| Australian smelt | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Osmeriformes |
| Family: | Retropinnidae |
| Genus: | Retropinna |
| Species: | R. semoni |
| Binomial name | |
| Retropinna semoni (M. C. W. Weber, 1895) | |
The Australian smelt (Retropinna semoni) is a small, pelagic silvery freshwater fish found in large numbers in waters of the south eastern Australian mainland.
The fish is endemic to Australia and widely distributed through the coastal drainages of the south eastern part of the mainland. [2] The species is found in coastal drainages from the south east corner of South Australia through Victoria, New South Wales to the Fitzroy River in south east Queensland. It occurs widely in the Murray River and its tributaries and up the Darling as far upstream as Wilcannia. There are isolated populations in the Coopers Creek which drains into Lake Eyre and several smaller ones in north-western New South Wales and southern Queensland. Recent genetic research indicates Australian smelt stocks are composed of 5 highly genetically distinct and as yet undescribed species (Hammer et al., 2007).
A small silvery fish to 75 mm total length, very occasionally to 100 mm. In Coopers Creek usually only to 50 mm. It is clear to purple-olive on the back, translucent with a silver streak along the sides, sometimes with orange highlights, and has colourless fins. Captively raised specimens will easily exceed 100mm [3] and live for longer periods than their wild counterparts. [2]
Often found in large schools of thousands, this pelagic species prefers slow moving or still waters. It is often found in billabongs, dams and lakes at various salinity levels and in the lower reaches of rivers and streams. Although there have been some reports of diadromous populations, this fish usually completes its entire life cycle in freshwater. They shoal near the surface and around the cover of aquatic plants and woody debris. [2]
A carnivorous fish, the Australian smelt feeds mostly on small invertebrates such as aquatic insects and microcrustaceans, and a variety of planktonic organisms.
Spawns in spring at water temperatures in excess of 15 °C. Eggs are demersal, adhesive, spherical and transparent, about 0.8 mm diameter to 1 mm when water hardened. Eggs fall to the bottom and stick to instream debris, vegetation and the substrate. Females lay between 100 and 1000 eggs. Hatching occurs at about 9 to 10 days and larvae are around 4.5 to 5 mm total length.
This species has some potential as an aquarium species. Ideally suited to use as an effective mosquito predator in ponds in south eastern Australia, especially where frogs are encountered. Not suitable for use in a community tank, best kept as a school of fish in a single species situation.
The Murray cod is a large Australian predatory freshwater fish of the genus Maccullochella in the family Percichthyidae. Although the species is called a cod in the vernacular, it is not related to the Northern Hemisphere marine cod (Gadus) species. The Murray cod is an important part of Australia's vertebrate wildlife—as an apex predator in the Murray-Darling River system—and also significant in Australia's human culture. The Murray cod is the largest exclusively freshwater fish in Australia, and one of the largest in the world. Other common names for Murray cod include cod, greenfish, goodoo, Mary River cod, Murray perch, ponde, pondi and Queensland freshwater cod.
The eastern freshwater cod, also known as the eastern cod or Clarence River cod, is a large predatory freshwater fish of the genus Maccullochella and the family Percichthyidae, that occur in the coastal Clarence River system of north-eastern New South Wales. Eastern freshwater cod are closely related to the Murray cod of the Murray-Darling River system, and are considered an icon of the Clarence River system.
The Australian lungfish, also known as the Queensland lungfish, Burnett salmon and barramunda, is the only surviving member of the family Neoceratodontidae. It is one of only six extant lungfish species in the world. Endemic to Australia, the Neoceratodontidae are an ancient family belonging to the class Sarcopterygii, or lobe-finned fishes.
The river blackfish is a freshwater fish endemic to the temperate waters of south-eastern Australia. It is found from southern Queensland through to central Victoria, including in the Murray-Darling river system. It is also found in some eastern and southern flowing coastal rivers. Found primarily in upland and "midland" habitats, though early records of fish fauna suggest it was originally far more extensively distributed and was found in some lowland habitats as well. Originally, river blackfish co-inhabited many of its lowland and "midland" habitats with species such as Murray cod and golden perch, and its upland habitats with species such as trout cod and Macquarie perch. It is a popular angling fish in some parts of its range.
The western carp gudgeon is one of several carp gudgeon species. Carp gudgeons are very small perciform fish found in the Australian Murray-Darling River system, mainly in lowland environments, but some have been observed in upland environments. They are often found in small creeks, as well as billabongs and the edges of larger rivers. They prefer water 1 to 2 m deep with aquatic weed and structure provided by rocks or sunken timber.
Stream capture, river capture, river piracy or stream piracy is a geomorphological phenomenon occurring when a stream or river drainage system or watershed is diverted from its own bed, and flows instead down the bed of a neighbouring stream. This can happen for several reasons, including:
The Pedder galaxias is an Australian freshwater fish. It is considered to be extinct in the wild since 2005 by the EPBC Act, and was originally found only in Lake Pedder in Tasmania.
The rainbow smelt is a North American species of fish of the family Osmeridae. Walleye, trout, and other larger fish prey on these smelt. The rainbow smelt prefer juvenile ciscoes, zooplankton such as calanoid copepods, and other small organisms, but are aggressive and will eat almost any fish they find. They are anadromous spring spawners and prefer clean streams with light flow and light siltation. The rainbow smelt face several barriers. They are weak swimmers and struggle to navigate fish ladders preventing them from making it past dams to the headwater streams where they spawn. The rise in erosion and dams helped to decimate the smelt population in the 1980s. There are currently plans to try to reduce damming and to help control erosion.
The New Zealand smelt, also known as the New Zealand common smelt or New Zealand cucumber fish, is a smelt of the family Retropinnidae, found only in New Zealand at shallow depths in estuaries and rivers. Their length is between 8 and 13 cm.
Agassiz's perchlet, also known as Agassiz's glass fish and the olive perchlet, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Ambassidae. It is semi-transparent with dark scale edges forming a pattern over most of the body. It grows to a maximum of 7.5 cm. It is a macrophyte spawner with adhesive eggs. It is endemic to Australia. It was named for the zoologist Louis Agassiz.
The Cairns rainbowfish is a species of rainbowfish endemic to Australia. This species is endemic to the wet tropics of north eastern Queensland from the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation in the north south to Innisfail where its occurs in shallow, fast flowing, shady streams over sandy substrates where the roots of trees, woody debris, leaf litter, undercut banks and hydrophytes provide cover.
The honey blue-eye is an endangered species of fish in the subfamily Pseudomugilinae. It is endemic to southeastern Queensland, Australia, where it is found in mildly acidic, often tannin-stained, ponds and streams in wallum habitat.
Ameiurus platycephalus, the flat bullhead, is a species of North American freshwater catfish native to the waters of the southeastern United States from Virginia to Georgia. This species grows to a maximum length of 29 cm (11 in) TL though it is more commonly about 23 cm (9 in) long.
The bluntnose minnow is a species of temperate freshwater fish belonging to the genus Pimephales of the cyprinid family. Its natural geographic range extends from the Great Lakes south along the Mississippi River basin to Louisiana, and east across the Midwestern United States to New York State. The bluntnose is very ubiquitous, and may be the most common freshwater fish in the Eastern U.S.
The ornate rainbowfish is a species of rainbowfish endemic to an area in eastern Australia, where it is native to coastal regions and sandy offshore islands in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. It is the only known member of its genus. It is a popular aquarium fish.
The Pacific blue-eye is a species of fish in the subfamily Pseudomugilinae native to eastern Australia. Described by Austrian naturalist Rudolf Kner in 1866, it comprises two subspecies that have been regarded as separate species in the past and may be once again with further study. It is a common fish of rivers and estuaries along the eastern seaboard from Cape York in North Queensland to southern New South Wales, the Burdekin Gap in central-north Queensland dividing the ranges of the two subspecies.
Ambassis macleayi, commonly known as Macleay's glassfish, Macleay's glass perchlet, Macleay's perchlet, reticulated glassfish, reticulated perchlet, or network perchlet, is a species of freshwater fish in the family Ambassidae. It is native to northern Australia and the trans-Fly River region of New Guinea. It is a fish with a vertically flat, narrow body and a standard length generally between 35 and 45 mm, with large specimens reaching 77 mm (3.0 in) long. It generally eats water fleas and other small invertebrates. This fish is considered to be a least-concern species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), although it could suffer from habitat degradation due to feral pigs and invasive water plants such as the water hyacinth. The fish is suitable for aquarium use in tanks containing other non-aggressive species.
The dwarf flathead gudgeon is a species of sleeper goby endemic to eastern Australia.
The flathead gudgeon is a species of fish in the family Eleotridae endemic to eastern Australia.
Oxyeleotris nullipora, the poreless gudgeon, is a gudgeon of the genus Oxyeleotris, a freshwater fish found in Australia and Papua New Guinea.
