SYDNEY HARBOUR
The Sydney Aquarium is sited in Darling Harbor on Cockle Bay. Until the arrival of Europeans, the area was called Tumbalong, a name meaning ‘place where seafood was found’. Originally called Long Cove, the bay was later renamed Cockle Bay because of the abundant shellfish. Without this supply of seafood the first European settlement would have faced starvation. In 1826 the bay was named Darling Harbour and by this time was a busy commercial port. The commercial port closed in 1984 and in 1988 Darling Harbour opened as a recreational and tourist area.
OLD WIFE (Enoplosus armatus)
These fish are common in southern waters ranging into southern Queensland. They are reputed to be good eating fish but beware! They should be handled with care; they possess sharp spines on their heads and dorsal and anal fins. The dorsal fin spines contain poison.
PORT JACKSON SHARK
(Heterodontus portusjacksoni)
The Port Jackson shark, called Tabbigaw by aborigines, is named after the alternative title for Sydney Harbour Port Jackson. The shark is only found in southern waters around Australia. Females lay between 10 and 16 large, dark brown spiral-shaped eggs during August and September and it takes seven to eight months for the young to hatch. They eat mostly crustaceans, shellfish and sea urchins. Their teeth comprise pointed front teeth for grasping their prey and flattened grinding plates for crushing it. These sharks are not regarded as dangerous, but care should be taken handling them as have spines on their dorsal fins.
BREAM FISH
In Australia, the name “bream” applies to fish of the family Sparidae whereas in Europe, bream belong to the freshwater carp family Cyprinidae. In Australia, the most common is the black or yellow-fin bream of which there are two species, the black or silver bream of the Eastern states, (Acanthopagrus australis) and the blue-nosed or southern bream of southern waters (A. butcheri).
SNAPPER (Chrysophrys auratus)
These fish belong to the same family as bream and like bream, the name “snapper” can be confusing. Australian snapper resemble but are not related to true snapper of the family Lutjanidae. Young snapper are often mistaken for bream, but adults have a prominent hump on their heads. Snapper and bream are major target species for both amateur and commercial fishermen.
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