The western galaxias (''Galaxias occidentalis''), also called the western minnow, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Galaxias ''Galaxias'' is a genus of small freshwater fish in the family (biology), family Galaxiidae, and are frequently referred to as the galaxiids. These highly adaptable fish are typically found at temperate latitudes across the Southern Hemisphere. ...

of small, Southern Hemisphere freshwater fish of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Galaxiidae The Galaxiidae are a family of mostly small freshwater fish in the Southern Hemisphere. The majority live in Southern Australia or New Zealand, but some are found in South Africa, southern South America, Lord Howe Island, New Caledonia, and th ...

''. It is

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 ...

southwestern Australia Southwest Australia is a biogeographic region in Western Australia. It includes the Mediterranean-climate area of southwestern Australia, which is home to a diverse and distinctive flora and fauna. The region is also known as the Southwest Au ...

Description

The western galaxias is large compared with other galaxiids, commonly growing to around in length but can grow up to . It is a slender fish with a flattened head and snout and no scales. The single dorsal fin is set far back above the anal fin and has seven to ten soft rays while the anal fin has eleven to fourteen soft rays. Its dorsal surface and flanks are olive green with indistinct dark vertical bars and its belly is silvery-white.

Distribution and habitat

The western galaxias is found in many waterways in the

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from north of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

to as far east as Albany. It is found in clear water at the edge of pools in rivers, at the base of rapids or waterfalls, in ponds, in shallow parts of lakes and in slow-flowing saline rivers. It can tolerate brackish pools and acidic or

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'', ...

-stained water.

Behaviour

The western galaxias is a fast-swimming schooling fish and often forms shoals just above the substrate in the shallows. It is often found in and around submerged vegetation in rocky pools at the base of rapids and

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

s. At the beginning of the wet season it moves upstream to small streams where it spawns among vegetation in flooded areas. It becomes sexually mature at the age of one year and may live for five years. The western galaxias is

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

and mainly feeds on small

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s and

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q44489

western galaxias The western galaxias (''Galaxias occidentalis''), also called the western minnow, is a species of fish in the genus Galaxias of small, Southern Hemisphere freshwater fish of the family ''Galaxiidae''. It is endemic to southwestern Australia. ...

Taxa named by James Douglas Ogilby Freshwater fish of Western Australia

Endemic fauna of Southwest Australia