly stay in Western Australian waters.

The Leeuwin current carries eggs and small herring south along the WA coast. The young herring grow in the waters along the lower west and southern coast of Australia. Some herring go as far as Victoria before they return to WA for the spawning season.

Little is known about the Australian herring migration to spawning areas. In 1997, a small tagging program was initiated by researchers at the Western Australian Marine Research Laboratories to understand this migration.

Scientific and other names
Australian herring (Arripis georgianus) are also commonly named tommy ruff, ruffies and sea herring.

What they look like
Australian herring are silvery in colour with vertical rows of golden spots on the upper side of the body. The black tips to the caudal (tail) fin are distinctive.

The scales on the body are slightly rough in texture. They grow to a maximum length of 41 cm but are usually caught at a length of about 25 cm. They are easily confused with young Australian salmon, to which they are closely related.

Where they live
They are abundant in the coastal waters of southern Australia, from Shark Bay along the southern coast to Port Phillip Bay. They are found mainly inshore, in waters around offshore islands and in southern estuaries such as Wilson Inlet and Oyster Harbour. These fish, preferring clear water, are also found in large numbers in estuaries along the southern coast of Western Australia.