The Magela hardyhead (''Craterocephalus marianae'') or Mariana's Hardyhead, is a species of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

in the family Atherinidae

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 elsew ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It has a very restricted distribution, only found in the Alligator Rivers region of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

where it inhabits shallow and fast-flowing freshwater creeks. The fish has a high thermal tolerance, like some other species in the genus ''

Craterocephalus ''Craterocephalus'' is a genus of small and slender brackish or freshwater silversides from Australia and New Guinea. It is the most diverse genus in the family Atherinidae, containing 25 of the 71 species. Species The currently recognized spec ...

'', and may tolerate water temperatures up to 39.5º. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honours Walter Ivantsoff's daughter, Marian.

References

Magela hardyhead Freshwater fish of the Northern Territory Magela hardyhead Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Atheriniformes-stub