The red-finned blue-eye (''Scaturiginichthys vermeilipinnis'') is a tiny, critically endangered species of fish in the family Pseudomugilidae. It is the only species in its genus. The species was first recorded in 1990. It is endemic to central Queensland in Australia, where it is restricted to

springs Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

in Bush Heritage's Edgbaston Reserve.

Description

The fish reaches up to in length, and only males have red fins.

Habitat and distribution

The fish only live in shallow, slightly salty water in Edgbaston Reserve, which is owned by Bush Heritage Australia. The water in the springs can vary from near freezing in the winter to in the summer.Bridie Smith
Hope springs eternal for besieged blue-eye,'
at

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

, June 9, 2012.

Conservation status

It is listed as '' Critically Endangered'' on the IUCN Red List, and as ''Endangered'' under Queensland's Nature Conservation Act 1992. In September 2012, the species was placed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature list of 100 most endangered species on the planet. It was originally found in seven springs in its small range in the Edgbaston Reserve, but by 2012 only survived in three of these, although another three translocated populations existed in the reserve. By 2021 were only found in one spring. They are at risk from extinction due to competition and predation by the flourishing introduced eastern mosquitofish (''Gambusia holbrooki''), water extraction and habitat loss. Gambusia is a huge threat as an

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

, which is out-competing many species in Australia. An intensive conservation programme has been developed to save the species. The Edgbaston goby (''Chlamydogobius squamigenus''), 11 snail species, a small crustacean, a

flatworm The flatworms, flat worms, Platyhelminthes, or platyhelminths (from the Greek πλατύ, ''platy'', meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), ''helminth-'', meaning "worm") are a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegment ...

, a spider and a

dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

are restricted to springs in the same reserve and also threatened.Bush Heritage (27 May 2016).
Edgbaston.
' Retrieved 18 February 2017. In February 2021, captive-bred fish were released into the wild spring, boosting the population from about 200 to approximately 3,000.

Ecological role

It has been hypothetically posed that the red-finned blue-eye eats the seeds of an endangered species of the '' eriocaulon'' (pipewort), which is part of the plant's life cycle, and up to 11 species of endemic snail may potentially rely on this plant as a food source. Whether the fish actually acts in this way to help maintain the spring ecosystem is unknown but it is not worth the risk to lose the species in case it plays such an ecologically important role in the spring ecosystem.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2119798 Scaturiginichthys Pseudomugilinae Freshwater fish of Queensland Critically endangered fauna of Australia Nature Conservation Act endangered biota Central Queensland Monotypic fish genera red-finned blue-eye Taxonomy articles created by Polbot