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Fish In Australia
Australia has over 5000 described species of fish, a quarter of which are endemic. Seafood and aquaculture are major and highly regulated industries, and fishing for marine and freshwater native fish is popular. Species of freshwater fish For its land-size, Australia has a low diversity of native freshwater fish with only 281 described species. This is largely because Australia is a very dry continent with sporadic rainfall and large areas of desert. There is a higher diversity of salt water fish. The most common freshwater fish are: * Murray cod *Australian bass Other species include: * Australian grayling * Australian smelt * Climbing galaxias * Common galaxias * Eastern freshwater cod * Eel-tailed catfish * Estuary perch * Flathead galaxias * Golden perch * Halfbeak/Garfish * Jardini * Inanga * Macquarie perch * Mary River cod * Mountain galaxias * Queensland lungfish * Rainbowfish * Retropinnidae * River blackfish * Saratoga * Salamanderfish * Short-finned eel * Sle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example '' Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. '' Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eel-tailed Catfish
The eel-tailed catfish, ''Tandanus tandanus'', is a species of catfish (order Siluriformes) of the family Plotosidae. This fish is also known as dewfish, freshwater catfish, jewfish, and tandan. This species is a freshwater fish native to the Murray- Darling river system of eastern Australia. The scientific name for eel-tailed catfish comes from a name for the fish in an unidentified Aboriginal Australian language - ''Tandan'' - which Major Thomas Livingston Mitchell recorded on his 1832 expedition. Description Eel-tailed catfish commonly grow to about 50.0 centimetres (19.7 in) and weigh about 1.8 kilograms (4.0 lb). Fish of this species may grow up to about 90.0 cm (35.4 in) and weigh up to 6.0 kg (13.2 lb). Eel-tailed catfish may live up to about 8 years. Eel-tailed catfish have large head with thick and fleshy lips and tubular nostrils. The skin is tough and smooth. Body coloration in adults vary from olive-green to brown, bl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Saratoga
The southern saratoga (''Scleropages leichardti''), also known as the spotted bonytongue, spotted saratoga, or simply saratoga, is a freshwater bony fish native to Australia. It belongs to the subfamily Osteoglossinae, or arowanas, a primitive group of teleosts. Like all arowanas, it is a carnivorous mouthbrooder. Along with the gulf saratoga (''Scleropages jardinii''), the saratoga is also known as the Australian arowana (mainly by non-Australian aquarists) and barramundi, although the latter name is nowadays reserved in Australia for the unrelated ''Lates calcarifer''. This species is found in turbid waters and has a more restricted distribution than the other ''Scleropages'' native to Australia, ''Scleropages jardinii''. Description Southern saratoga can grow up to . At sexual maturity, they are usually in length. They are primitive, surface-dwelling fish with strongly compressed bodies. They have an almost perfectly flat back, with a dorsal fin set back towards the tail of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Blackfish
The river blackfish (''Gadopsis marmoratus'') 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. Description River blackfish are elongated with a rounded body, distinct snout and large mouth, and small to moderate sized eyes. The caudal fin, soft dorsal fin and anal fin are rounded. The spiny dorsal fin is low, we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Retropinnidae
The Retropinnidae are a family of bony fishes that contains the Southern Hemisphere smelts and graylings. They are closely related to the northern smelts (Osmeridae), which they greatly resemble, but not to the northern graylings (''Thymallus''). Species from this family are only found in southeastern Australia and New Zealand. Although a few species are partly marine, most inhabit fresh or brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari .... References Ray-finned fish families {{Osmeriformes-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rainbowfish
The rainbowfish or Melanotaeniidae is a family of small, colourful freshwater fish found in northern and eastern Australia, New Guinea (including islands in Cenderawasih Bay and Raja Ampat Islands in Indonesia), Sulawesi and Madagascar. The largest rainbowfish genus, ''Melanotaenia'', derives from the ancient Greek ''melano'' (black) and ''taenia'' (banded). Translated, it means "black-banded", and is a reference to the often striking lateral black bands that run along the bodies of those in the genus ''Melanotaenia''. Characteristics The Melanotaeniidae is characterised by having their distal premaxillary teeth enlarged. They have a compressed body with the two dorsal fins being separated but with only a small gap between them. There are 3–7 spines in the first dorsal fin while the second has 6–22 rays, with the first ray being a stout spine in some species, the anal fin has 10–30 rays and, again, the first may be a stout spine in some species. The lateral line is either ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queensland Lungfish
The Australian lungfish (''Neoceratodus forsteri''), 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. Fossil records of this group date back 380 million years, around the time when the higher vertebrate classes were beginning to evolve. Fossils of lungfish almost identical to this species have been uncovered in northern New South Wales, indicating that ''Neoceratodus'' has remained virtually unchanged for well over 100 million years, making it a living fossil and one of the oldest living vertebrate genera on the planet. It is one of six extant representatives of the ancient air-breathing Dipnoi (lungfishes) that flourished during the Devonian period (about 413–365 million years ago) and is the outgroup to all ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mountain Galaxias
''Galaxias olidus'', the mountain galaxias, is a species of freshwater galaxiid fish widely found in southeastern Australia. Description As for other members of the species complex, although ''Galaxias olidus'' exhibits a greater range of characteristics than other members of the group. The fish has a long tubular body, commonly to . The body's upper and lower surfaces are gently and evenly curved with the upper surface partly flattened before the pelvic fins. Head medium size and noticeably wider than deep and slightly wedge-shaped from the side. Mouth of medium length with the tip of the upper lip usually level with the middle of the eye then extending down and back towards the belly to a point about even with the middle of the eye. Mountain galaxias are very variable in base colour and markings throughout their range, but within individual populations, less so. Body mostly tan, light brown to brown or olive, occasionally orange-brown. Base colour extends over head and s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary River Cod
The Mary River cod (''Maccullochella mariensis'') is a species of temperate perch native to the coastal Mary River (Queensland), Mary River system of southern Queensland, Australia. Mary River cod are one of Australia's most endangered freshwater fishes and are notable for being the most northerly of the four ''Maccullochella'' cods found or once found in coastal river systems of eastern Australia. Description The Mary River cod is a large fish recorded up to almost 40 kg and 120 cm in the early years of European settlement, but now are mostly less than 5 kg and 70 cm. Very similar in appearance to Murray cod and eastern freshwater cod, they are a striking looking, golden-yellow to dark green or brown, deep-bodied fish with dark green to black mottling. Curiously, Mary River cod have a slightly shorter, thicker caudal peduncle (tail wrist) than the other cod species. Conservation The Mary River Cod is listed as endangered species, Endangered under the Envi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macquarie Perch
The Macquarie perch (''Macquaria australasica'') is an Australian native freshwater fish of the Murray-Darling river system. It is a member of the family Percichthyidae and is closely related to the golden perch (''Macquaria ambigua''). The Macquarie perch derives its scientific name from the Macquarie River where the first scientifically described specimen was collected (''Macquaria'') and a derivation of the Latin word for "southern" (''australasica''). Description and diet Macquarie perch are a medium-sized fish, commonly 30–40 cm and 1.0–1.5 kg. Maximum size is about 2.5 kg and 50 cm. Their body is elongated, deep, and laterally compressed. The caudal fin, anal fin and soft dorsal fin are rounded. Spiny dorsal fin medium height and strong. Mouth and eyes are relatively small. Colouration can vary from tan to (more commonly) dark purplish-grey to black. The irises of the eyes are distinctly silver. Macquarie perch are a relatively placid nat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scleropages Jardinii
''Scleropages jardinii'', the Gulf saratoga, Australian bonytongue , Pearl arowana or northern saratoga, is a freshwater bony fish native to Australia and New Guinea, one of two species of fishes sometimes known as Australian arowana, the other being ''Scleropages leichardti''. It has numerous other common names, including northern saratoga, toga and barramundi (not to be confused with the barramundi perch, ''Lates calcarifer''). It is a member of the subfamily Osteoglossinae, a ( basal) teleost group. Its scientific name is sometimes spelled ''S. jardini''. Distribution ''Scleropages jardinii'' is patchily distributed throughout most of the Gulf of Carpentaria drainage system, west to the Adelaide River in the Northern Territory, throughout northern Queensland and in central-southern New Guinea.Martin F. Gomon (2011Northern Saratoga, Scleropages jardinii Fishes of Australia. Retrieved 29 August 2014. It inhabits still clear waters of pools and billabongs, and the slow-flowing sec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Halfbeak
Hemiramphidae is a family of fishes that are commonly called halfbeaks, spipe fish or spipefish. They are a geographically widespread and numerically abundant family of epipelagic fish inhabiting warm waters around the world. The halfbeaks are named for their distinctive jaws, in which the lower jaws are significantly longer than the upper jaws. The similar viviparous halfbeaks (family Zenarchopteridae) have often been included in this family. Though not commercially important themselves, these forage fish support artisanal fisheries and local markets worldwide. They are also fed upon by other commercially important predatory fishes, such as billfishes, mackerels, and sharks. Taxonomy In 1758, Carl Linnaeus was the first to scientifically describe a halfbeak, ''Esox brasiliensis'' (now ''Hemiramphus brasiliensis''). In 1775 Peter Forsskål described two more species as '' Esox'', '' Esox far'' and '' Esox marginatus''. It was not until 1816 that Georges Cuvier created the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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