A common fish of the Murray Darling system the bony bream Fluvialosa richardsoni was caught by Becker at the Bilwaka camp. He notes at the end of his description that ‘It was a fine good tasting fish’.

Further Information

This sketch of a fisch is half the size of the original which was caught by natives, to-day at a Billabong, backwater, of the Darling & not far from our camp. The main color is a silvery white, towards the back it changes into blue, which is of an indigo tint on the top of back. 15 or 16 horizontal stripes, of a pale blueish color, reach from head to tail. The head shows colors of a pale golden hue. Eye silvery, lens black. All fins whitish. Scales large. Over each nostril one small spine. I found no teeth in its mouth. From head to vent the scales end with a small spine and a sharp edge. Dorsal fin has 14 rays , the last one large and soft, the few first ones spiny, pectoral 15, soft; ventral 8, soft; anal 21 soft; caudal 28, the outer one spiney. The specimen was a female, with a large roe; no airbladder. A fine, good tasting fish.

Camp at Bilwaka,

Oct. 7 60

L. Becker.