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Southern Roughy
Trachichthys australis Shaw, 1799
A Southern Roughy at a depth of 15 m, North West Solitary Island, New South Wales, January 2008. Photo © I. Shaw. View larger image.
A Southern Roughy at a depth of 15 m, 'The Docks', Jervis Bay, New South Wales, March 2001. Photo © E. Schlögl. View larger image.
A Southern Roughy at a depth of 20 m, Glenelg Barge, South Australia, March 1998. Photo © D. Muirhead. View larger image.
The Southern Roughy has a very deep body with rough scales. It has large eyes and a single tall dorsal fin. It is reddish-brown with a dark bar on the operculum and white fin spines. There are dark brown patches on the median fin rays.
It grows to 17 cm in length.
The Southern Roughy is a benthic species that is usually found on rocky reefs from shallow waters down to about 40 m in depth.
It is endemic to Australia, occurring in temperate coastal waters from southern Queensland to south-western Western Australia . The type locality for the species is Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), New South Wales.
View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
When disturbed this fish can produce a noxious milky substance that can disable other fishes.
This species has also been called Roughy and Pug-faced Roughy.
Related links
- Orange Roughy fact sheet
- Slender Roughy fact sheet
- Darwin's Sawbelly popup window
- Giant Sawbelly popup window
- View the Sawbellies list
- View the Family Trachichthyidae list
Further reading
- Gomon, M.F. in Gomon, M.F., Glover, C.J.M. & R.H. Kuiter (Eds). 1994. The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. State Print, Adelaide. Pp. 992.
- Hutchins, B. & R. Swainston. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Swainston Publishing. Pp. 180.
- Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Gary Allen. Pp. 437.
