Conclusions
The Macquarie perch and golden perch genomes reported here triple the number of genomes available for Percichthyidae, the only other available genome being that of the Murray cod (Austin et al., 2017). These resources will facilitate population genomic and functional genomic research in Percichthyidae and development of reliable sexing markers for different populations, thus contributing to species management and conservation. Percichthyidae present a promising model for studying sex chromosome turnover, and the role of sex chromosomes in adaptation and speciation. Our study provides a novel candidate sex-determination gene and a distal enhancer for a key developmental gene for future studies. This makes Macquarie perch one of few fish species with a localized candidate sex-determining mechanism. Involvement of SOX1b in sex determination broadens the roles of this major developmental gene.