This Conservation Advice was approved by the Delegate of the Minister on 11 April 2014

Approved Conservation Advice for Neoceratodus forsteri (Australian lungfish)

(s266B of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999)

This Conservation Advice has been developed based on the best available information at the time this Conservation Advice was approved; this includes existing and draft plans, records or management prescriptions for this species.

Description

Neoceratodus forsteri (Australian lungfish), family Ceratodontidae, also known as the Queensland lungfish, is a large, stout and elongate bodied freshwater fish reaching a maximum length of approximately 150 cm and a maximum weight of 48 kg (Grigg, 1975; Allen et al., 2002). Adults are generally brown to olive in colour on the back, tending to white to yellow-orange on the underside, and are covered by large, obvious scales (Grigg, 1975; Allen et al., 2002). Australian lungfish have large, fleshy and flipper-like pectoral and pelvic fins (Allen et al., 2002).

The Australian lungfish is one of only six extant species of lungfishes in the world, along with four species (genus Protopterus) found only in Africa and one species (Lepidosiren paradoxa) found only in South America (Kemp, 1986; Hart et al., 2008). Other species of lungfish have paired lungs, while the Australian lungfish has a single lung located dorsally to the gut, which is divided internally into two distinct lobes that interconnect along its length (Grigg, 1975; Berra, 2007; Hart et al., 2008). The lung is highly vascularised and compartmentalised to provide increased surface area for gaseous exchange, and is connected to the oesophagus ventrally just as in other air-breathing vertebrates (Berra, 2007). Unlike its African and South American counterparts, the Australian lungfish is not an obligate air-breather and predominantly uses its gills for respiration, only breathing air via its lungs during periods of increased activity or when water quality is poor. Additionally, it cannot survive the desiccation of its habitat, which the other five extant species of lungfish can (Kemp, 1986; Berra, 2007; Hart et al., 2008).

The Australian lungfish is considered one of, if not, the oldest known extant vertebrate species. Fossils of N. forsteri found in Australia have been dated back to at least 100 million years ago and it is a more primitive species than the other extant species of lungfish (Kemp, 1986; Berra, 2007; Cavin and Kemp, 2011). The six lungfish species and the two known species of coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae and L. menadoensis) represent the only extant lobe-finned fish species in the world. Recent consensus based on DNA studies, is that lungfishes, not coelacanths, are the closest living relatives of the tetrapods (four-limbed vertebrates) (Brinkmann et al., 2004; Mallatt and Winchell, 2007; Hart et al., 2008).

Conservation Status

The Australian lungfish is listed as vulnerable under the name Neoceratodus forsteri (Australian Lungfish, Queensland Lungfish). This species is eligible for listing as vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cwlth) (EPBC Act) given: as a result of past changes to its core habitat, it is suspected that the recruitment to the adult breeding population has been, and is still, unsustainably low; and that the species is likely to undergo a substantial population reduction over the next three generations (TSSC, 2003). The species also has a limited geographic distribution that is precarious for its survival. Its area of occupancy is estimated to be less than 2,000 km2 and continued decline in quality and extent of spawning and nursery habitat is likely as further water infrastructure development occurs in this highly populated area of Queensland (TSSC, 2003).

The species is also listed as a no-take species under the Schedule 2 of the Fisheries Regulation 2008 under the Fisheries Act 1994 (Queensland). Collection for

Neoceratodus forsteri (Australian lungfish) Approved Conservation Advice Page 1 of 5 This Conservation Advice was approved by the Delegate of the Minister on 11 April 2014 educational or research purposes requires a permit from the Queensland Government (Arthington, 2009).

Cultural Significance

The Australian lungfish is a sacred (totemic) fish of the Gubbi Gubbi, who lived in the Wide Bay and Sunshine Coast area of south east Queensland, including the Mary River catchment (Arthington, 2009; Barambah, 2011). The Gubbi Gubbi refer to the species as Dala and have revered and protected the species for thousands of years (Arthington, 2009).

Distribution and Habitat

The Australian lungfish is known only to occur in a few river systems in south eastern Queensland (Allen et al., 2002). Naturally occurring populations exist only in the Burnett and Mary river systems, which are geographically isolated from one another by a catchment divide. The species may still occur in other nearby river systems to the south, including the North Pine, Brisbane, Albert and Coomera rivers and associated tributaries, but all these populations are considered to be derived from translocated individuals (Allen et al., 2002; Arthington, 2009).

The Australian lungfish inhabits freshwater streams, preferring areas of flowing stream where overhanging riparian vegetation grows along the bank, and areas where woody debris and dense macrophyte beds are found in water. The species cannot tolerate saline water and will not migrate through seawater (Pusey et al., 2004, cited in Arthington, 2009). While the species is reported living successfully within impoundments (dams and weirs), more fish have been recorded from the shallow, headwater areas of impoundments where more complex habitats are available rather than in deeper areas (Brooks and Kind, 2002, cited in Arthington, 2009). In flowing streams, individuals have been found to have high site fidelity, whereas in impoundments they are more likely to swim further from, and more prepared to abandon home ranges (Arthington, 2009).

Spawning occurs in flowing streams between August and December, before summer rains, when water temperatures rise above 20°C (Allen et al., 2002), in areas with high dissolved oxygen levels and moderate to high densities of aquatic macrophyte growth (Brooks and Kind, 2002, cited in Arthington, 2009). Under optimal conditions, growth rates of young fish can be quite fast and juveniles may reach a length of 25 cm in six months (Allen et al., 2002). However generally, growth rates are much slower with growth curves for the species in the Burnett River predicting the species reaches a length of 40 cm at five years of age (Allen et al., 2002; Brooks and Kind, 2002, cited in Arthington, 2009). The species reaches sexual maturity at between 15 and 17 years in males and between 20 and 22 years in females (TSSC, 2003; Arthington, 2009). Individuals are known to live to at least 50 years, with some evidence of longevity up to 100 years in captivity (Arthington, 2009).

The Australian lungfish is mainly a nocturnal omnivore, feeding on a diet of frogs, tadpoles, fish, a variety of invertebrates and aquatic plant material (Grigg, 1975; Allen et al., 2002). Juveniles mainly feed on small invertebrates, such as micro-crustaceans, molluscs and worms, within dense aquatic vegetation beds and banks (Arthington, 2009).

The Australian lungfish occurs within the South Eastern Queensland IBRA bioregion and the Burnett Mary and South East Queensland Natural Resource Management Regions

The distribution of this species is not known to overlap with any EPBC Act-listed threatened ecological community.

The Department of the Environment has prepared survey guidelines for Neoceratodus forsteri. The survey guidelines are intended to provide guidance for stakeholders on the effort and methods considered appropriate when conducting a presence/absence survey for species listed as threatened under the EPBC Act. http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/publications/threatened-fish.html

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Threats

A main identified threat to the Australian lungfish is the loss of habitat and barriers to movement caused by the construction of man-made dams and weirs along waterways without effective fish transfer facilities provided (Arthington, 2009). Large individuals have been observed stranded below a tidal barrage in the Burnett River where there is an existing fish transfer device (a vertical slot fishway) (Brooks and Kind, 2002 and Stuart and Berghuis, 2002, cited in Arthington, 2009). Another main identified threat is the natural or human- caused reductions in water levels during spawning periods, resulting in the death of fertilised eggs when exposed to air (Brooks, 1995, cited in Arthington, 2009).

The main potential threats to the Australian lungfish include competition and predation on juveniles by alien fish species, such as tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) which have been recorded in the Burnett River; loss and fragmentation of riparian vegetation along banks, including roots that provide shelter and habitat; human activity-induced sedimentation increases resulting from development within the catchment (Arthington et al., 1983; Pusey et al., 1993; Kemp, 1995; Mackay et al., 2003; Kennard et al., 2005; Arthington et al., 2000, cited in Arthington, 2009); the spread of alien aquatic plants; and illegal and incidental capture by recreational fishing of wild populations.

Research Priorities

Research priorities that would inform future regional priority actions include:

• Investigate more effective fish transfer facilities to move fish upstream and downstream of man-made barriers built along river courses, such as dams and weirs, to determine the most suitable type to provide for movement of Australian lungfish. • Undertake research to determine the impacts of all alien fish species on the Australian lungfish. This should include the study of predation on larval and juvenile Australian lungfish (e.g. DNA assays of alien fish stomach contents). • Further investigate the benefits of placing artificial spawning environments to promote survivorship of Australian lungfish eggs and young, especially in areas where natural aquatic vegetation and underwater plant material may be lacking. • Monitor changes in riparian vegetation along banks so that this information could be used in future comparisons with population information. • More accurately assess the impact of illegal and incidental capture by recreational fishing within the catchments where it is found.

Regional Priority Actions

The following regional priority recovery and threat abatement actions can be done to support the recovery of the Australian lungfish: Habitat Loss, Disturbance and Barriers to Movement • Incorporate the development of effective fish passage devices for Australian lungfish at the Burnett River and Mary River tidal barrages, to avoid individuals becoming stranded in estuarine waters below the barrage after being drawn over in high flow events (e.g. install adequate fishways on weirs, which allow for the effective transfer of large, as well as small, fish across the barrier). • Manage any disruptions to water flows caused by man-made dams and weirs so water levels are not changing erratically where Australian lungfish occur, especially during the spawning period between August and December. • Manage any changes to hydrology that may result in increased salinity, algal blooms, sedimentation or pollution.

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Animal Predation or Competition • Develop and implement a management plan for alien fish species that affect Australian lungfish, including tilapia (family Cichlidae) and gambusia (Gambusia holbrooki). Conservation Information • Engage with private landholders and managers responsible for land adjacent to waterways in which remaining populations occur and encourage these key stakeholders to contribute to the implementation of conservation management actions, such as fostering the rehabilitation of riparian and aquatic vegetation. • Engage with the recreational fishing community to raise awareness of the conservation values of the Australian lungfish. Appropriately protect existing populations • Ensure that impacts on the Australian lungfish from recreational fishing are minimised by closing areas to all forms of recreational fishing where significant populations occur and during spawning time.

This list does not necessarily encompass all actions that may be of benefit to the Australian lungfish, but highlights those that are considered to be of highest priority at the time of preparing the Approved Conservation Advice.

References cited in the advice

Allen GR, Midgley SH and Allen M (2002). Field Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of Australia. Western Australian Museum, Perth.

Arthington AH, Milton DA and McKay RJ (1983). Effects of urban development and habitat alterations on the distribution and abundance of native and exotic freshwater fish in the Brisbane region, Queensland. Australian Journal of Ecology, vol. 8: 87 – 101.

Arthington AH (2009). Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri, threatened by a new dam. Environmental Biology of Fish, vol. 84: 211 – 221.

Barambah M (2011). Relationship and Communality: an Indigenous Perspective on Knowledge and Expression (Chapter 13). In: Fitzgerald B and Atkinson B (eds) (2011). Copyright future copyright freedom: marking the 40th anniversary of the commencement of Australia’s Copyright Act 1968. Sydney University Press, pp 155 – 161, University of Sydney, New South Wales.

Berra TM (2007). Freshwater fish distribution. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Brinkmann H, Venkatesh B, Brenner S and Meyer A (2004). Nuclear proteincoding genes support lungfish and not the coelacanth as the closest living relatives of land vertebrates. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 101(14): 4900 – 4905.

Cavin L and Kemp A (2011). The impact of fossils on the evolutionary distinctiveness and conservation status of the Australian lungfish. Biological Conservation, vol. 144: 3140 – 3142.

Grigg GC (1975). The lungfish- creature from the past. Koolewong, vol. 4(2): 11 – 13.

Hart NS, Bailes HJ, Vorobyev M, Marshall NJ and Collin SP (2008). Visual ecology of the Australian lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri). BMC Ecology, vol. 8(21): 1 – 14.

Kemp A (1986). The biology of the Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri (Krefft 1870). Journal of Morphology Supplement, vol. 1: 181 – 198.

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Kemp A (1995). Threatened fishes of the world: Neoceratodus forsteri (Krefft, 1870) (Neoceratodontidae). Environmental Biology of Fishes, vol: 43: 310.

Kennard MJ, Arthington AH, Pusey BJ and Harch BD (2005). Are alien fish a reliable indicator of river health? Freshwater Biology, vol. 50: 174 – 193.

Mackay SJ, Arthington AH, Kennard MJ and Pusey BJ (2003). Spatial variation in the distribution and abundance of submersed aquatic macrophytes in an Australian subtropical river. Aquatic Botany, vol: 77. 169 – 186.

Mallatt J and Winchell CJ (2007). Ribosomal RNA genes and deuterostome phylogeny revisited: more cyclostomes, elasmobranchs, reptiles, and a brittle star. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, vol. 43(3): 1005 – 1022.

Pusey BJ, Arthington AH and Read MG (1993). Spatial and temporal variation in fish assemblage structure in the Mary River, S. E. Queensland: the influence of habitat structure. Environmental Biology of Fishes, vol. 37: 355 – 380.

Pusey BJ, Kennard MJ and Arthington AH (2004). Freshwater fishes of North-Eastern Australia. CSIRO, Collingwood, Victoria.

Threatened Species Scientific Committee (TSSC) (2003). Commonwealth Listing Advice on Neoceratodus forsteri (Australian lungfish). Canberra: Department of the Environment. Available on the Internet at: http://www.environment.gov.au/node/16443

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