Puye

Habitat Distribution

• Native to temperate coastal Australia — found in streams and rivers east and south of the Great Dividing Range from Brisbane south through NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, eastern South Australia, and parts of southwest Western Australia.
• Also recorded on Flinders Island, King Island and Lord Howe Island. Thought to have been introduced into some Victorian inland catchments including the Wimmera, Loddon and Campaspe rivers.
• Adults live in still or slow-moving water in lower-elevation streams, river mouths, lagoon edges and low-lying lakes — not a fast-water fish once past the juvenile stage.
• In South Australia, present in Lake Alexandrina, Lake Albert and the lower Murray near the river mouth, and streams of the Mt Lofty Ranges.

Key Locations

• Tasmania — the most significant whitebait fishery in Australia, with regulated seasonal runs on coastal streams across the island.
• Victoria — coastal streams of East Gippsland, including the Thurra River in Croajingolong National Park, support documented populations.
• Southwest Western Australia — present from the Pallinup River near Bremer Bay east to the Thomas River near Esperance, with robust populations in the Goodga and Angove rivers near Albany.
• South Australia — Lake Alexandrina and the lower Murray near the river mouth, and Mt Lofty Ranges streams.

Specific Spots

• During the whitebait run, juveniles concentrate at river mouths and tidal creek entrances as they push upstream — the narrow channel where salt meets fresh is the key pinch point.
• Adults hold in slow backwaters, lagoon margins and pool edges with aquatic vegetation, where terrestrial and aquatic insects fall or drift into reach.
• Estuary margins with emergent vegetation are critical spawning habitat — adults move into these areas on high spring tides during autumn new and full moons.