Durnbuhmanj dja Karlerrh(Black Bream and Long Tom)

Durnbuhmanj (Black Bream, Hephaestus fuliginosus) live in fresh water. Durnbuhmanj is like Burd (Bream), but it’s bigger and black. We catch lots of Black Bream with fishing lines in rivers and creeks where the water is flowing. We cook it on the fire or in the hot ashes, or in a traditional ground oven. It’s good eating and has lots of flesh on it, it tastes a lot like other freshwater fish.

Karlerrh (Freshwater Long-tom, Strongylura kreffti) is a fish which we also call kurrkabal. The Long-tom went down to the base of Injalak Hill and placed itself there as a rock. You can still see it there today, the Long-tom Dreaming site. The Old People used to take a fishing spear and go and stand on a log over the river, waiting for the Long-toms to come past. They would get washed down from Mandjaworlbidji (the “Big Waterfall” near Gunbalanya) after a big rain, and people would spear them. Or sometimes the fish would be swimming upstream from the billabong. Kalerrh is a long, slender fish and has a long mouth with lots of sharp teeth.