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List of Victorian Freshwater Fish
River Blackfish (Gadopsis marmoratus)
Short-Finned Eel (Anguilla australis)
References
List of Victorian Freshwater Fish
Agassiz's Glassfish (Ambassis agassizii)
Australian Bass (Macquaria novemaculeata) Rare (VIC)
Australian Grayling (Prototroctes maraena)
Vulnerable
Australian Smelt (Retropinna semoni)
Barred Galaxias (Galaxias fuscus) Endangered
Climbing Galaxias (Galaxias brevipinnus) Rare
Common Galaxias (Galaxias maculatus)
Cox's Gudgeon (Gobiomorphus coxii)
Crimson-Spotted Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia fluviatilus) Rare
Dwarf Flathead Gudgeon (Philypnodon sp.)
Dwarf Galaxias (Galaxiella pusilla) Vulnerable
Empire Gudgeon (Hypseleotris compressa) Rare
Estuary Perch (Macquaria colonorum)
Ewen's Pygmy Perch (Nannoperca variagata)
Flat-headed Galaxias (Galaxias rostratus)
Flathead Gudgeon (Philypnodon grandiceps)
Freshwater Catfish (Tandanus tandanus) Vulnerable
Freshwater Herring (Potamalosa richmondia) Endangered
Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua) Rare
Lake's Carp Gudgeon (Hypseleotris sp.2)
Lake Eyre Hardyhead (Craterocephalus eyresii)
Macquarie Perch (Macquaria australasica) Endangered
Midgley's Carp Gudgeon (Hypseleotris sp.1)
Murray Cod (Maccullochella peelii peelii) Vulnerable
Murray Hardyhead (Craterocephalus fluviatilis) Rare
Pouched Lamprey (Geotria australis)
River Blackfish (Gadopsis marmoratus)
Short-Headed Lamprey (Mordacia mordax)
Short-Finned Eel (Anguilla australis)
Silver Perch (Bidyanus bidyanus) Vulnerable
Small-Mouthed Hardyhead (Atherinosoma microstoma)
Spotted Mountain Trout (Galaxias truttaceus) Rare
Southern Purple-Spotted Gudgeon (Mogurnda adspersa)Endangered
Southern Pygmy Perch (Nannoperca australi) Endangered
Striped Gudgeon (Gobiomorphus australis)
Tupong (Pseudaphritis urvillii)
Tasmanian Whitebait (Lovettia sealii) Rare
Swan Galaxias (Galaxias fontanus) Endangered
Swan River Goby (Pseudogobius olorum)
Tasmanian Mudfish (Neochanna cleaveri) Endangered
Trout Cod (Maccullochella macquariensis) Endangered
Two-Spined Blackfish (Gadopsis bispinosis)
Western Carp Gudgeon (Hypseleotris Klunzingeri)
Yarra Pygmy Perch (Edelia obscura)
River Blackfish (Gadopsis marmoratus)
Melbourne's creeks and rivers are home to the River Blackfish, which stays under the cover of woody debri, rocks and the like. It makes ambushed attacks on other small freshwater fish and insects, on which it feeds.
The male River Blackfish protects the eggs and young, which are kept safe in places, like the hollows of sunken logs. Once common, it is now competing with introduced species for both food and habitat. Commonly 30cm in length, the River Blackfish can grow to twice that size.
Short-finned Eel (Anguilla australis)
The Short-finned Eel is common throughout Melbourne's creeks, rivers & lakes. They prefer calm or slow moving waters, in which they live until ready to migrate to the Coral Sea off the coast of North Queensland, where they spawn millions of eggs and die.
The eggs develop into larvae, which are carried by sea currents back to the coast, afterwhcih they mature into minature eels. At this stage they lack any pigmentation of the skin and are often refered to as "glass eels", because of thier transparent appearnace.
The eels continue to migrate up through the freshwater systems of Victoria, Tasmania, Southern NSW & QLD and other parts of the south-western Pacific.
The eels are estimated to be several years old by the time they reach estuaries, where they aquire coloured skin pigmentation. During their upstream migration the Short-finned Eel is able to travel short distances out of water, when conditions are wet, this allows them to cross rapids and waterfalls.
Short-finned Eels are carnivors, eating all manner of aquatic animals, including fish, insects, frogs and yabbies. They have been recorded to live as long as 25 years.
References
:: Native Fish Australia Website, Fish Files
:: Marshall, Brett & Bainbridge, Brian. Creek Life: flora and fauna of the Merri Creek Valley, Merri Creek Management Committee, East Brunswick, Victoria 1995.
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© Aliey Ball (freshwater.net.au) 2006
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