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Hypseleotris Compressa
''Hypseleotris compressa'', the empire gudgeon, is a species of Gobiiform fish in the family Eleotridae endemic to Australia and south-central New Guinea. Taxonomy Gerard Krefft described the empire gudgeon in 1864 as ''Eleotris compressus'', having been discovered by one James F. Wilcox. Description ''H. compressa'' has an elongated body which can be up to long. The males are larger than the females. The fish does not have a lateral line, but does have ctenoid scales. Its color varies, but the fish generally has a yellowish-tan to golden-brown head, although it can occasionally be a dark brown. Its abdomen is usually a whitish-red color. During the off-breeding seasons, males can be identified by prominent, variously colored bands on their anal and dorsal fins. The caudal fin is a "dusky" colour, and the pectoral and pelvic fins have no colour. During the breeding season, the male's colors brighten significantly, turning a red-orange colour, and they sometimes appear to glow. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerard Krefft
Johann Ludwig (Louis) Gerard Krefft (17 February 1830 – 19 February 1881), a talented artist and draughtsman, and the Curator of the Australian Museum for 13 years (1861-1874), was one of Australia's first and most influential zoologists and palaeontologists. According to Macdonald, et al. (2007), Krefft "was among the first to raise the alarm" in relation to "the devastating effects" of the invasive species, such as "sheep, cats, etc., on native species". Also, along with significant others, such as the proprietor of the Melbourne ''Argus'', Edward Wilson, Krefft expressed considerable concern in relation to the effects of the expanding European settlement upon the indigenous population. In addition to his numerous scientific papers, his publications include ''The Snakes of Australia'' (1869), ''Guide to the Australian Fossil Remains in the Australian Museum'' (1870), ''The Mammals of Australia'' (1871), and ''Catalogue of the Minerals and Rocks in the Australian Museum' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horn Island, Queensland
Horn Island, or ''Ngurupai/Narupai'' (pronounced ''Nœrupai/Nurupai'') in the local language, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands archipelago located in the Torres Strait, in Queensland in Northern Australia between the Australian mainland and Papua New Guinea. It is within the locality of Horn within the Shire of Torres. The town of Wasaga is on the north-western coast of the island (). In the , the locality of Horn had a population of 531 people. Geography The island is in area. Horn Island is the site of Horn Island Airport, which also serves Thursday Island. Therefore, it is a gateway for travellers to the mainland and outer islands. The present-day population consists of islanders drawn from all islands of the Torres Strait, as well as non-islanders. Residents travel daily by ferry across the Ellis Channel to Thursday Island for work and school. Shire of Torres is the local government authority, providing the island community's municipal services. History Horn Islan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freshwater Fish Of New Guinea
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include non- salty mineral-rich waters such as chalybeate springs. Fresh water may encompass frozen and meltwater in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, snowfields and icebergs, natural precipitations such as rainfall, snowfall, hail/ sleet and graupel, and surface runoffs that form inland bodies of water such as wetlands, ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, as well as groundwater contained in aquifers, subterranean rivers and lakes. Fresh water is the water resource that is of the most and immediate use to humans. Water is critical to the survival of all living organisms. Many organisms can thrive on salt water, but the great majority of higher plants and most insects, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds need fresh water to survive. Fresh water is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freshwater Fish Of Australia
Freshwater fish of Australia are limited to approximately 280 species, even though the Australian continent is larger than the contiguous United States. The small scale of species found in Australian inland waters is in some part due to the dry conditions of the continent. Rainfall is sporadic over much of the continent, and fish cannot live in many of the desert regions of South Australia and Western Australia. Most freshwater species are found in tropical or subtropical regions. A large proportion of freshwater species are endemic to Australia. The family Percicthyidae (temperate perches) and other families suspected in reality to lie within it (e.g. Gadopsidae, Nannopercidae) have risen to prominence in and dominate many of its freshwater systems, in contrast to the Northern Hemisphere where freshwater fish faunas are overwhelmingly dominated by the carp family, Cyprinidae. (No cyprinid species is native to Australia). Due to the illegal introduction of carp (''Cyprinus carpio' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypseleotris
''Hypseleotris'' is a genus of fishes in the family Eleotridae. Most are from fresh water in Australia and New Guinea, but species in fresh and brackish water are found around islands in the western Indian Ocean, southern and eastern Africa, southern and eastern Asia, and Pacific islands. The largest species reaches a length of . They are sometimes seen in the aquarium trade; especially ''H. compressa''. In Australia they are known as carp gudgeons. The assemblage of species of this genus which occurs in the basin of the Murray-Darling river system is made up of sexually reproducing species and hybrid lineages which consiste of a single sex and which have arisen through hybridisation, a process known as hybridogenesis. The single sex species require gametes from the sexual species to reproduce and could be regarded as sexual parasites and in "closed populations" this sexual parasitism can cause the extinction of such populations. Species The 16 recognized species in this gen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Culex Annulirostris
''Culex annulirostris'', commonly known as the common banded mosquito, is an insect native to Australia, Fiji, Micronesia, the Philippines and Indonesia. It is regarded as a serious pest species throughout its range. Frederick Askew Skuse described the species in 1889 from specimens collected in the Blue Mountains and Berowra. The species name is derived from the Latin words ''annulus'' "ring" and ''rostrum'' "bill". The female is a moderate-sized brown to dark brown mosquito, with a single pale prominent broad band on the middle third of its proboscis, and similar bands on its legs. It closely resembles the female of the related '' Cx. sitiens''. The latter species has a narrower band on its proboscis. Breeding takes place anywhere there is standing water, from swamps and ponds to all kinds of man-made puddles—irrigation channels, bamboo stumps, cacao shells, the bottoms of canoes. The water can be clean or polluted, in sun or shade, and fresh or brackish. ''Culex annul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Mosquitofish
The eastern mosquitofish (''Gambusia holbrooki'') is a species of freshwater fish, closely related to the western mosquitofish, ''Gambusia affinis''. It is a member of the family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes. The eastern mosquitofish is native to the eastern and southern United States from Florida to Pennsylvania and inland to Alabama and Tennessee, while the western mosquitofish has a larger distribution throughout the United States. Description The Eastern mosquitofish is a small, light-colored fish with semitransparent fins. The females usually have a black stripe near their eye area and light spots can be seen on the caudal and dorsal fins of both sexes. Due to its similar size, shape, and reproductive habits, it can easily be mistaken for a guppy. Generally, males reach and females . These fish are a livebearer species, and as such, the females are larger and more rounded than the males. Pregnant females are also easily recognizable by their gravid spot; a darke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Estuaries
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environments and are an example of an ecotone. Estuaries are subject both to marine influences such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water, and to fluvial influences such as flows of freshwater and sediment. The mixing of seawater and freshwater provides high levels of nutrients both in the water column and in sediment, making estuaries among the most productive natural habitats in the world. Most existing estuaries formed during the Holocene epoch with the flooding of river-eroded or glacially scoured valleys when the sea level began to rise about 10,000–12,000 years ago. Estuaries are typically classified according to their geomorphological features or to water-circulation patterns. They can have many different names, such as bays, har ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Omnivorous
An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutrients and energy of the sources absorbed. Often, they have the ability to incorporate food sources such as algae, fungi, and bacteria into their diet. Omnivores come from diverse backgrounds that often independently evolved sophisticated consumption capabilities. For instance, dogs evolved from primarily carnivorous organisms (Carnivora) while pigs evolved from primarily herbivorous organisms (Artiodactyla). Despite this, physical characteristics such as tooth morphology may be reliable indicators of diet in mammals, with such morphological adaptation having been observed in bears. The variety of different animals that are classified as omnivores can be placed into further sub-categories depending on their feeding behaviors. Frugivores ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prince Of Wales Island (Queensland)
The Prince of Wales Island, or Muralag, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands archipelago at the tip of Cape York Peninsula within the Endeavour Strait of Torres Strait in Queensland, Australia. The island is situated approximately north of Muttee Heads which is adjacent to Bamaga and south of Thursday Island. It is within the locality of Prince Of Wales within the Shire of Torres. In the , the locality had a population of 109 people. Most of the land has been returned to the Kaurareg people, who are the traditional residents on the island. Geography With an area of , Prince of Wales Island is the largest of the Torres Strait Islands. Being inhabited only by a few Kaurareg families (population 20 in 2001), it is very sparsely populated. The town in the north of the island is called Muralug (), after the native name of the island. The northeastern corner of the island, Kiwain Point, is only away from Vivien Point of Thursday Island, the main and most populous of the To ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Global Biodiversity Information Facility
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international organisation that focuses on making scientific data on biodiversity available via the Internet using web services. The data are provided by many institutions from around the world; GBIF's information architecture makes these data accessible and searchable through a single portal. Data available through the GBIF portal are primarily distribution data on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes for the world, and scientific names data. The mission of the GBIF is to facilitate free and open access to biodiversity data worldwide to underpin sustainable development. Priorities, with an emphasis on promoting participation and working through partners, include mobilising biodiversity data, developing protocols and standards to ensure scientific integrity and interoperability, building an informatics architecture to allow the interlinking of diverse data types from disparate sources, promoting capacity building and cat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torres Strait
The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mainland. To the north is the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. It is named after the Spanish navigator Luís Vaz de Torres, who sailed through the strait in 1606. Prehistory The islands of the Torres Strait have been inhabited by humans for at least 2,500 years and possibly much longer. The various Torres Strait Islander communities have a unique culture and long-standing history with the islands and nearby coastlines. Their maritime-based trade and interactions with the Papuans to the north and the Australian Aboriginal communities have maintained a steady cultural diffusion among the three societal groups, dating back thousands of years. History The first recorded European navigation of the strait was by Luís Vaz de Torres, a pilot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
