Marine fish, hoki (Macruronus novaezealandiae), kahawai (Arripis trutta) and trevally (Pseudocaranx dentex) were used to develop fermented fish models to emulate Asian examples. The formulations comprised ground fish, carbohydrate, garlic and salt, but no added culture. The carbohydrate was cooked rice or glucose. The mixtures were extruded into open-ended 50 mL plastic syringes, sealed and incubated at 30℃ for 96 h. The syringe piston was progressively advanced to yield test samples. The endogenous lactic acid bacteria were capable of fermenting glucose, but not cooked rice. After glucose fermentation, the treatments contained around 8.7 log cfu·g^-1 (from 3.3) with the pH range of 4.38 to 5.08 (from around 6.3), depending on the species. Hardness, springiness and cohesiveness of treatments all increased with fermentation, except for hoki, which was subject to an endogenous proteolytic activity. Color development varied with species: light reflectance (L*) of the trevally and kahawai treatments increased, while the a* (redness) and b* (yellowness) values were static. Hoki exhibited the least color changes except for yellowness, which increased markedly. Possible reasons for this are discussed. Proteolysis was greatest for trevally. Lipid oxidation was least for hoki, notably the species with the lowest fat content. The trevally treatment generated the highest concentration of amines, but values were lower than reported for fermented fish sausage in Asia, possibly because of raw material hygiene status. The physiochemical outcomes indicated that trevally (as pieces unsuited for sale as fillets) would be best suited to this food product class. Suitable species could be identified in other fisheries.