Elephant fish
Fish · Last reviewed 2026-10-22
A silvery chimaera with a hoe-shaped snout that comes into southern Australia's shallow bays to lay its egg cases in late summer and autumn.
Catching Elephant fish
Everything here on fishing for it. Each entry opens the page behind it.
- Lives in
- Sea and estuary
- Rules
- Set where you fish, not recorded here for the species. Who to ask
- Ground
- When
- Mar–May — months recorded at the places that document it, not a season for the whole range.
- Where
- 3 places FishingHQ documents — strongest claim anywhere: regular local target
- How
- From the shore at 3 — the number of places that record it that way.
The elephant fish is not a shark but a chimaera, of the plownose chimaera family, and its snout, shaped like a hoe or a short trunk, is covered in pores that sense movement and weak electrical fields in the sand where it feeds.
It matters to shore anglers because of where it breeds. The Commonwealth fisheries regulator says adults gather in February to spawn, laying flat, leathery egg cases in pairs on sand or mud near river mouths and estuaries, where they take about eight months to hatch. The Victorian Fisheries Authority gives March to May as its peak in Western Port and names Corinella Pier, beside a deep channel, as its place for them.
It grows to about 1.2 m and lives about fifteen years, maturing at three years for males and four to five for females. The Commonwealth stock is caught only incidentally and its status is given as uncertain; FishBase records it as Least Concern.
Catching it
How it is caught
Where and whenBack to the questions
Where Elephant fish is documented
Places where public sources describe this species as fished, with how it is fished and how strongly the evidence supports it. This is not a range map and it is not a recommendation — it is what has been written down about a fishery rather than a record of any individual catch, and being listed is never permission to fish.
See these by shore, boat, kayak, fly or fresh water in the species finder.
Victoria
3 documented places
- Western Port · BaySeasonal · from the shore · around March to May
- Corinella Pier · PierRegular local target · from the shore
- Cowes Jetty · JettyRegular local target · from the shore
What these strengths mean
- Seasonal
- Well supported, and concentrated in part of the year rather than spread through it.
- Regular local target
- Fishing sources describe this as a normal local target here, not merely as caught.
- Where and how to catch it: these places by shore, boat, kayak, fly or fresh water, with the gear linked to it.
- Trip planner: a destination, a method and a season, put together.
- Location explorer: documented places by distance from where you are.
- Browse fishing places by part of the world
The fishBack to the questions
Identification
No photograph of Elephant fish is published yet, so none is shown. A photograph is published only once the animal in it has been checked against the diagnostic features described on this page, and its rights to be used here have been checked at its source.
- Scientific name
- Callorhinchus milii
- Family
- Callorhinchidae
- Water
- Saltwater, Brackish
- Conservation status
- Least Concern
- Regions
- Australia, New Zealand
- A hoe-shaped, trunk-like snout with sensory pores, unlike any other fish in the bays.
- Silvery, with dark markings, and a nearly scaleless body with large pectoral fins.
- A large spine stands in front of the first of its two dorsal fins.
- One gill opening in front of each pectoral fin, and a tail with a larger upper lobe.
Size
- Typical
- Not given as a figure by the sources read
- Large
- Up to about 1.2 m and 7 kg, females larger, according to the Commonwealth regulator
Exceptional: FishBase records a maximum length of 125 cm
Lifecycle and reproduction
Males mature at about three years and females at four to five, and the fish lives about fifteen years. Juveniles stay in shallow coastal water for about three years before moving deeper, and adults appear to school by sex.
Egg-laying. Adults gather in February to spawn and lay their elongated, flat, leathery egg cases in pairs over several weeks on sand or mud near river mouths and in estuaries; the eggs hatch after about eight months. That inshore breeding is why shallow bays matter to the species.
Feeding and senses
Fish, shellfish and molluscs, according to the Commonwealth regulator, found on the bottom. The Victorian agency's baits are pilchards, squid and fish fillets.
The regulator says the pores on the snout detect movement and weak electrical fields, which is how the fish finds prey on or in the bottom.
Through the year
Adults come inshore in late summer: the regulator gives February for the spawning gathering, and the Victorian Fisheries Authority gives March to May as the peak season in Western Port.
Distribution
Southwest Pacific: southern Australia and New Zealand (FishBase). The regulator gives Esperance to Sydney including Tasmania, to depths of at least 200 m, with New Zealand's fish a separate genetic stock.
This is a biological range — where the species occurs, not a prediction that you will catch one. To browse the fishing geography FishingHQ holds, start at fishing places.
Why anglers care
A seasonal bay fish in Victoria. The Victorian Fisheries Authority names Corinella Pier on Western Port, beside a deep channel, as its hot spot, lists it at Cowes Jetty, and recommends a running sinker or paternoster rig with pilchard, squid or fish-fillet baits for a few hours either side of high tide, March to May.
Handling and returning
The regulator describes a large spine in front of the first dorsal fin; the sources read give no further handling advice. Because the fish caught in the bays in autumn are adults that have come in to breed, the state's limits and any rules on them should be checked before keeping one.
Safety and rulesBack to the questions
Sources and evidence
- FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Family, maximum size, depth range, environment and distribution for Callorhinchus milii.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: The Least Concern assessment for Callorhinchus milii, assessed 04 May 2024, as FishBase reports it.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Elephant fish — Australian Fisheries Management Authority (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: Identification including the snout pores and dorsal spine, size, longevity, maturity, distribution, habitat, diet, egg-laying near river mouths in February, hatching time and stock status.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- Go Fishing — Western Port — Victorian Fisheries Authority (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: Elephant fish at Corinella Pier and Cowes Jetty; peak season March to May; rigs, baits and tide.States this directlyPassage read and verified
Why the 3 connections on this page are here, and the sources
How it is caught
Official guidance — 1 connection
Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.
Ledgering
The Victorian agency's species panel for Western Port gives the rig, baits and tide.
- Go Fishing — Western Port — Victorian Fisheries Authority (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: That elephant fish are fished with a running sinker or paternoster rig baited with pilchards, squid or fish fillets, a few hours either side of high tide.States this directlyPassage read and verified
Where it lives
Official guidance — 2 connections
Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.
Estuary
The Commonwealth regulator describes the inshore breeding habitat.
- Elephant fish — Australian Fisheries Management Authority (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: That elephant fish use shallow bays and large estuaries and lay their egg cases on sand or mud near river mouths and estuaries.States this directlyPassage read and verified
Inshore ground
The Commonwealth regulator places adults on the shelf outside the breeding season.
- Elephant fish — relied on for: That elephant fish are demersal and occur on the continental shelf to at least 200 m.
How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy.